Eni, Descalzi: “The price of methane at risk of increasing, ready to welcome new shareholders”
“Gas prices in the coming months? There are many unknowns, the main one concerns China, it is a bit depressed now but if it were to restart, prices would rise again.” This was underlined by Eni's CEO Claudio Descalzi, who, in an interview with La Stampa, commented on the group's results last year achieved in “uncertain and volatile” scenarios, which in recent years have become a constant in the sector of energy. “We improved the objectives we had set ourselves for 2023 in a depressed scenario which saw the price of gas lose more than 60% and oil more than 18%” and “despite this we achieved the second best result of the last 12- 13 years”, notes Descalzi. Now, Eni's number one says he is “ready to welcome new investors with open arms” when the Mef decides to sell 4% of Eni.
When asked whether we can be sufficiently calm on the gas supply front two years after the last crisis, “if tomorrow – explains Descalzi – China increases its consumption then prices will rise. At this stage, however, China, which covers 25-30% of the gas market, is not in a phase of very large consumption. As for supplies, we will close the winter period with stocks 50% full. We have not yet compensated for all the Russian gas, but due to the decline in consumption and, unfortunately, a greater use of coal, what we are importing is more than sufficient”.
As for the possible listing of Plenitude, “it is always in our plans – confirms the CEO of Eni – but in the external context, first Covid, then the Russia-Ukraine war, now Gaza, the problems of the Red Sea and a slightly depressed China, the stock market rises and falls without criteria. In such a situation, with extreme caution, as a first step we preferred to sell 9% to the Swiss EIP who recognized a value of 10 billion in Olenitude. Once the markets have stabilized we will see what to do.”
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