UPDATE 2-Kazakhstan warns Eni on Kashagan in top-level talks

(Updates with Eni statement)

By Raushan Nurshayeva

ASTANA, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan warned Italy's Eni on Tuesday that delays in developing the giant Kashagan oilfield threatened the country with unacceptable economic harm, as high-level talks to settle the row over the project intensified.

Kazakhstan suspended operations at the Kashagan oilfield in the Caspian Sea last month and demanded the Eni-led (ENI.MI) consortium pay billions of dollars in compensation, citing ecological violations, cost overruns and repeated delays.

Eni Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni met the Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Sauat Mynbayev and other top officials in the Central Asian state.

"During their meeting the energy minister said it was unacceptable to harm the economic interests of the Republic of Kazakhstan and expressed concern over systematic violations by certain foreign resources companies of the national laws and ... project delays," the energy ministry said in a statement.

"Delays at developing the Kashagan oilfield ... will lead to a substantial fall in planned economic growth over the next decade and threaten the implementation of long-term economic development programmes in the country."

Emboldened by high oil prices, resource-rich Kazakhstan has long been mounting pressure on the group of mostly Western oil majors working on the Kashagan project, which is Astana's entry ticket to the club of top 10 global oil producers.