Following its combination with Ithaca Energy to create a ‘satellite’ business, Eni is looking to establish similar practices for its CCUS operations.
The North Sea operator completed a business combination with the Italian energy giant late last year in a move that brought the vast majority of Eni’s UK upstream oil and gas assets into the Ithaca portfolio.
In exchange with this, Eni took over a 38.7% stake in the UK oil and gas firm, however, the deal did not cover the Italian business’ East Irish Sea assets and CCUS activities.
Ahead of the tie-up with Ithaca, Eni completed a $4.9bn acquisition of UK operator Neptune Energy.
In addition to UK oil and gas assets, Eni is also gained access to Neptune Energy’s carbon capture and storage (CCS) sites, as the firm had recently won a trio of awards during 2023’s licensing round.
Eni chief executive Claudio Descalzi said: “We continue to drive value from our exploration portfolio with E&P reporting a 3% increase in oil and gas production driven by organic projects start-ups and the integration of Neptune.
“We are also building additional value through the creation of a new geographically-focused North Sea satellite Ithaca Energy alongside the ongoing disposal of mature and non-core assets.”
© Supplied by EniLast week, Ithaca hailed a “transformational” 2024, saying it sees opportunities in the North Sea and abroad.
In its unaudited results update for the full year 2024, the group saw fourth-quarter production at 116,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day.
OPEX per boe stood at $14, the firm said this delivered an EBITDAX of $642 million for the quarter.
Currently, Eni has a stake in the UK’s track 1 winning project Hynet, a project in which it is a lead partner. Italian firm Eni operates the Liverpool Bay oil and gas field which it plants to transform into carbon storage sites.
According to ENI’s website the site will start storing captured carbon dioxide next year and is set to put away 10 million tonnes a year from 2030.
Descalzi continued: “Building on the success of our satellite model track record, we are progressing our CCS projects in Italy and the UK laying the foundations of a new transition-related satellite, leveraging our existing skills and asset positions.”
The firm wrote that all of its CCUS capabilities are “to combine to launch new transition-related satellite in 2025, expected to drive significant value”.
The Eni boss described 2024 as an “exceptional year of growth and value creation” in his firm’s full year results.
© HyNet“Our leading industry position comes from the competitiveness of our asset portfolio and the unique managerial and financial alignment of our satellite model which has unlocked more than €21bn of enterprise value in the year,” he said.
This comes as the Climate Change Committee (CCC) reported that it “cannot see a route to net zero that does not include CCS”, and estimated that by 2040 both “bioenergy with CCS and direct air capture” will need to be in use.
The findings of the CCC’s latest report were welcomed by industry bodies.
Carbon Capture Trade Association boss Olivia Powis said the CCC findings meant that the government needed to provide “swift and decisive” action on CCS.
Last year Hynet’s fellow track 1 winner the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP) secured the UK’s first-ever carbon storage permit.
The permit enables the project developers to store up to “hundreds of millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide” off the north-east coast of England.
Recommended for you
