Italian major Eni plans to bring 13 new projects onstream between now and 2024, when oil and gas production is set to rise 17% to hit almost 2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Unveiling its 2021-2024 strategy on 19 February, Eni executives also pinpointed how natural gas-led exploration will remain an important goal for the company.

Spending in the upstream sector will total €18 billion ($21.8 billion) in 2021-2024, with free cash flow generation growing from €2 billion this year to reach a cumulative €19 billion in the plan period.

These new exploration and production investments will support the Milan-based player’s increasing focus on gas, which in the long term will represent more than 90% of its production and will back up more intermittent sources of energy supply.

Over the next four years, 13 major projects will be brought on line in Angola, Indonesia, Mexico, Mozambique, Norway and the United Arab Emirates.

In Indonesia, first gas is expected from Merakes in the second quarter of 2021, with gross output expected to hit 84,000 boepd in 2022.

Offshore Angola, Cabaca Norte is due on line later this year and is set to produce 10,000 boepd in 2023.

Five projects are due to start up in 2022, including the Coral South floating LNG scheme in Mozambique, which is set to produce 107,000 boepd in 2023.

In Mexico, the Area 1 full-field scheme is forecast to produce 92,000 boepd in 2022, while the Nene Phase 2B project off Congo-Brazzaville is aiming for 15,000 boepd in 2024.

Two project start-ups off Norway are also on the cards - Balder, with an output target for 2023 of 70,000 boepd; and Fenja, with a production goal of 31,000 boepd in 2024.

Three more fields are due on line in 2023, including Johan Castberg in Norway, which should be producing 190,000 boepd in 2025.

This will be supplemented by 54,000 boepd from the Dalma gas project in the UAE and 30,000 boepd from Agogo Phase 2 in Angola.

The year 2024 should see start-up of the 130,000-boepd Northern Gas Complex in Angola, the 57,000 boepd Breidablikk project in Norway and the 26,000 boepd KEP1A scheme in Kazakhstan.

Focused exploration will target potential resources of 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent in the next four years at an average cost of below $2 per barrel.

It will focus on infrastructure-led and nearfield opportunities in proven basins, mostly projects with high gas potential.

Gas probes are forecast for Southeast Asia, the Middle East, North and East Africa, with Europe set to host oil and gas drilling, while oil will be the focus in West Africa and the Americas.

Eni's liquefied natural gas business is expected to hit 14 million tpa by 2024, 50% more than last year, driven by projects in Indonesia, Nigeria, Angola, Mozambique and Egypt, where the Damietta LNG plant has restarted.

Overall, Eni plans to spend €7 billion annually through to 2024, of which over 20% will be allocated to non-upstream projects.

The internal rate of return on upstream projects being executed is 18% and would be 16% even if commodity prices fell by 20%, said the operator, adding that its unleveraged IRR for renewable projects is 6% to 9%.

Eni aims to sell more than €2 billion of non-core assets and businesses in the next four years.

The Italian player announced its new strategy on the day it released its financial results for 2020 and the last quarter of 2020.

It posted a loss of €8.56 billion ($10.35 billion) for 2020 on revenues of €44.95 billion for 2020, and a loss of €723 million in the fourth quarter based on sales of €11.94 billion.

Finance

Eni set to grow oil and gas output