Italian oil major Eni has swung back into the black with strong third quarter earnings.
The Rome headquartered firm announced this morning that it had nudged its topline higher year on year while also wiping out the red ink on its bottomline.
Total revenues for the three months to the end of September amounted to 15.8billion euros, up from the 13.3billion euros reported in Q3 last year.
Profit before taxes swung into the black, reporting 1billion euros this Q3 compared to a loss of 259million euros in the same period last year.
Production grew in the quarter by 5.4% from the same period last year, up to 1.8million boe/d.
This was driven by new project start-ups or ramp-ups in Angola, Egypt, Ghana, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Norway.
Further ramp up is expected to push this up to 1.9million boe/d by year end- the highest level in seven years.
Claudio Descalzi, chief executive of Eni, described the results as “excellent”.
He added: “In 2017 we expect to achieve organic coverage of investments and dividends, entirely paid in cash, at a Brent price of 60$ a barrel as planned, or 45$ a barrel when taking into account our dual exploration model initiatives.
“These results have been achieved thanks to progress made in pursuing our strategy.
“In the Upstream sector, hydrocarbon production grew by 7%, net of the cuts imposed by OPEC and the price effect.
“The Downstream refining and chemical sectors exceeded our expectations by doubling operating profit.
“They benefited from an optimized industrial structure and demonstrated their ability to seize growth opportunities in the market.
“In G&P we have achieved structural breakeven and expect a positive result for the full year.”
Capex remained largely flat in the quarter, reducing by 2% since Q3 2016.
Full year capex is projected at 7.5billion euros which is expected to be reimbursed though asset disposals and advances from Egyptian partners in connection with the Zohr supergiant gas field, due to start-up by year end.
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