(Oil Price) – Eni SpA has closed the sale of its upstream assets in Alaska to U.S. privately-owned oil and gas producer Hilcorp for $1 billion as the Italian energy major looks to divest non-core assets.
Eni sold 100% of its Nikaitchuq and Oooguruk assets in Alaska after receiving approvals from all relevant authorities, the company said on Monday.
The Italian firm will continue to be present in the United States in the upstream of Gulf of Mexico, as well as in energy transition projects in the renewables industry, biofuels, and magnetic fusion.
Eni has planned to receive $8.7 billion (8 billion euros) from asset sales over the period 2024-2027.
“Considering completed deals and actions in progress Eni now expects to substantially achieve the target by 2025, in less than two years,” the Italian group said today.
Eni expects proceeds from sales to come from three main sources: high-grading the upstream portfolio, diluting down high equity ownership of exploration discoveries, and accessing new pools of capital via Eni’s satellite strategy to support the growth of its transition businesses, it said.
Last month, Eni said it is raising its share repurchase program after reporting consensus-beating profits for the third quarter amid higher upstream production and portfolio upgrading.
Despite weak refining results in Q3, Eni’s performance remained resilient in the “weaker trading environment,” the Italian major said at the end of October.
“In Q3, by delivering a performance ahead of expectations, we have again demonstrated the resilience of our business model thanks to our increasingly advantaged asset portfolio, stringent cost and capital discipline and strategic focus on growth and value creation,” Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said in a statement.
In light of the results, the strategic progress in portfolio upgrading, and the prospects of significant balance sheet de-leveraging, Eni is now increasing its full-year 2024 share buyback to $2.16 billion (2 billion euros), up by 25% compared to the previous guidance, and more than 80% higher than the original plan for the year. This will bring total shareholder distribution to around 38% of cash flow from operations (CFFO), Eni said.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
