Italy's Eni sees Q2 gas volumes sink 22% as COVID hits demand

Barcelona — Italy's largest gas group Eni reported July 30 a 22% decline in second quarter gas sales volumes to 13.9 billion cubic meters, with all operations affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Gas sales in Eni's non-domestic European markets tumbled 35% year on year due to reduced volumes in all territories where present, with the exception of the UK.

Lower gas nominations made by Botas in Turkey and portfolio rationalization initiatives in Germany weighed on the overall total, the company said.

Sales in international markets fell 57% year on year.

LNG sales showed some resilience with a 9% year on year volume decrease to 2 Bcm as Eni leveraged its own upstream production to soften the blow, it said.

Domestic Italian sales volumes declined just 6% as a 20% hike in exchange volume to 4.4 Bcm helped offset demand destruction, which included a 41% drop for Italian residential and a 45% drop in demand for power generation.

The company's power sales were 8.4 TWh in Q2 2020, down 9% year on year, also as a result of the economic slowdown.

For Q2, Eni reported average realized price at the Italian PSV gas hub of Eur75/1,000 cu m, down from Eur121/1,000 cu m in the first quarter and down 58% year on year, while the average price of gas sold by Eni at the TTF gas hub in the Netherlands was Eur57/1000 cu m in Q2, down from Eur102/1,000 cu m in Q1 and a drop of 58% year on year.

The spread between the two narrowed from an average of Eur41/1,000 cu m in Q2 2019 to Eur18/1,000 cu m in Q2 2020.

For the full year 2020 Eni has forecast a Eur20/1,000 cu m premium for the PSV over the TTF, down from a spread of Eur29/1,000 cu m in 2019.

The forecast is for an average realized price of Eur127/1,000 cu m at the PSV, meaning Eur107/1,000 cu m at the TTF.

In the company's upstream unit, natural gas production amounted to 4.7 Bcf/d in the period, down 11% year on year due to lower production in force majeure-hit Libya and the impact of lower natural gas demand in Egypt, among others, while production increased in Nigeria and Kazakhstan.

ENI: GAS SALES BY MARKET (Bcm)