Italy’s ‘most important’ gas project goes live leaving near-zero emissions in its wake

Italian energy giant Eni has hit a new production milestone with the start-up of a gas project at an offshore field in the Strait of Sicily, describing it as the most important gas development project in Italy.

While recent months saw four subsea wells drilled in the Strait of Sicily, the gas at the Argo Cassiopea field, coming from one of these, has been transported through a 60 km subsea pipeline to the Gela processing plant, where it will be processed and then fed into the national grid, contributing to Italy’s energy needs.

With reserves estimated at around 10 billion cubic meters of gas (bcm) and peak annual production expected to reach up to 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas, the production project, operated by Eni (60%, operator) in a joint venture with Energean (40%), was brought online just three years after the start of work to enable the first gas. According to the Italian player, the production is carried out entirely underneath the sea, with no visual impact and near-zero emissions.

Furthermore, the installation of 3.6 MWp of photovoltaic panels is expected to ensure the project achieves carbon neutrality for Scope 1 and 2 emissions, enabling Argo Cassiopea to play “a central role” in the operator’s strategy to increase the use of domestic natural gas for energy security and as a low-emission source. Eni’s partner, Energean, disclosed in January 2023 that the first gas from Cassiopea was anticipated in H1 2024, thus, the start-up timeline indicates a slight delay.

The project was considered at the time as one of the key developments, alongside Karish North, NEA/NI, that would enable the firm to deliver its 200 kboed mid-term production target. As only one well is producing, the remaining three and associated facilities are expected to be brought online, tested, and commissioned over the coming months.

Located off the coast of Italy, the Cassiopea gas development is part of the portfolio that Energean is selling to an entity controlled by Carlyle International Energy Partners (Carlyle) to pursue gas-weighted portfolio growth in the Mediterranean and the wider Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region.

Mathios Rigas, Chief Executive Officer of Energean, commented: “This news, while not part of the future Energean story, represents the positive involvement of Energean in yet another successful gas development. Energean has always been focused on the development of strategically important resources that supports both energy security and broader socioeconomic stability.”

Recently, the London-based firm made a final investment decision (FID) for a phased development off the coast of Israel, which entails a string of gas discoveries that will be tied back to an existing floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel.

Energean is working on expanding its footprint in the Mediterranean region. To this end, the firm revealed a new country entry at the end of 2023, thanks to partnership agreements to take over the operatorship helm at two Moroccan offshore licenses from Chariot.

Meanwhile, Eni is active in many countries around the world, including African ones, such as Cote d’Ivoire, where recently converted FPSO and FSO are expected to move soon to work on the company’s oil and gas development, which is said to be the largest discovery in the country and the first net-zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions upstream project on the African continent.

Congo joined the LNG exporters’ club in February 2024, after the Italian energy giant’s first FLNG unit, known as Tango with 0.6 million tons per annum (mtpa) capacity, began its LNG deliveries. With a capacity of 2.4 mtpa, the second unit, currently under construction, is slated to be in operation by the end of 2025.