Claudio Descalzi, CEO, Eni, Delivered a Keynote Address at the Opening Ceremony of AOG 2025

Good morning. Not easy to talk about after NJ because it puts a lot of pressure on us. So I want to first of all address your excellency, President of Angola, João Manuel Lourenço, the first lady, distinguished Minister of Mineral Resources and Petroleum, Diamantino Azevedo, distinguished members of the Angola government, distinguished representatives of the oil and gas industry, all protocol observed. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm honored to be here today. I would like to start by expressing my sincere gratitude to the president and to the government of Angola and to the conference organizers. Above all, I want to congratulate the people of Angola on the 50 years of independence. Eni is proud to have worked alongside Angola for much of this journey. We started in 1980 in Angola. What brings us together today is not just a celebration of past achievement. It is a shared commitment to support Angola in shaping its own future. That means investment, but not just investment in oil and gas. And then we'll see what I'm talking about. Eni's journey in Angola has been characterized by a longstanding fruitful collaboration, fostering development and delivering significant achievement, particularly in the oil and gas sector. We have pioneered projects with a strong focus on time to market in a complex environment and cost effective execution through our ongoing commitment to apply new technologies. That has been always our first priority. One outstanding example is block 15/06, which showcases our concrete achievement. Here we have reached an impressive 82% success rate in exploration wells and discovered almost six billion barrels of oil equivalent of exploration resources. These milestones reflect not only our consistent effort in exploration but also our dedication to building local capacity and creating long-term value for Angola. Moreover, we strengthened our position in Angola through Azul Energy, which represents a bold step forward. This joint venture between BP and Eni merges our strengths into a focused and effective entity. By combining the technical expertise and integrated project support of both companies, it is an early phase, but Azul has already demonstrated safe, efficient, and impactful operations, achieving excellent results. But more than that, it is a strong financial and industrial company for future exploration, development, and innovation designed to deliver enduring benefit for Angola's energy sector. Since its inception in less than three years, Azul has invested more than five billion dollars, and in the next four years plans to invest an additional five billion dollars. We believe the future of upstream lies in new technologies consistently paired with fast-track development. The integrated West Hub is a primary example, combining FPSO technology and subsea infrastructure with streamlined and phased project execution. Such approach allows us to risk-optimize investment and shorten time to value. This project reached first oil in June in just 29 months from final investment decision, 10 months ahead of schedule. So for that reason we always put a stress on time to value. It's true that we have to be secure, but it's clear that we don't have to waste time, and that is a priority for us, for Eni, for BP, for Azul. Crucially, Azul is being developed with a clear goal of net carbon neutrality over its entire life cycle. This commitment is not an abstract future promise; it is being realized today through electrification and the reduction of flaring, and a unit on the barge to capture CO2 through a CCS project and inject. So it's true that we are going to produce oil and gas, but we have to produce low carbon fuel, have to reduce emissions. That is the primary priority for us and I think also for the country. Furthermore, we are confident that natural gas will play a central role in Angola's future, diversifying the energy sector, reducing carbon emissions, and driving ongoing economic and social development. Together with our partners, we are advancing the new gas consortium project in Quiluma and Mabubas fields. The country's first non-associated gas development, which will unlock new energy resources and ensure a reliable supply for the Angola LNG plant. In addition, Azul Energy's recent Gajajera discovery, the first dedicated gas exploration well drilled in Angola, will make even more resources available for the country's growth and prosperity and also diversification of gas utilization, as we discussed yesterday with the minister. Angola is poised to become a leader in the energy sector. To seize this moment, long-term vision and sustainability are essential. Eni's strategy in Angola reflects this as we expand our portfolio, pursuing diversification and focus on creating long-lasting value. In 2023, we inaugurated the Caculo photovoltaic power plant, delivering the first 25 megawatt phase of clean energy. We are collaborating to optimize and increase output at the Luanda refinery and exploring the development of a new bio-refinery dedicated primarily to sustainable aviation fuel. Our local agri-feedstock program supports the biofuel production chain, a vital step in decarbonizing transport and linking energy transition goals to rural development and agriculture, especially creating new jobs. Through agriculture, we can create new jobs. In our projects in Africa, in three years we created more than 150,000 new jobs in different countries in Africa, and that is a project also ongoing in Angola. We are also proud of our legacy of sustainability initiatives. Azul Energy is expanding our efforts to strengthen healthcare and environmental resilience, developing a cardio-surgical hospital and distributing improved cookstoves. That is a big project that is covering at the moment more than 300,000 people and it's going to improve in the future. And in partnership with the Halo Trust, we are clearing landmines and restoring land, making communities safer and enabling the recovery of agriculture and economic activity. Ladies and gentlemen, as Angola turns toward its next 50 years, Eni is honored to continue this journey by your side, building a future of innovation, opportunity, and sustainable energy for all. Thank you very much.