MILAN (Reuters) – Italian energy group Eni said on Thursday it would invest 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) in five years to decarbonise and relaunch its loss-making chemical unit Versalis.
“Eni aims to significantly reduce Versalis’ exposure to basic chemicals, a sector that is facing structural and irreversible decline in Europe,” the group said in a statement, adding that the unit suffered losses of nearly 7 billion euros over the past 15 years.
The restructuring aims to reduce emissions by approximately 1 million tonnes of CO2, currently around 40% of Versalis’ emissions in Italy, Eni said.
($1 = 0.9264 euros)
(Reporting by Francesca Landini, editing by Gianluca Semeraro)