Italian oil major Eni has announced a major restructuring that its chief executive describes as an “irreversible path” that will make the company a leader in the energy transition.
The company will be split into two new business groups: “Energy Evolution” — focusing on power generation and the switch from fossil fuels to “bio, blue and green” — and “Natural Resources”, which will incorporate its oil & gas activities, including carbon capture and storage (CCS).
“This new structure reflects Eni’s pivot to the energy transition; an irreversible path that will make us leaders in decarbonised energy products.,” said chief executive Claudio Descalzi.
In late February, Descalzi announced plans for Eni to build 55GW of renewable energy projects by 2050 and reduce the emissions of its products by 80% by the same year, which he said would keep it in line with the Paris Agreement. The company already builds its own wind and solar projects.
“Energy Evolution will focus on the evolution of the businesses of power generation, transformation and marketing of products from fossil to bio, blue and green,” Eni said in a statement, presumably referring to “blue hydrogen” produced from natural gas with CCS.
“In particular, it will focus on growing power generation from renewable energy and biomethane, it will coordinate the bio and circular evolution of the company’s refining system and chemical business, and it will further develop Eni’s retail portfolio, providing increasingly more decarbonised products for mobility, household consumption and small enterprises.”
The new company structure is expected to be implemented “over the coming weeks”, with Eni saying chief financial officer Massimo Mondazzi will leave his role on 1 August to head up the Energy Evolution business.
“The fight against climate change and promotion of sustainable development are recognised by governments, civil society, investors and business alike as priorities for global development,” said Descalzi.
“Only those who pursue these in an innovative way will create value in the long term. We want to be main actors in a just energy transition, in which we believe, and is central to Eni’s transformation.”
Eni said the two new businesses “will maintain close links in the hydrocarbon value chain, with the objective of best managing the different phases of the energy transition and jointly developing decarbonisation processes to supply bio, blue and green products”.
There will also be a central corporate structure, with a new technology, R&D and digital function, that will “support [Descalzi] in his integrated compliance, control and risk management responsibilities, and the business groups in meeting their objectives”.
“This underlines the strategic relevance that Research & Development and technological innovation represent for Eni as a key driver to create value and growth, through the development of new technologies and their fast implementation on an industrial scale,” Eni said.
“By leveraging on its know-how and technologies, Eni has traced the evolution of its businesses for the 30 years to come.”
