BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 24
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
In the first quarter of 2020, oil and natural gas production by Italy’s Eni company averaged 1,774 kboe/d, 3.6% lower than the first quarter of 2019, Trend reports citing the company.
Eni said in its report that 50 percent of the decline was due to reduced volumes in Libya driven by an anticipated contractual trigger, geopolitical instability and lower entitlements/spending, despite positive portfolio contributions in Norway. The remaining 50 percent of the reduced output for the quarter was a result of the impact of lower gas demand, mainly in Egypt, said the company.
Eni’s production performance in the quarter was nonetheless positive and was driven by volumes ramp-ups in Mexico and Algeria and better fields performance in Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates. “These increases offset mature field declines and unplanned facility downtime.”
Liquids production of Eni was 892 kbbl/d (887 kbbl/d in the first quarter of 2019).
Production growth in Kazakhstan, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the ramp-ups of the period, mainly in Mexico, were offset by lower production in Libya and Congo and mature field declines, according to the report.
“Natural gas production amounted to 4,768 mmcf/d in the period decreasing by 7.5 percent y-o-y. Lower production in Libya and the impact of lower natural gas demand in certain areas (Egypt and Venezuela) and LNG demand were partly offset by the growth in Nigeria, Ghana and Algeria,” reads the report.
In the first quarter of 2020, the Exploration and Production segment of Eni reported an adjusted operating profit of €1,037 million, 55 percent lower than the first quarter 2019, driven by a negative €1.1 billion of scenario effect and by lower production volumes (-€0.17 billion).
“The scenario loss was attributable to lower liquids realizations driven by a 20 percent decline in the price of the Brent crude oil benchmark for the quarter and lower gas prices at the Italian spot market PSV (-45 percent), which are the main benchmark to which our equity volumes are indexed, only partially offset by the Business segments operating results ‐6‐ appreciation of the USD vs. EUR (+3 percent), as well as a loss incurred in reselling the gas entitlements of a Libyan partner, which were marketed in Europe,” said Eni.
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