Italy 's Industry Minister Paolo Romani repeated Wednesday that the country isn't in danger of running out of natural gas, despite the shut down of Libyan imports.

He added, however, that the country is looking at fully utilizing the import capacity of other pipelines.

"There's no gas problem," said Romani in Rome after a meeting of the country's gas monitoring committee in the Italian capital.

The minister told reporters Italy had the possibility of boosting imports via its other supply routes from Algeria , Norway , and Russia , as well as two liquefied natural gas terminals.

Romani said Italy 's commercial gas stockpiles could be used if needed. The commercial stockpiles are estimated to be around 3.8 billion cubic meters.

"We can reassure consumers and companies" of receiving sufficient gas, said Romani.

Eni SpA (E) said Tuesday it had suspended some of its Libyan production, including the pipeline that supplies about 10% of Italy 's natural gas needs, as the unrest in the North African country indicates a worsening of the situation in the hydrocarbon-rich nation.

Wednesday, Romani also said the possible problem of oil supplies "isn't something we are worrying about" following the closure of Libyan ports due to the unrest in the African country.

As much as 550,000 barrels a day of production may now be shut in--about a third of Libya 's normal production. Meanwhile, some Libyan tribes have threatened to halt oil exports from the regions they control.

"The world's capacity to procure oil is there, but at high prices," said Romani.

Crude futures traded higher Wednesday as major political upheaval in Libya interrupted oil production in the country.

At 1250 GMT, Brent Crude traded up $1.55, or 1.5%, at $107.34 a barrel.

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