Italian energy group Eni has announced a 10% growth in its hydrocarbon production in 2015 to 1.76 mboe/d, with exploration activities adding 1.4 Gboe of new resources at an average cost of US$0.7/bbl, boosted by the giant Zohr gas discovery in Egypt. In 2015, the Exploration & Production segment reported an adjusted operating profit of €4.1bn, 64% below its 2014 performance (€7.4bn) due to lower oil prices on global markets. In 2015 liquids production (908 kbl/d) increased by 9.7% to 80 kbl/d, due to new fields start-ups and ramp-ups and higher production in Libya, Iran and Iraq. Natural gas production (4,681 mcf/d or 48.2 bcm/year) increased by 10.8% from 2014. At year-end 2015, estimated net proved reserves amounted to 6,890 mboe (+4.4%), including 3.6 Gbl of liquids and 18.3 bcf (516 bcm) of gas.
In 2015, Eni sold 90.9 bcm of gas (+1.9%), including 38.4 bcm in Italy, 42.9 bcm (-7.2%) in the rest of Europe and 9.6 bcm (+7.2%) on extra-European markets. In Italy, gas sales rose by 12.9%, due to higher spot sales and higher volumes to the wholesaler segment, partially offset by lower sales to the industrial and thermoelectric segments. Electricity sales rose by 3.9% to 34.9 TWh.
The group processed 23.1 Mt of oil products in Italy (+12.7%) and sold 8.9 Mt of oil products on the retail markets (-3.5%). In 2015, retail sales in Italy decreased by 2.9% to 6 Mt, mainly in the motorway network and in lease concessions; retail sales in Europe dipped by 4.6% to 2.9 Mt.