“Price tensions will be very heavy, they will hurt families and companies if Draghi's proposal to set a standard does not pass ceiling on the price of gas”. These are the forecasts of Eni's CEO Claudio Descalzi for the short term. However, the manager is more optimistic in the long term, when the company will focus everything on new technologies for the creation of clean energy at low cost. It's about the magnetic confinement fusion – the project carried out by CFS (Commonwealth Fusion System), the majority-owned joint venture between Eni and MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) with the support of the US federal government – which according to Descalzi represents the answer to meeting our energy needs by avoiding to produce greenhouse gases.
The war in Ukraine has highlighted the strategic value of energy security, while the price race imposes new decisions to protect consumers and businesses. And the turning point could really be around the corner and concerns the creation by 2030 of a pilot reactor to produce clean energy at very low cost. A job “capable of transforming the energy landscape” explained Descalzi, who visited the plant on the outskirts of Boston during his mission to the USA.
Descalzi on the roof at the price of gas: "Draghi is right to insist"
Returning to the short term, Descalzi reiterated the need to impose a ceiling on the price of gas at European level. “Without good reason, we now have a gas price which is 6-7 times higher compared to what we had in 2019", underlined Eni's number one, specifying that the problem is not the "flows", but the "prices" since there will be volumes but "the bills could be heavy for companies and for consumers due to the speculative tensions present in the market”. For this reason “Draghi is right to insist”. Moreover, he would also represent a "mini embargo for Russia".
For the sources of supply, Eni's CEO recalled that the goal of not depending on Russian gas is achievable and that it will be possible to achieve this result by 2025. "In the countries where we have invested, we have produced gas and that gas is ours", he underlined explaining that it is now a question of bringing these stocks to Europe and above all to Italy which "has priority".
Magnetic confinement fusion: how does it work?
We talk about fusion, not fission, a cleaner and safer process because it does not generate radioactivity and does not produce dangerous waste: the isotopes of hydrogen combine and melt at very high temperatures (about ten times that of the sun) and which are then confined by magnetic fields. Energy is produced from steam: “It is therefore an energy that comes from water, even from the sea, and consumes it in small quantities. For example, from one bottle it can generate 250 megawatts in one year”. And for this reason "it does not involve the need to have a huge water requirement", continued Descalzi.
Il prototype of the fusion plant will be ready as early as 2025, which in the space of ten days raised 1,8 billion dollars. Commercial production could be achieved in 2030.
Eni announces IPO for the listing of Plenitude
After the rumors of a few days ago, Eni is ready to land on the Plenitude Stock Exchange. The group announced this in a press release, specifying that it will continue to hold a majority stake in Plenitude, maintaining its consolidation. The IPO will consist of an offering to the general public in Italy (on the regulated market Euronext Milan, organized and managed by Borsa Italiana) and a private placement reserved for qualified investors in Italy and in the European Economic Area and foreign institutional investors outside of the United States of America.
“Plenitude will help millions of customers across Europe to switch to sustainable energy. The sale of a part of the business to the market will release significant value and accelerate its growth, helping Eni to cut the Scope 3 emissions currently generated by its customers. A fundamental step to reach our net zero target”, commented the manager, adding that “we will continue to invest in innovation to accelerate the energy transition and ensure our new businesses have the financing and operating models needed to grow rapidly.”
Eni and HitecVision sell 124,8 million shares of Var Energi
Valuing an additional share of the company on the market. With this objective, Eni and HitecVision sold 124,8 million shares of the Norwegian oil company Var Energi, respectively 29,5 and 95,4 million shares at a price of 40,2 Norwegian kroner per share, for an equivalent value of 530 million dollars. Post placement, through an accelerated book building process, the company's free float will increase to approximately 16,2% from 11,2%.
Furthermore, following the completion of the offer, Eni holds 1,57 billion shares of the company, equal to approximately 63,1% of the outstanding shares and votes in the company, while HitecVision holds 517,6 million shares, equal to approximately 20,7% of the outstanding shares.
After the IPO three months ago that valued the group at NOK 69,9 billion ($7,41 billion), its Oslo-listed shares have risen by more than 60%, Francesco Gattei said. Chief Financial Officer of Eni.
