* 7 pct families, small firms changed gas suppliers in 7 yrs
* Versus 12.2 pct that changed power suppliers in 3 yrs
MILAN, Aug 26 (Reuters) - The dominant position of oil and gas major Eni in Italy's domestic gas market has slowed down the pace at which householders and small companies are switching to other suppliers, Italy's energy regulator said.
Only 7 percent of all Italian families and small companies have switched to new gas suppliers since January 2003, when the domestic gas market was fully liberalised, regulator AEEG said in a statement on Thursday.
That compares with a 12.2 percent switching rate on the electricity market, which was fully liberalised in July 2007, the AEEG said.
"The asymmetry between power and gas markets is linked to the presence of dominant operator Eni on the gas market, which still controls 92 percent of import infrastructure and 65 percent of input on the national market," AEEG said.
Responding to the regulator's criticism, Eni Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni said there was enough competition on Italy's gas market, where all major gas operators are present. Scaroni was quoted by Italian news agencies, whose reports were confirmed by Eni's press service.
AEEG said 800,000 Italian families, or just 4 percent of all households, have changed their gas suppliers over the past seven years, while 3.2 million families, or 11.2 percent of the total, have chosen a new power provider in the past three years.
(Reporting by Svetlana Kovalyova, editing by Jane Baird)