Italian energy giant Eni reported a drop in its second-quarter liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales following a rise in the prior quarter.
In the April-June period, Eni sold 2.40 bcm or about 1.76 million tonnes of LNG, a drop of 20 percent when compared to 3 bcm in the same period last year.
The company’s LNG sales of 5.2 bcm in the first half remained flat when compared to the same period last year, Eni said in its quarterly report on Friday.
In the second quarter, natural gas sales of 13.38 bcm decreased by 21 percent year-on-year, due to the lower gas volumes marketed in Italy, particularly at the spot market and in the wholesale segment, and in the European markets, mainly in France, it said.
Eni said its global gas and LNG portfolio segment reported an adjusted operating loss of 14 million euros ($14.3 million) “in line with normal seasonality patterns”.
In the first half, adjusted operating profit was 917 million euros, an improvement from the same period of 2021, mainly due to the “strong pricing environment and margin optimization leveraging on the flexibility of the natural gas supply portfolio in inventory management and the diversified price indexation,” the firm said.
Eni has been very active in the LNG industry this year its LNG volumes will grow as it looks to secure additional supplies for Italy and Europe, as well as from the company’s projects.
“Amid uncertainty and volatility in markets we moved fast to secure new energy supplies. After new gas agreements with our partners in Algeria, Congo, and Egypt earlier in the year, in June Eni entered the North Field East venture in Qatar, part of the world’s largest LNG project,” Eni’s chief Claudio Descalzi said in the report.
Also, production started from Eni’s operated Coral South FLNG, “the first development of Mozambique’s large potential,” he said.
Eni confirmed it expects to ship the first LNG cargo from the 3.4 mtpa Coral Sul FLNG in the second half of this year.
In addition, the company reported a jump in its adjusted net profit in the second quarter. Adjusted net profit rose to 3.8 billion euros ($3.89 billion) from 0.93 billion euros a year ago.
“With an adjusted cash flow of 10.8 billion euros we are able to cover our organic capex of 3.4 billion euros, and our distribution policy for the full year,” Descalzi said.
“Based on these robust results and our updated market outlook, we are enhancing shareholders’ distribution by raising the 2022 share buyback to 2.4 billion euros,” he said.