Does Eni support Israel?

Won six offshore natural-gas exploration licences in Israel's “Zone G” — blocks 27, 28, 36, 37, 70 and 74, southwest of the Leviathan field — as designated operator of a consortium with the UK's Dana Petroleum and Israel's Ratio Energies, awarded in Israel's fourth offshore bid round on 29 October 2023, weeks into the Israel–Hamas war. Eni never took the licence up. Globes reports that Eni held back from taking the licence up for about two years, which it attributes to Eni's geopolitical concerns; Ratio told the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange that in October 2025 Eni notified Israel's Petroleum Commissioner and the other consortium members of its decision to withdraw. Ratio disclosed the withdrawal only in March 2026. Dana Petroleum, now owned by Korea National Oil Company, is to take over as operator; the two partners intend to take the licence from Israel's Energy Ministry in the second quarter of 2026, and the partnership is assessing compensation Eni may have to pay. As of March 2026 the licences had not been granted.

On 14 November 2022 Eni signed a memorandum of principles with the State of Israel, together with France's TotalEnergies — the two companies holding the licence to develop Lebanon's Block 9. Signed after Israel's cabinet approved the Israel–Lebanon maritime boundary agreement, the document set a framework for the parties' joint work up to a detailed agreement and guidelines for fixing Israel's economic consideration for its share of the cross-border Sidon–Qana prospect — not the consideration itself, and no sum was agreed. Globes reported that Eni, partly owned by the Italian state, had held up the signing, which was due before the cabinet vote, and gave its consent after receiving clarifications and under political pressure. This is a commercial arrangement with the Israeli government, not a donation and not a statement of support.

Transferred substantially all of its UK upstream business — Eni UK, excluding the East Irish Sea assets and CCUS activities — to Ithaca Energy plc, the London-listed North Sea producer controlled by Israel's Delek Group, in exchange for new Ithaca shares rather than cash. Eni announced the agreement on 23 April 2024, when the shares to be issued to Eni UK represented 38.5% of Ithaca's enlarged share capital, and announced completion on 3 October 2024 at about 38.7%. Eni's announcement also set out that after a sell-down by Delek and a 1% call option Delek would hold 52.7% and Eni 37.3%, with 10% in public hands, and that Eni may appoint two non-executive directors for as long as it holds more than 20%. Globes reported that Delek Group, controlled by Yitzhak Tshuva, held close to 90% of Ithaca before the deal, and put the value set for the shares Eni received at $940 million and the valuation of the Eni UK business for the merger at about $950 million. The assets are in the UK North Sea, not in Israel: this is a share-for-assets transaction with an Israeli-controlled company, and no payment to Israel or to any Israeli body is recorded.