Page 8 - EurOil Week 48 2022

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Eni reportedly eyes takeover of Neptune

NORTH SEA ITALIAN oil and gas major Eni is reportedly in Neptune benefits from a fairly young port-
talks to acquire private equity-backed Neptune folio of assets, meaning related emissions from
Neptune is mainly a gas Energy, primarily focused on North Sea hydro- production activities are lower, and it has also
producer with very low carbon production. electrified many of its offshore facilities. It has
carbon emissions. According to the Financial Times, the talks also secured the gold standard under the Oil and
began last autumn and remain at a very prelim- Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0 initiative
inary stage. But a potential acquisition could for its plan for driving down methane emissions
be worth between $5 and 6bn, sources told the even further. To get this status, a company must
newspaper. Eni is yet to make a formal offer, demonstrate a clear and credible plan for cut-
however, the FT said. ting methane emissions by 45% by the middle
Neptune is among the leading North Sea of the decade. Neptune’s own target is a 85% cut
players, with average daily production of around by 2025, and it is striving towards net-zero emis-
135,000 barrels of oil equivalent, across fields in sions by 2030.
the UK, Norway, Germany, Algeria, the Neth- According to the FT, the takeover of Neptune
erlands and Indonesia. The company’s produc- would not include Neptune’s onshore oil and gas
tion portfolio is heavily weighted towards gas fields in Germany.
– around three-quarters of its current output Neptune, which earned $387mn in net profit
– which makes it more attractive as a takeover in 2021 on the back of $2.5bn of revenue, with
option in light of climate considerations. $2.1bn in debt. The company was established by
Leading international oil and gas majors have former Centrica CEO Sam Laidlaw in 2015, but
generally been divesting oil and gas assets in the is supported by investment from China Invest-
last few years rather than buying them up, pre- ment Corp and various private equity investors
ferring instead to plough money into their own such as Carlyle and CVC Capital Partners. It
high-value projects in frontier plays, as well as dealt out $1bn in dividends to its shareholders
invest in rapidly expanding their low-carbon and last year.
renewables activities. Reporters emerged in September last year
This said, a company like Neptune offers an that Neptune’s owners were considering a
attractive target. Not only is its business mostly merger with leading UK North Sea player Har-
gas-focused, and so more environmentally bour Energy – a tie-up that would have estab-
friendly than an oil-weighted portfolio, but it lished the region’s largest independent operator
also boasts very attractive figures regarding its with a market capitalisation of as much as $10bn.
scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. But no such deal emerged. ™

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 48 02•December•2022