Ithaca appoints ENI's Luciano Vasques CEO as Q1 profits fall

North Sea oil and gas explorer Ithaca Energy on Tuesday said it had appointed ENI executive Luciano Vasques as chief executive officer following its £750m deal to buy almost all of the Italian firm’s UK assets and reported a fall in first-quarter profits on weaker gas prices and lower production.

Vasques will replace interim CEO Iain Lewis, who will return to his chief finance role. Currently managing director of Eni UK, Vasques led the recent acquisition and integration of Neptune Energy.

The company, which will become one of the North Sea’s biggest explorers after the deal is completed, also reported lower first-quarter earnings due to weaker gas prices, but held full-year guidance.

Adjusted core earnings fell to $339m for the three months to March 31 from $518m a year ago when gas prices surged in the wake of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The company reported total production of 58,699 barrels of oil equivalent (boe/d) per day during the period, down from 75,257 boe/d in the first three months of 2023.

“The company’s first quarter performance was in line with our expectations and factored into our full year guidance set towards the end of March, following a number of operational issues across our non-operated joint venture portfolio that have now been resolved,” Lewis added.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com