ITALIAN OIL COMPANY ENI TO DELIVER NATURAL GAS TO CROATIA

( Editorial: --> 8864 ) ZAGREB, Dec 16 (Hina) - The president of the Italian oil company ENI, Guglielmo Moscato, and the general director of Croatian oil company INA, Davor Stern, on Tuesday signed an agreement on the delivery of Italian natural gas to Croatia. The gas is intended for consumers, industry and power suppliers, and will be delivered from the year 2001 for the following 24 years in volumes of at least 2.2 billion cubic metres annually. The agreement foresees the construction of a gas pipeline, with a maximum capacity of 5 billion cubic metres of natural gas annually, which will link the central gas processing plant in Casalborsetti, near Ravenna in Italy, with a reception station on the Croatian coast. "The price of Italian gas of 12 cents per cubic metre is competitive with the price of Russian gas, and is satisfactory for us," Stern said. Croatian Economy Minister Nenad Porges added that Croatia's energy sector would no longer depend on only one source. (Hina) mm mb 162036 MET dec 97