It has been boosting gas imports and storage facilities as well as seeking to diversify supplies after shortfalls in imports from Russia hit the country in early 2006 during an unusually cold winter.

"This year it was expected that Italy will be able to store about 9 billion cubic metres (bcm)," said a senior official at the Industry Ministry, formally known as the Economic Development Ministry, who oversees gas stocks.

But last week Italy's Environment Ministry said it had requested an evaluation of the environmental impact of a plan to boost capacity of a 400 million cubic metre storage site near Milan.

This has effectively blocked the use of the entire site and the procedure may take months, the official said.

The Industry Ministry has asked for clearance to use the deposit temporarily until the evaluation is completed, but was waiting for a response from the Environment Ministry, he added.

"There is a bit of concern because we are going to have one storage facility less to count on. During five years of its use there have been no problems. It was used in the cold winter two years ago. Without it, the situation could have been more difficult," he said.

On Tuesday, the chief executive of Italy's biggest power utility Enel said the country risked being hit by power blackouts this winter because it had done little to boost gas infrastructure in the face of growing demand. But Italy's environment minister and environmental group Legambiente said Enel -- which has been betting on development of coal-fired generation -- was pushing its own agenda and should instead focus on reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

In August, Paolo Scaroni, the chief executive of Italy's oil and gas major Eni, said Italy would be able to forget about gas supply problems after next year, when it was due to boost import capacity by some 20 percent.