Italian firm says some operations are suspended; oil spikes as reports say up to half the country’s output is offline. Check the latest oil prices here.By Steve Hargreaves, senior writerFebruary 23, 2011: 12:38 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Italian oil giant Eni, the largest foreign oil company in Libya, said production in the country has been partially shut down due to ongoing violence.
Oil prices surged midday Wednesday after a report in the Financial Times said half of Libya’s production has been suspended. The report cited unnamed industry executives.
An Eni spokesman declined to specify how much of its production has been shut in, saying disclosing that information could jeopardize the remaining output.
“Certain oil and gas activities in the country have been temporarily suspended in precautionary way,” said the statement, released Tuesday. “Security measures on those facilities have been undertaken.”
Eni produces about 250,000 barrels a day from Libya, which has total oil output of 1.6 million barrels per day. The largest oil firm in the country is the Libyan government-run National Oil Corporation.
Eni also said the natural gas pipeline running under the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy, which supplies 10% of that nation’s gas, has been shut off.
Eni says despite that, it is still able to meet its customers’ demand for gas.
Worldwide oil consumption is pegged at 87.5 million barrels per day. Â 
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Libya oil production grinding to a halt