Venezuela to pay Eni gas debt with oil shipments

The energy giant Eni S.p.A. has received authorization to accept crude oil from Venezuela as payment for natural gas supplies. This development follows a decision by the United States to ease certain sanctions, resolving a financial impasse that had left the Italian firm with a multi-billion dollar debt.

Chief Executive Claudio Descalzi confirmed during a post-results call that the outstanding debt from the South American nation amounts to approximately $3 billion. The debt is primarily linked to the Perla offshore field, a major gas project operated by Eni and Repsol, S.A., which is headquartered in Spain.

"That’s really a big upside, as before we were stuck for almost one year, which created a build-up in our outstanding."

Descalzi noted that the previous inability to process payments in dollars had stalled the recovery of funds since 2019. To accelerate the repayment process, the company based in Italy is exploring new joint ventures with American firms to boost production at the Corocoro and Junin 5 fields. Increasing output would allow Eni to lift more crude, providing a mechanism to recover the debt more rapidly while navigating the global market for Brent Crude Oil.

Furthermore, the CEO suggested that gas from the Perla facility could eventually be redirected to Europe. This would provide a strategic alternative to the liquefied natural gas supplies that were historically imported from Russia.

"We are working with some American companies to see whether we can create a joint venture to grow up production quite quickly."