Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said today that the government wanted to be in a position where it could convert the power station at Delimara to operate on gas, but there were various financial and infrastructural obstacles on the way to reaching this goal.

The power station is currently being extended, but the extension will operate on heavy fuel oil, a situation which has been heavily criticised by environmentalists.

Replying to questions after launching a consultation document on the national environment policy - just a few metres from the power station at the new Xropp l-Ghagin park, Dr Gonzi refused to be drawn into saying how much such a conversion would cost, citing international gas price fluctuations.

Dr Gonzi revealed on Saturday that at his meetings in Tripoli with then Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi in February, he had sought preferential gas prices as were given by Libya to Italy.

Dr Gonzi said today that while prices were an important consideration, another important consideration was to have a direct gas pipeline, either to the south, or to the European grid in the North. The possibility of the latter, he said, had been mentioned in talks with the EU.