Eni: Success through satellites

The Italian firm is unique among IOCs in setting up entities specialising in particular regions and low-carbon technologies, creating greater flexibility in attracting investment

Italian IOC Eni has outperformed many of its peers in recent years—an achievement the company and analysts attribute to a pioneering ‘satellite’ business model and a focus on low-cost projects with fast delivery. Under the satellite model, Eni has created a number of entities with dedicated management and separate balance sheets. In the low-carbon space. These businesses include Plenitude, launched in 2017 to develop renewables, energy retail and electric vehicle (EV) services, and Enilive, created in 2023 for biorefining and biofuel sales. Eni also established an entity focused on CCUS this year. Eni has separated out some parts of its core oil and gas operations as well. In 2018, it establ