Italian Eni returned to profit in the 3rd quarter of this year thanks to recovery in oil prices and increase in production, the company reported on October 27, 2017.
In the 3rd quarter of 2017 Eni recorded a profit of €344 million compared to a loss of €562 million in the prior-year quarter.
The E&P segment reported an increase in operating profit of €0.4 billion due to an ongoing recovery in crude oil prices, the Brent benchmark was up by 14%, and production growth.
The G&P segment strengthened its performance (up €0.18 billion or by 48%) in a seasonally weak quarter, due to the positive effects of the re-negotiations of long-term supply contracts and other optimizations.
Eni’s revenues rose to €15.78 billion during the 3rd quarter 2017 from €13.3 billion in the same period of 2016.
Commenting on the results, Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi, remarked: “In the 3rd quarter, we achieved excellent results with an increase in operating profit almost 4 times higher, a net result above €700 million and net growth in operating cash flow compared to the 3rd quarter of 2016. In 2017 we expect to achieve organic coverage of investments and dividends, entirely paid in cash, at a Brent price of 60$ a barrel as planned, or 45$ a barrel when taking into account our dual exploration model initiatives.”
Eni produced an average of 1.8 million boe/d in the third quarter, up by 5.4%; excluding price effects at PSAs and OPEC cuts, up by 7%.
Production is expected to ramp up further in the 4th quarter, reaching approximately 1.9 million boe/d on average in the period, the highest level in 7 years, with the contribution of high valuable barrels.
Eni’s net debt at the end of the quarter was €14.96 billion but it is expected to decrease y-o-y following the closing of disposals.
