Eni sees decline in natural gas sales
BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.28
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
In the fourth quarter of 2019, natural gas sales by Italian Eni company were 17.09 billion cubic meters (bcm), down by 9 percent from the fourth quarter of 2018, Trend reports citing the company.
Sales in Italy were down by 2 percent to 8.67 bcm in the quarter mainly due to lower sales to the industrial and residential segments, partly offset by higher spot sales, reads the report by Eni.
Sales in the European markets amounted to 5.76 bcm, a decrease of 16 percent from the comparative period as result of portfolio rationalization initiatives and lower volumes marketed in Turkey, Spain and France, said the company.
“In the full year 2019, natural gas sales were 73.07 bcm, down by 3.64 bcm or 5 percent from 2018. Sales in Italy decreased by 3 percent to 37.85 bcm, mainly due to lower volumes to the wholesalers and residential segment and lower spot sales, partly offset by higher sales to the thermoelectric segment,” the report reads.
Sales in European markets (22.70 bcm) decreased by 13 percent due to reduced volumes in all countries where present, except for Germany, Austria and Greece, according to Eni.
This is while sales of petrochemical products of 1.03 mm tonnes decreased by 13 percent q-o-q, reads the report.
“The reduction impacted all the business segments, with the largest losses occurring in the intermediate and polyethylene commodities due to weaker demand in the main final end-markets, particularly the automotive sector, and lower consumption of single-use plastics as a consequence of regulatory restrictions and growing awareness about environmental issues among consumers.”
The 13 percent decline in the full year was affected by unfavorable market trends, the incident occurred at the Priolo hub at the beginning of the year which -10- reduced products volumes with a subsequent ramp-up to full operation achieved by the end of July and to other unscheduled standstills, particularly at Porto Marghera and Dunkerque crackers which impacted the entire supply chain, said the company.
Eni is an Italian company with a worldwide presence. It is one of the global oil and gas super-players – operating in 71 countries worldwide and employing around 33,000 people.
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