Eni posts Q4 loss, cuts investment

Italian major Eni reported a loss in the fourth quarter of 8.46 billion euros ($9.36 billion) after it booked sizeable impairments due to low oil and gas prices. Eni posted an 8.8 billion euros net loss for the whole year of 2015.

On a standalone basis, Eni said its adjusted net loss in the fourth quarter was 0.2 billion euros, down by 0.73 billion euros from the adjusted net profit of 0.53 billion euros reported in the same quarter of 2014.

Eni’s hydrocarbon production rose 14% to 1.88 million boe/d in the fourth quarter, the highest level in 5 years, the Italian company said on Friday.

The multinational company plans to reduce capital spending this year by 20% by re-phasing and rescheduling capital projects in order to cope with the slump in crude oil prices.

Eni’s CEO, Claudio Descalzi said that the company is working to become more focused on its core oil and gas business, and “even better organized to compete in a low energy price environment“.

“In 2016, we are continuing Eni’s transformation process with the goal of making the group even stronger and better able to operate in difficult external conditions, enabling us to maintain solid growth expectations,” Descalzi said.

Gas sales

In the fourth quarter of 2015, Eni’s natural gas sales were 22.38 bcm, down by 5.6% from the same period of the previous year.

Sales in Italy increased by 13.9% to 9.51 bcm, while sales in the European markets decreased by 22.5% to 9.19 bcm.

According to Eni, these negatives were partly offset by higher spot sales in the Iberian Peninsula and higher sales in Turkey to Botas.

Sales in extra-European markets increased due to higher international LNG sales which rose by 18.6%, Eni said.

1 Euro = 1.1058 U.S. dollars

LNG World News Staff