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Rome: ENI, Italy's largest oil company, said first-quarter profit rose 28 per cent after adding production at fields in the Gulf of Mexico and Africa.
Net income climbed to 3.32 billion euros ($5.23 billion) from 2.59 billion euros a year earlier, the Rome-based company said yesterday. Oil and gas production gained 3.6 per cent to 1.8 million barrels a day.
ENI is adding output at deposits it acquired from Alaska to Siberia as energy companies step up their search for reserves. The company is seeking fields to help boost production by an average 4.5 per cent a year through 2011.
Expanding by purchasing production abroad "represents a good opportunity", Niccolo Pini, who helps manage about $1.3 billion at Banca Ifigest in Florence, Italy, said.
Profit excluding changes in the value of inventories rose 14 per cent to 3.05 billion euros, beating analysts' estimates. Profit by that measure was expected to be 2.84 billion euros, according to the median estimate of seven analysts. Production met analyst estimates of 1.8 million barrels a day in the quarter.
The company will boost output to more than 1.8 million barrels a day this year, ENI chief executive Paolo Scaroni said on February 15.
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