Eni reports highest earnings since 2012

Earnings at Eni reached their highest level since 2012 last year, the Italian major reported on February 18, thanks to soaring gas prices.

Adjusted operating profit reached €9.67bn ($11bn), up from €1.9bn in 2020, while net profit climbed to €4.74bn, in a reversal from a €758mn loss. Cash flow grew to €12.7bn, from €6.73bn, which Eni said would support the growth of the company's green businesses, fund dividends and restore share buybacks to pre-pandemic levels.

High gas and oil prices drove upstream earnings to €9.3bn in 2021, from €409mn a year earlier, more than compensating for a 3% decline in production to 1.68mn barrels of oil equivalent/day. Global gas and LNG earnings also surged to €580mn from €78mn.

"The strict financial discipline and cost efficiencies we implemented to withstand the downturn have allowed us to best capture the strong economic recovery of 2021," Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said. "Our upstream segment has kept generating the financial resources needed to fund our decarbonisation strategy."

Eni also pointed to strong performance at its energy transition businesses. The company is striving towards net-zero emissions by 2050, and is due to release a new plan for reaching this goal in March.