Italy's Eni predicts slightly less gas reduction from Russia

Italian oil and gas company Eni SpA said it expected a somewhat smaller reduction Saturday in deliveries of &to=http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/92/370/16695_Ukraine.html' target=_blank>natural gas from Russia.

Eni said in a statement that it expected deliveries to be down by 2 percent, compared to the 2.7 percent reduction in deliveries for the previous 24-hour period.

&to=http://english.pravda.ru/comp/2002/06/26/31155.html' target=_blank>Eni reported daily dips in its natural gas supplies from Russia over the past week, as Russia experienced extremely cold weather. It has said reductions in supplies have been compensated by drawing on reserves.

Italian Industry Minister Claudio Scajola went to Moscow earlier in the week on a visit that included talks with Russia's energy minister to encourage "respect" for contracts to send gas to Italy.