There are no major oil or natural gas supply issues for Italy due to the crisis in North Africa, but the situation "would really be critical" if a second country in addition to Libya were to stop providing energy, the head of Italy's energy giant Eni SpA (E) said Wednesday.

A supply crunch in winter would be especially difficult, Eni Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni told members of the European Parliament during a hearing on energy security and the situation in the Mediterranean .

"We continue to closely watch the evolution of the situation in Algeria and Tunisia ," and we hope that there will be no interruption to Russian gas supplies, Scaroni said.

He added that Eni, which has operated in Libya for decades, is not looking to substitute the country with any other supplier.

Commenting on a weekend referendum in which Italians overwhelmingly voted against the reintroduction of nuclear power in the country, Scaroni said it would be at least a decade before the subject could be discussed again.

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