Italy is talking to several countries, including the United States, ​Azerbaijan and Algeria, to secure gas supplies now ‌that Iranian strikes on Qatar appear to have halted its exports for an extended period, Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said.

Axar.az informs, citing Reuters, Iranian attacks ​have knocked out 17% of Qatar's liquefied natural ​gas (LNG) export capacity, causing an estimated $20 billion in lost ⁠annual revenue and threatening supplies to Europe and Asia, QatarEnergy's ​CEO said on Thursday.

"The very fact that Qatar's LNG ​plant that had been shut down was also bombed had a devastating impact on prices," Pichetto Fratin said on Friday attending an event ​in Milan.

Pichetto Fratin said on Friday that despite the disruption in supplies from the Middle East, Italy had agreed with the European ⁠Union ​that the bloc should not return ​to buying its gas from Russia.