Italy’s Eni plans to develop ‘carbon bomb’ gas field offshore Australia, challenges its emissions reduction plans, and could use funds from sustainability bond issue to finance it

May 4, 2023 (IEEFA) – Italian energy firm Eni is planning to develop one of the most carbon dioxide (CO2) intensive gas fields in the world that will be used for LNG exports, with an intention to sanction later this year the Evans Shoal gas field offshore the northern Australia coastline.

Not only will the Evans Shoal field, which has been renamed Verus and boasts CO2 levels of 27%, challenge Australia’s ambitions to reduce national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 43% by 2030 below 2005 levels, it will also hamper Eni’s own ambitious CO2 reduction target of net zero by 2035 for all emissions generated from extracting and producing oil and gas.

There have been many plans for the Evans Shoal project over its 35-year history. This latest plan will be subject to Australia’s Safeguard Mechanism meaning Evans Shoal/Verus will be subject to higher carbon costs than other gas fields given the CO2 average content of 27% in the field and make it potentially one of the largest CO2 facilities under the mechanism.

Eni has promoted itself to investors as a leader among oil and gas producers to reduce emissions. The Italian investing public embraced their ambitions by subscribing €2 billion into Eni’s first sustainability-linked bond issue to retail investors in January where funds could be used to develop Verus and millions of CO2 a year – hardly a sustainable activity.

As greenwashing claims have become a focus for regulators in the United States, Europe and Australia, Eni’s sustainability credentials should not only come under greater regulatory scrutiny but investors should also be asking questions.

Read the report: Eni’s Verus Not So True On Net Zero – Italian Retail Investors Buying Into Dirtier Australian Gas

Media contact: Amy Leiper [email protected] +61 (0) 414 643 446

Author contacts: Kevin Morrison [email protected] Christina Ng [email protected]

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