DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Italy's environment minister has added her voice to the idea of a moratorium on offshore drilling for oil and natural gas in the Mediterranean, just weeks before BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) plans to begin drilling operations off the coast of Libya, the Financial Times reports on its website Sunday. According to the report, Stefania Prestigiacomo told the FT plans to drill within the Mediterranean "give rise to serious concerns." Referring to a proposal by Gunther Oettinger, the EU's energy commissioner, which called for a moratorium within EU waters, Prestigiacomo said such an approach could give Europe's nations "time to define a new and specific strategy for the Mediterranean." Full story at http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b8b3d062-9d87-11df-a37c-00144feab49a.html -Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2800 (END) Dow Jones Newswires August 01, 2010 14:36 ET (18:36 GMT)