ENI, the Italian oil and exploration firm, is considering an exit from
A company official confirmed to
'ENI is looking to sell its upstream exploration and production business in
Earlier in
'The government is yet to respond on the proposals and suggestions,' a source stated.
The document maintained that the ENI gas production has depleted to 19,000 bpd (barrels of oil equivalent per day) in 2019 compared to over 22,000 bpd in 2017. However, it further suggested that there is room for an increase in production as it maintained 'solid track record of sustainable production at low operating cost.'
The company is required to acquire NOC (no objection certificate) from the
An official at the
The ENI, in partnership with the US-firm
The industry had proposed the incentives at the time when the Covid-19 had yet not depressed demand for hydrocarbons in
The outbreak of the coronavirus further hit profit margins of the explorations firms as demand, especially for oil, had depleted almost next to nil after the Pakistani government imposed lockdown to contain the virus late in March - that is yet to be fully lifted.
However, the demand has picked up again since farmers started harvesting wheat sometime in April in Sindh and later on in Punjab. Majority sectors of businesses have also resumed productions nationwide now.
Informed sources and energy experts speculated the company has decided to sell the assets following depletion in the production of gas from existing fields in the country while new exploration activities remained sluggish.
'The depletion has hit its (ENI) profit margins as price of the locally produced oil and gas supplies are associated with international oil prices which stayed volatile since coronavirus spread has badly hit the oil and gas demand not only in
The plunge in global demand resulted in crashing the Brent price to negative
ENI assets in
ENI's current production is centred on three operated and six non-operated producing assets.
'Producing assets are the operated Bhit, Badhra and Kadanwari assets and the associated processing facilities, and the non-operated Zamzama, Sawan, Latif, Miano, Tajjaland Mitha assets,' the document said.
'Assets have high-quality partners such as Ocean Pakistan (formerly BHP), UEG (formerly
New energy business comprises a 10MW photovoltaic plant developed near the Bhit gas field, which provides power to the upstream operations and contributes towards ENI Pakistan's ESG agenda.
ENI business in
© Pakistan Press International, source