Eni agrees to sell upstream assets in Alaska to Hilcorp

By Francesca Landini

ROME (Reuters) -Italy's Eni said on Thursday it had signed a binding agreement to sell its Nikaitchuq and Oooguruk upstream offshore assets in Alaska to U.S. private company Hilcorp.

The value of transaction will be announced at closing, the Italian energy group said.

Financial analysts estimated potential proceeds of $428-855 million for the deal with one source pointing to the high end of that range.

"This transaction is consistent with Eni's strategy focused on the rationalisation of the upstream activities by rebalancing its portfolio," the state-controlled group added in a statement.

Under its business plan, Eni aims to raise 8 billion euros ($8.56 billion) in net proceeds in the 2024-2027 period by selling upstream assets, reducing ownership in its main exploration discoveries and tapping new investors to fund the growth of its low-carbon units.

"The news can have positive implications for the stock as it would make it possible to realise the net divestment target for this year together with the disposal of Saipem's stake," Italian broker Equita said in a research note.

Eni this month sold 10% of the share capital of energy services group Saipem, raising 393 million euros.

Shares in Eni were up 0.6%, outperforming the Italian blue chip index which was down 0.5% at 1015 GMT.

The fields of Nikaitchuq and Oooguruk in 2023 generated a net production of approximately 20,000 barrels of oil per day or 1.2% of Eni's consolidated production.

Eni acquired full control of the Oooguruk oilfield in 2019, when it bought from Caelus Natural Resources Alaska LLC the 70% of the asset it did not already own.

The field, located in the Beaufort Sea approximately 5 kilometres off Alaska's North Slope coast, has been in production since 2008.

The Nikaitchuq offshore oilfield is approximately 13 kilometres northeast of Oooguruk.

($1 = 0.9352 euros)

(Reporting by Francesca Landini; editing by Alvise Armellini and Jason Neely)