UPDATE 1-Italy judge delays ruling on Eni in Nigeria

* Judge delays ruling on Eni doing business in Nigeria

* Prosecutor will still request Eni be banned

* Final decision could take some time

MILAN, Oct 21 - An Italian judge has put back a decision on a prosecutor's request to bar oil major Eni SpA from doing business with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC), a lawyer for Eni said on Wednesday.

The public prosecutor confirmed, however, it would press ahead with a request for Eni to be banned from doing business in Nigeria, judicial sources said.

"The hearing is finished and the judge reserved her judgment," Eni lawyer Paola Severino said, adding any decision could now take some time.

The probe is linked to an international investigation into alleged bribes of $180 million paid by the TSKJ consortium in the period from 1994 to 2004 to get contracts worth more than $6 billion to build Nigerian LNG facilities.

Any ruling would also affect oilfield services provider Saipem SpA, an Eni unit.

The TSKJ consortium was headed by former Halliburton unit KBR which pleaded guilty in February to U.S. charges it paid $180 million in bribes to Nigerian officials.#

The group also included Eni unit Snamprogetti, now part of Saipem, France's Technip and Japan's JGC Corp.

Eni, Europe's third-biggest oil company by market value, gets about 20 percent of its production from West Africa, including Nigeria.

Eni and Saipem would be able to appeal any eventual ban which would be immediately effective.

The Milan prosecutor was looking to see if Eni and Saipem had proper procedures in place to prevent international corruption, Eni said in notes to its half-year results statement published in August.

In the notes, Eni said it had adopted all necessary control procedures, adding it was cooperating with the relevant authorities.

At 1314 GMT Eni shares were down 0.33 percent at 17.87 euros and Saipem was down 0.72 percent at 21.95 euros. The DJ Stoxx oil and gas index was down 0.46 percent.