Eni Sees Oil Peak Just 6 Years Away

(Bloomberg) -- Eni SpA predicted its oil and gas output will top out within six years as it announced a more ambitious climate plan, following the lead of peers in pledging to offset emissions from the fuels it makes and sells.

The Italian energy giant sees output reaching a plateau in 2025 and targets an 80% cut in net emissions by 2050, it said Friday. That commitment illustrates the mounting pressure on oil companies to act on climate change -- not only from environmental activists but a growing proportion of major investors too.

“We have designed a strategy that combines economic sustainability with environmental sustainability,” Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi said in a statement. “This will allow Eni to be a leader in the market supplying decarbonized energy products.”

Eni’s plan expands on a previous goal to reach net-zero emissions from its own exploration and production operations by 2030. The new strategy refers to so-called scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, covering “the entire life-cycle of the energy products sold and a 55% reduction in emission intensity compared to 2018,” according to the Rome-based company.

The raft of recent climate pledges by Europe’s major oil companies marks a big step for an industry that produces the bulk of the world’s planet-warming gases. Earlier this month, BP Plc stunned investors with a promise to eliminate emissions from its operations by 2050. It also vowed to halve the carbon intensity of the fuel it sells but doesn’t produce itself. That followed moves by Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Repsol SA to adopt new emission targets.

The industry’s plans are likely to necessitate an expansion of renewables and better technology to capture and store carbon, as well as a retreat from the most polluting fossil fuels.

At Eni, oil and gas production will grow at an annual rate of 3.5% up to 2025, following which the company sees a “flexible decline, mainly for oil.” Gas will make up about 85% of total output by 2050. There’ll be a “strong” ramp-up of renewables to more than 55 gigawatts of installed capacity in that period.

Eni is making its strategy presentation on the same day it publishes fourth-quarter earnings.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Amanda Jordan in London at ajordan11@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
James Herron at jherron9@bloomberg.net
Amanda Jordan, Rakteem Katakey