Italian oil and gas major Eni will offer Russian gas giant Gazprom upstream assets outside Italy worth $350 million as part of their deal to swap assets, Eni chief executive Paolo Scaroni said.
The asset swap is part of 2006 strategic partnership between Gazprom and Eni, Europe’s fourth-biggest oil company by market value.
“We have decided to focus (Gazprom’s) investment opportunities in the upstream sector and not in Italy,” Scaroni told a news conference after Eni’s shareholder assembly.
He added that the assets to be offered to Gazprom would be worth $350 million.
Scaroni said this month his group would offer Gazprom a stake in the Elephant oil field in Libya, but the deal required approval from Tripoli.
He told the news conference, “The first asset is Elephant in Libya, in which we hold 33 per cent and are thinking of ceding a third to Gazprom.
“If this asset is enough, considering the value, ... then the deal is done. Otherwise we will look at other assets in Libya or elsewhere.”
Scaroni also said Eni would consider cancelling shares once a 10 per cent limit on buybacks is reached. Eni has bought back 9.325 per cent of its shares from September 2000 at a cost of 6.4 billion euros ($9.97 billion).
Eni is unlikely to make any acquisitions this year except for the 57 per cent stake it is trying to buy in Belgian natural gas distributor Distrigaz, Scaroni said.
France’s Suez SA is selling the stake as part of its merger with Gaz de France SA.
Eni is not able to announce the amount of or schedule for investments in Kazakhstan’s giant Kashagan oil field since talks were still going on with Kazakh authorities, he said.
Eni heads the consortium developing the site.
As for divestments, Eni plans to sell its 50 per cent stake in Acqua Campania, the water company that manages the aqueduct for the western part of Italy’s Campania region, Scaroni said.
Italy’s Vianini Lavori SpA and France’s Veolia Environnement SA plan to exercise their rights to buy the stake, he said.
Scaroni said Eni had no plans to sell its struggling chemicals division, but any offers would be examined. The unit lost 65 million euros in the first quarter.
