Sales

Sales volumes on the Italian market declined by 5.75 bcm, or 14.4%, to 34.29 bcm. The decline was driven by lower sales recorded in the power generation business (down 5.64 bcm), as clients opted to directly purchase gas on the marketplace. Lower sales to industrial customers (down 1.17 bcm) and wholesalers (down 1.08 bcm) were caused by increased competitive pressure fuelled by oversupply and weak demand. Sales on the Italian exchange for gas and spot markets increased by 2.28 bcm, while sales volumes to the residential sector (6.39 bcm, up 0.09 bcm) were nearly unchanged.

International sales were down 0.91 bcm, or 1.4%, to 62.77 bcm, due to a decline by 2.04 bcm (down 19.5%) of sales to importers in Italy related to oversupply on the Italian market.

Despite strong competitive pressures, sales on target markets in Europe showed a positive trend, increasing by approximately 1 bcm, or 2.5%, to 46.08 bcm. The main drivers behind the increase were organic growth achieved in France (up 1.18 bcm due to organic growth), Northern Europe (including the UK, up 0.91 bcm), Germany/Austria (up 0.31 bcm) and the Iberian Peninsula (up 0.30 bcm). Declines were recorded in Turkey (down 0.84 bcm), Belgium (down 0.80 bcm) and Hungary (down 0.22 bcm).

Sales to markets outside Europe (2.60 bcm) increased by 0.54 bcm, or 26.2%, from 2009.

E&P sales in Europe and in the United States (5.65 bcm) declined by 0.52 bcm.

In 2010, LNG sales (15 bcm) increased by 2.1 bcm from 2009, up 16.3%, mainly reflecting higher volumes sold by the Gas & Power segment (11.2 bcm, included in worldwide gas sales) that increased by 1.4 bcm from 2009, due to increased marketing and trading activities.