Italian oil major Eni took another step yesterday in its move to focus on upstream operations, with the £1.2billion (1.45billion euro) sale of a stake in gas transport company Snam.
In May last year, the firm’s chief executive Paolo Scaroni said he intended to exit from Snam completely. The sale of the 11.69 percent stake leaves Eni with 8.54 percent of the Italian pipeline and distribution company.
The Italian government has previously called on Eni, the world’s seventh-largest oil company by production, to sell its controlling stake in Snam, as it seeks to improve competition in the gas sector and reduce prices.