Italian Oil Major Eni Sells Alaska Assets To Hilcorp

Italian oil major Eni SpA told the media today that it decided to sell two high quality upstream assets in Alaska.

According to a press release on its website, the company signed a binding agreement with Hilcorp, a large US privately owned firm with extensive experience operating in Alaska to sell the Nikaitchuq and Oooguruk assets in which it has a 100% stake.

While the value of the deal isn't exactly known as of today, according to Reuters, financial analysts estimate the deal value to be somewhere between $428 million and $855 million U.S. dollars. Eni states that the value of the transaction will be announced upon its closing.

The transaction is in line with the company's strategy to rationalize and cluster its upstream activities. The company writes that the asset sale fits in its "distinctive growth-oriented strategy", and that the company Eni is committed to delivering a net €8 billion of net portfolio inflow, front-end loaded, over the 2024-27 Plan.

Eni remains active in the U.S. and continues to play a significant role in the Gulf of Mexico exploration game. In April, the Italian company received the green light from Mexico's upstream regulator to drill an exploration well called Yopaat 1 in its Area 9 blocks it operates in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

Oil majors including Eni continue to bet big on the Gulf of Mexico, with deepwater discoveries picking up. Offshore-mag reported earlier this year that the amount of deepwater oil and gas discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico jumped from three finds in 2022 to eight discoveries in 2023.

By Tom Kool for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

• Huge Rare Earths Discovery is Gamechanger in Americas Trade War with China
• Novatek Proceeds With Arctic LNG 2 Despite New Sanctions on Russia
• StanChart Eyes "Strong Q3 Fundamentals" for Oil Price Rally