Descalzi wins record-breaking fifth term as Eni's CEO

Italy's Treasury announced late Thursday that it had proposed Claudio Descalzi be reappointed for a fifth time as CEO of the state-controlled energy company Eni. This would make him the longest-serving CEO of an oil major listed on a Western exchange.

Eni's new job will begin in May, after the Italian government approves his nomination at the shareholders' meeting.

Descalzi has spent his career as an expert in upstream and exploration with a special focus on Africa, at the Italian energy group.

Patrick Pouyanne (CEO of TotalEnergies) is the second longest-serving CEO in Western listed oil majors, after Descalzi.

Meg O'Neill, the CEO of BP's European rival, became its fifth CEO this month.

The broker Equita said that continuity in Eni's leadership is a positive factor, given the geopolitical complexity and its strong track record. Descalzi was credited with a number of achievements, including the consolidation of the upstream business for the group, the pragmatic approach towards decarbonisation, and the establishment new businesses.

Eni, under Descalzi's leadership, pushed to spin off parts of the business, such as its Norwegian operations into Vaar, its African units into Azule, and its renewables businesses into Plenitude.

Eni was able to transfer some of the costs associated with developing these ventures onto partners who had deep pockets.

Descalzi and Eni, Shell, and former and current executives of these companies faced a trial in 2021 for alleged corruption involving a deep water oil field in Nigeria known as OPL 245. All were acquitted after denying any wrongdoing.

One of the new projects that Eni has been working on is a joint-venture in the Far East, with Malaysian Petronas. Another is the launch in Argentina of a project for liquefied gas.

(source: Reuters)