Mar. 15 – The chief executive of Eni, Paolo Scaroni, and the CEO of PetroChina Company Limited, a subsidiary of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Zhou Jiping, signed in Beijing a Joint Study Agreement for co-operation and development for the shale gas block known as Rongchang. This block extends to about 2,000 square kilometers in the Sichuan Basin, China. This area, located close to the main Chinese consumer markets and for which the mining risk has already been reduced by research and production tests, has proven to be the most promising in the country. The agreement will allow to study the area while negotiations to sign the Production Sharing Agreement will take place. Simultaneously, it was agreed that ENI will sell 28.57% of its ENI East Africa (active in Area 4 in offshore Mozambique) shares to CNPC. With this operation, CNPC will indirectly acquire a 20% stake in Area 4, while ENI will remain main shareholder at 50%. The remaining shares are held by Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos de Mocambique (ENH, 10%), Kogas (10%) and Galp Energia (10%).
