Libya-Europe gas pipeline repaired - rebels

By Emma Farge and Alex Dziadosz

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - A natural gas pipeline from Libya to Italy has been repaired, paving the way for resumed shipments, rebel military spokesman Ahmed Bani said on Sunday.

"The gas pipeline is back and running, supplying the pump stations and the Mellitah (gas processing) refinery. Gas will start flowing to Europe," Bani told a news conference, without giving a timeframe for resumed shipments to Europe.

The 510 km (300 mile) GreenStream BV undersea pipeline system between Mellitah, just west of the Libyan capital Tripoli, and Gela in Italy is 50 percent owned by Italian oil company ENI.

The pipeline, which supplied about 10 percent of Italy's imports in 2010, was shut down in February shortly after the start of an uprising against Muammar Gaddafi.

Bani said the closure had resulted in the loss of about 1 million euros ($1.44 million) per day worth of gas.

Resuming those exports would be a boon for the rebels' National Transitional Council, which needs cash to impose security, pay salaries, and restart basic services in the parts of Libya no longer controlled by Gaddafi.

Rebel fighters are now in control of much of the capital, Tripoli, but the city of two million has been plagued by shortages of water, food and medicine.

Mellitah and another refinery in Zawiyah, a city further east along the Mediterranean coast, are meeting domestic gas needs, rebel spokesman Shamsiddin Abdulmolah told reporters.

(Reporting by Emma Farge and Alex Dziadosz; Writing by Richard Valdmanis and Emma Farge)