Italy's Eni profits down on falling oil and gas prices

Italy's Eni reported a 92 percent drop in second-quarter net profit on Friday, the latest energy firm to see its earnings fall as oil and gas prices have weakened.

The company said its net profit fell to 294 million euros ($322 million) in the April-to-June period.

Adjusted net profit -- a closely watched indicator which excludes exceptional items -- also fell, down 49 percent to 1.93 billion euros.

Like its competitors, Eni benefited last year from the spike in gas and oil prices, fuelled by the economic recovery after the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Eni posted a record net profit of 13.8 billion euros in 2022, its best result in more than two decades.

But the situation has changed dramatically.

The price of a barrel of Brent North Sea crude oil was an average $78.39 during the second quarter of 2023, down 31 percent, Eni said in a press release.

British oil giant Shell, France's TotalEnergies, Spanish group Repsol and Norway's Equinor also reported drops in their net profits this week.

Eni's turnover fell 38 percent to 19.59 billion euros in the second quarter, while adjusted operating profit was down 42 percent to 3.38 billion euros.

Eni's production of hydrocarbon increased by two percent to 1.61 billion barrels a day in the second quarter, after falling four percent in 2022.

The Italian group plans to increase the proportion of gas in its production to 60 percent by 2030, against 50 percent now, to reduce its dependence on Russia.

With that in mind, Eni announced in June the purchase of British energy group Neptune Energy for $4.9 billion.

Eni also announced Tuesday it had acquired the stakes of its US rival Chevron in three gas fields off Indonesia.