Sunny day at Business Square for oil companies. Mid-morning, the best headline is to Saipem, which leads the Ftse Mib with an increase of 2,6%, to 2,155 euros. Very good too Eni, up 2,6%, to 8,668 euros. In the same minutes, the main index of the Milan Stock Exchange travels positive by 0,7%. Meanwhile, in Amsterdam it shines Royal Dutch Shell (+1,56%) and in London Bp (+2,5%), while the sector index is clearly the best in the Old Continent (+1,73% the Euro Stoxx 600 Energy).
Triggering the oil stock purchases was the news of theagreement reached in Opec+. After a tug of war that lasted for several days, in the night between Thursday and Friday the delegates of the cartel that brings together the main crude oil producing countries, extended to include Russia, reached an agreement on production levels. The compromise is complicated, but it satisfies everyone a bit: there has been no extension of the current cuts (9,7 million barrels per day) for the first months of 2021 and no agreement has been found on a more broad and medium-term for next year. But the sharp increase that some countries were asking for has not even arrived: from January the increase in production will be "only" 500 barrels a day. Subsequently, if necessary, gradual increases will be introduced: OPEC+ will meet every month to decide production policies, evaluating monthly increases which in any case cannot exceed 500 barrels per day.
According to analysts, increases by this type can be absorbed by the market, without creating excess supply, especially harmful at a time when demand is struggling to regain momentum due to the restrictive measures introduced in response to the pandemic.
However, the push on short-term oil prices should not be confused with the long-term trends that reward the energy transition towards renewable sources. And the change of the big oil&gas groups continues in this direction. The agreement announced by Eni entering the wind power market in Great Britain. The group has acquired from Equinor and SSE Renewables 20% of the Dogger Bank project (A and B) for the production of electricity from offshore wind sources. The project involves the installation of 190 latest generation turbines of 13 MW each at a distance of over 130 km from the British coast, for a total power of 2,4 GW.
fully operational, Dogger Bank (3,6 GW) it will be the largest project in the world, capable of producing renewable electricity equivalent to around 5% of UK demand, powering around six million households. The construction of the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm (A and B) involves a total investment of 6 billion pounds and will be divided into two phases: the first will be completed by 2023 and the second by the following year.
“Entering the offshore wind market in Northern Europe represents a great opportunity for Eni – he comments Claudio Descalzi, CEO of Eni – It will allow us not only to acquire additional skills in offshore wind, thanks to the collaboration with two leading companies in the sector, but also to contribute substantially to the achievement of the target of 5 GW of installed power from renewables by 2025 , an intermediate stage for the more ambitious goal of zeroing net greenhouse gas emissions, both direct and indirect, in Europe by 2050”.
