No information about possible divestment of ENI from Cypriot EEZ, Minister says

Italian oil giant ENI is considering divestment from specific projects, including Cyprus with Nicosia having so far received no information on the matter.

Citing unnamed sources, Bloomberg reported on 1 July that Eni is planning to divest over $4 billion in upstream assets, with Indonesia and Cyprus among those potentially targeted.

Invited to comment on the report, Energy Minister George Papanastasiou on 3 July told CNA that Nicosia has no information on the matter.

"So far we haven't received any information from that company," he said.

However, the Italian giant had made known the tactic of divestment and reduction of capital expenditure (Capex).

Indicatively, in a market update on the results of the first quarter of 2024, ENI speaks of a "disciplined investment approach and targeted divestments, which will significantly reduce net capital investments," compared to the company's previous four-year plan.

In relation to its upstream operations, the company said "we will leverage our well consolidated model of Dual Exploration, by reducing our equity and anticipating cashflow."

It added that it has made "significant discoveries, for instance, in Ivory Coast, Cyprus, Indonesia and Congo which all hold the potential for the type of equity dilution we have successfully performed in the past".

The Italian giant has a significant presence in the Cypriot EEZ with participation in a total of seven sea blocks. The company notes that the estimated quantities of natural gas discovered amount to 2-3 trillion cubic feet (tcf) in the Zeus 1 target (block 6, 50% participation with the French TOTAL with ENI as operator) and 2. 5 tcf in Saturn again in block 6, while in the same block there is the Calypso discovery that had confirmed the expansion of Zohr-type deposits in the Cypriot EEZ.

(Source: CNA)