Eni to sell entire Siberian JV stake to Gazprom, Novatek for $2.94 bn

Italian energy giant Eni  SpA yesterday said that it will sell its 60-per cent stake in Siberian joint venture Arctic Russia BV, which holds a 49-per cent stake in a natural gas field in the far north of Russia to Gazprom and Novatek, for about $2.94 billion.

The deal will hike Gazprom and Novatek's stake in Severenergia from 51 per cent to little over 80 per cent.

The transaction comes two months after another Italian oil and gas company Enel SpA agreed to sell its 40-per cent stake in Severenergia to Russian state-owned oil company OAO Rosneft, for $1.8 billion. (See: Rosneft to acquire Italy's Enel stake in SeverEnergia for $1.8 bn)

Eni said that it will continue to have a significant presence in, and strong relations with, Russia both in strategic and commercial terms.

Eni is the biggest buyer of natural gas from Gazprom and a major buyer of oil from Rosneft, with whom it also has a joint venture to explore promising assets in the Black Sea and the Barents Sea.

Eni is also a partner with Gazprom in the South Stream project which, when completed, will produce 63 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

SeverEnergia is a joint gas production venture with 51-per cent held by Yamal Development – a joint venture between Russian state-owned  natural giant Gazprom and Russia's largest independent natural gas producer Novatek, with the remaining 49 per cent held by Arctic Russia BV - a joint venture between Eni and Rosneft, with the two holding 60 per cent and 40 per cent respectively.

SeverEnergia has assets in Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region of Russia.

Eni has since early last year been selling assets and has raised €12 billion since January 2012.

In March, it agreed to sell a 20-per cent stake in its Mozambique natural gas field to China's largest energy producer China National Petroleum Corp for approximately $4.2 billion. (See: CNPC acquires Eni's 20 % Mozambique gas stake for $4.2 bn)

In May, the Rome-based company sold its 11.7-per cent stake worth around €1.5 billion ($1.98 billion) in natural-gas operator Snam and its 6.7 per cent stake in Portuguese oil company Galp Energi for $880 million.