The Greenstream gas pipeline connecting Libya and Italy is being tested prior to the resumption of exports that came to a halt with the onset of the civil war in the Maghreb state.

The pipeline is a 50:50 joint venture between Italy’s ENI and Libya’s National Oil Company (NOC) and delivered around 12.5 per cent of Italy’s natural gas needs before being shut down in February.

The structure was tested by running three million cubic metres a day through it, ENI said in a statement. The gas was sourced from the jointly-owned Wafa field, which had been operational throughout the conflict.

ENI and NOC said they have both been working during the hiatus “to progressively restore production activities in all their participated fields in Libya”.

Production at the offshore Bahr Essalam field, which is a crucial source of gas for exports through the Greenstream pipeline, will be back online in a month, they said.

The 520km pipeline runs from Mellitah treatment plant in western Libya to Gela in Italy and has a capacity of 8 billion cubic metres a year.