Italian producer Eni has signed an agreement with Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), part of global investment manager BlackRock, related to the sale of a stake of 49.99% in Eni CCUS Holding, a global player in the CCUS sector (carbon capture, utilization, and storage).
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Eni CCUS Holding operates, through its subsidiaries, the Liverpool Bay and Bacton projects in the UK and the L10-CCS project in the Netherlands.
The company has the right to acquire Eni's 50% stake in the Ravenna CCS project in Italy and can incorporate additional potential projects into a broader platform CCUS platform over the medium to long term.
“The decision to consolidate our CCUS global portfolio into a dedicated entity, and the entry of GIP as a strategic partner, will further enhance our ability to deliver large-scale, technically advanced decarbonization solutions,” said Claudio Descalzi, chief executive at Eni. “The development of our satellite model applied to our businesses related to the energy transition is therefore successfully continuing, confirming their significant attractiveness in terms of growth potential and value creation by attracting aligned capital, as well as their effectiveness in reducing emissions.”
According to Eni, the agreement, which follows the negotiation announced last May, states that it and GIP will hold joint control of the company.
Closing of the transaction is subject to the approvals provided by law.
Eni said the GIP agreement follows a thorough selection process involving several prominent, unnamed international players who expressed strong interest in Eni CCUS Holding.
Eni confirmed that the Liverpool Bay CCUS project is under construction and will serve as the backbone of the HyNet industrial cluster, supported by an established regulatory and commercial framework as well as a defined financing plan. The project will repurpose several offshore platforms and 149 km of existing onshore and offshore pipelines, while also building 35 km of new pipelines to connect industrial emitters to the CCUS network.
Eni has stated the project’s initial phase will provide capacity of 4.5 mtpa of CO2 with the potential to increase to 10 mtpa in the 2030s.
Startup is targeted for 2028.
