Eni has announced a major partnership with Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), BlackRock’s infrastructure investment platform, which will acquire a 49.99% stake in the Italian energy company Eni’s carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) business.

Furthermore, the company has the right to acquire the 50% held by Eni of Ravenna CCS project in Italy and it will be able to include other potential projects within a broader platform of CCUS initiatives in the medium- to long-term.

Eni CCUS Holding has been established with the objective of maximizing the industrial potential and enhancing the value of Eni's CCUS projects. The company operates, through its subsidiaries, the Liverpool Bay and Bacton projects in the UK (with Liverpool Bay currently under construction, serving as the backbone of the HyNet industrial cluster, and holding an already-defined regulatory and commercial framework along with an existing financing plan), in addition to the L10-CCS project in the Netherlands.

Eni’s CEO, Claudio Descalzi, commented: “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. 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.”

“We are excited to partner with Eni, a global leader in CCUS,” said Bayo Ogunlesi, GIP’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “GIP’s experience in midstream infrastructure, combined with Eni’s technical, operational and industrial capabilities, will help accelerate the deployment of CCUS solutions at meaningful scale, furthering our commitment to serve growing market needs for affordable, decarbonized energy and products.”

The agreement, which follows the exclusive negotiation announced last May, states that Eni and GIP will hold joint control of the company. Closing of the transaction is subject to the approvals provided by law.

The entry of GIP, a significant international investor, marks a crucial step toward strengthening the business case for CCUS and the development of Eni CCUS Holding. This Company is an integral part of Eni's satellite model, aimed at highlighting the value of its energy transition businesses.

CCUS is a mature and safe technological process and it is one of the key levers for the energy transition, being currently the most efficient and effective decarbonization tool to support hard-to-abate industries in reducing their emissions.