Eni CCUS Projects, $670 M Black Rock-backed Hy Net Deal, €500 M EIB Loan, and a $1 B Fusion PPA (2021 to 2026)

Biofuels and CCUS Commercial Scale, Eni’s Dual-Pronged Strategy

Eni is executing a deliberate strategy of using its profitable legacy assets to fund a transition into commercially adjacent, capital-intensive low-carbon sectors like biofuels and Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS), rather than making a speculative leap into entirely new areas. This approach leverages its core engineering and project management competencies to build new, sustainable revenue streams while maintaining financial discipline.

Eni’s Biofuel Production Scale-Up

The company’s commitment to biofuels has matured from project development into a fully integrated commercial business.

• Between 2021 and 2024, Eni focused on establishing its production footprint through strategic joint ventures, including a 50-50 partnership with PBF Energy for the St. Bernard Biorefinery in the U.S. and reaching a final investment decision with PETRONAS for a new facility in Malaysia.
• From 2025 onward, the strategy shifted to securing large-scale financing and guaranteeing offtake. This is highlighted by a €500 million financing agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) for a new biorefinery and a partnership with BMW to promote the use of its hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) biofuel.
• This vertical integration is further demonstrated by an earlier Mo U with Saipem, a move similar to those seen from peers like Technip FMC, to supply biofuels for its naval fleet, creating a captive market for its products.

Eni’s CCUS as a Core Business

Eni has successfully positioned CCUS as a core growth area for industrial decarbonization, attracting significant external validation.

• Early-stage activity involved participation in consortia like the Northern Endurance Partnership in the UK to develop shared CO 2 transport infrastructure.
• By 2026, this evolved into a distinct business unit attracting major external capital. Black Rock’s Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) agreed to acquire a 49.99% stake in Eni’s CCUS holdings, a major validation of the business model.
• This partnership immediately secured $670 million in financing for the Hy Net CCS project, which aims to store up to 10 million tonnes of CO₂ annually, transforming CCUS from a pilot concept into a scalable, financed infrastructure business.

€3.7 B H 1 2026 Capex, Eni’s Transition Funding Model

Eni’s financial strategy relies on disciplined capital expenditure in its core business to generate the cash flow needed for large-scale investments in its transition portfolio, a model validated by significant external financing from major institutions. This “satellite model” involves monetizing stakes in its upstream assets to fund ventures in biofuels, CCUS, and renewables, allowing the company to pursue its 2050 carbon neutrality goal without compromising shareholder returns.

Eni’s Self-Funding and Shareholder Returns

The company’s robust financial performance underpins its entire transition strategy.

• Eni reported a proforma adjusted EBIT of €8.91 billion and a net profit of €4.39 billion in the first half of 2026, providing the financial strength for long-term investments.
• This performance supports a disciplined capital plan, with a gross capex target below €9 billion for 2025 and organic capex of €3.7 billion in H 1 2026, balancing transition funding with shareholder distributions like its €3.4 billion buyback program.

Eni’s Attraction of External Capital

A key pillar of Eni’s strategy is leveraging its own investments to attract significant external capital, de-risking projects and accelerating growth.

• The agreement for Black Rock’s GIP to acquire a near-controlling stake in its CCUS business is a prime example of attracting private capital to validate and scale a new business line.
• The company has also secured substantial financing from public institutions, including a €500 million loan from the EIB for a new biorefinery in Sannazzaro de’ Burgondi.
• Even its frontier technology ventures are backed by major capital commitments, highlighted by the landmark power purchase agreement valued at over $1 billion with Commonwealth Fusion Systems.

Table: Eni Strategic Investments and Financing (2025-2026)

Eni’s 5 Major Partnerships for Decarbonization (2021 to 2026)

Eni systematically uses partnerships to de-risk capital-intensive projects, access new technologies and markets, and build entire value chains for its low-carbon products. This approach has evolved from project-level joint ventures with industry peers to strategic financial and technology alliances with market leaders, a strategy also pursued by other energy firms like Petrobras and CNOOC.

Eni’s Joint Ventures for Asset Development

Early partnerships focused on sharing the financial and operational burden of building new low-carbon assets.

• In the 2021-2024 period, Eni formed JVs with other energy companies to co-develop large-scale biorefineries. Key examples include the 50-50 partnership with PBF Energy for the St. Bernard facility in Louisiana and the JV with PETRONAS and Euglena for the Pengerang biorefinery in Malaysia.
• By 2026, this model was extended with a partnership with Q 8 to develop another biorefinery in Sicily, continuing the strategy of using joint ventures to expand its global bio-mobility footprint.

Eni’s Strategic Financial Alliances

More recently, Eni has focused on alliances that bring in financial expertise and create new markets.

• The partnership with Black Rock’s GIP represents a strategic shift, bringing a financial heavyweight to validate and scale its CCUS business, moving beyond operational partners.
• Technology partnerships with pioneers like Commonwealth Fusion Systems secure long-term access to potentially disruptive energy sources, positioning Eni as a first-mover.
• Market-creation partnerships with end-users like BMW and drilling contractors such as Transocean‘s partner Saipem are critical for building demand and ensuring a viable market for its HVO and SAF biofuels.

Table: Eni Key Strategic Partnerships (2021-2026)

Europe and North America, Eni’s Strategic Geographic Focus

While maintaining a global upstream presence, Eni’s sustainability investments are concentrated in politically stable regions with strong regulatory support for decarbonization, primarily Europe and North America. This is supplemented by strategic feedstock and project development in Asia and Africa to support its core European operations.

Eni’s European Decarbonization Hubs

Europe remains the center of gravity for Eni’s transition, serving as a hub for both production and technological development.

• Italy is the focal point for biorefining and new technology manufacturing. The company is developing new biorefineries in Sannazzaro and Sicily and began construction on a lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery manufacturing facility in Brindisi in late 2023.
• The United Kingdom is Eni’s primary location for large-scale CCUS development. It is a key partner in both the Hy Net and Northern Endurance Partnership projects, which are designed to decarbonize major industrial clusters.

Eni’s North American and Asian Expansion

Eni is using North America for scaling proven technologies and sourcing future-facing opportunities, while Asia is a key growth market.

• The United States is a major growth area for biofuels through the St. Bernard Biorefinery JV and is the home of its key fusion partner, Commonwealth Fusion Systems. In 2025, Eni also signaled its intent to invest in Canadian lithium and graphite, securing a supply chain for the energy transition.
• In Asia, Malaysia was chosen as the site for a new-build biorefinery with PETRONAS, expanding its production footprint to serve regional markets. Meanwhile, African nations like Kenya are being developed as sources of non-food agricultural feedstock for its European refineries.

From Pilots to Profits, Eni’s Technology Maturation

Eni’s technology strategy prioritizes the commercial scaling of mature technologies like biorefining and CCUS, while simultaneously placing long-term, high-capital bets on frontier technologies like fusion to build a future-proof portfolio. The company has successfully moved its core low-carbon technologies from development to bankable, commercial-scale businesses.

Eni’s Commercialization of Biofuels and CCUS

Eni has transitioned its biofuel and CCUS ventures from expansion projects to established, revenue-generating business lines.

• In the 2021-2024 period, these technologies were in an expansion phase, marked by final investment decisions and the formation of joint ventures.
• By 2025-2026, both sectors are attracting billions in external capital from entities like Black Rock and the EIB, and securing commercial offtake agreements with partners like BMW. This progression from capex-heavy development to externally validated businesses demonstrates clear technological and commercial maturation.

Eni’s Venture into Fusion and Energy Storage

The company is also making calculated entries into markets with longer-term or adjacent growth potential.

• Eni’s move into energy storage, marked by the construction of an LFP battery plant in 2023 and a 2026 JV with Seri Industrial for a utility-scale assembly line, represents a deliberate entry into a commercially ready, complementary market.
• The investment in Commonwealth Fusion Systems is a strategic venture. Rather than a simple R&D grant, the over $1 billion PPA is a move to secure offtake from a next-generation technology, positioning Eni as a first-mover and preferred partner long before the technology reaches commercial maturity. Other major energy players like Exxon Mobil have made similar, though distinct, long-range technology commitments.

SWOT Analysis of Eni’s Sustainability Strategy

Eni’s primary strength is its financial capacity to fund its transition using profits from its legacy business, but this creates a core weakness and threat related to its ongoing fossil fuel dependence. The company’s opportunities lie in establishing leadership in new markets like industrial CCUS and fusion energy, where it has secured early-mover advantages.

Table: SWOT Analysis for Eni’s Sustainability Initiatives

Eni’s Next Move, The Black Rock CCUS Validation

The most critical signal to watch is the execution of Eni’s CCUS projects following the Black Rock validation, as success will cement it as a leader in industrial decarbonization services and could trigger further large-scale capital allocation away from traditional exploration. This move places Eni at the forefront of building a service-based decarbonization model, a different approach from the technology-focused strategies of equipment suppliers like NOV.

• If this happens: If the Hy Net project, backed by $670 million in fresh financing, successfully reaches its 10 million tonnes of CO₂ storage capacity on schedule, it will serve as a powerful proof-of-concept for the commercial viability of CCUS hubs.
• Watch this: Watch for Eni to announce similar large-scale CCUS hub developments in other industrial regions, particularly in North America or continental Europe, and for an acceleration of its “satellite model” to fund this global expansion.
• This could be happening: This would signal that Eni is successfully creating a new, profitable service business around decarbonization, moving beyond just transitioning its own energy production. Success at this scale could prompt peers like Qatar Energy to accelerate their own CCUS investment programs to compete for industrial customers.

The questions your competitors are already asking

This report covers one angle of Eni’s strategy to finance its energy transition. The questions that matter most depend on your work.

• Private equity investment in carbon capture
• Large scale carbon capture projects in North America
• Oil and gas company investments in fusion energy
• Sustainable aviation fuel offtake agreements 2026

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