Italian government poised to back new mandate for Eni CEO, sources say

Adds climate change think tank comment in paragraphs 10-12

MILAN, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is poised to back Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi for a new three-year term at the energy group, three sources close to the matter said, paving the way for the top executive to extend his reign as the company's longest-serving head.

Descalzi, 70, has been Eni ENI.MI chief executive since 2014, having built a career in the group as an upstream and exploration expert with a deep knowledge of Africa. The executive is available to serve for another term, one of the sources said.

Meloni's administration, which controls the group with a total stake of nearly 32%, will call the shots at Eni's shareholder meeting in early May, when investors are due to vote for the appointment of the management team.

"These are decisions that are up to our shareholders, and therefore we do not comment on them," a spokesman for Eni said.

The prime minister's office was not available to comment.

TEAMING UP WITH PARTNERS

After helping Rome to replace Russian gas supplies in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Descalzi has masterminded the creation of low-carbon divisions at the oil and gas group and supervised the opening up of these ventures to investment firms including U.S. group KKR KKR.N.

This move has allowed Eni to share the financial effort needed to develop biofuel venture Enilive, retail and renewable unit Plenitude and Eni's carbon capture business with deep-pocketed global partners.

One of the challenges for the 52-billion euro group and its top management in the next three years will be to support growth at its new units and make sure that returns promised to the investment partners are delivered, analysts said.

Despite creating low-carbon ventures, Eni has been protecting its oil and gas business and investing only a small part of its money in renewables, critics say.

A new term for the Eni CEO should be accompanied by a commitment to steer the group towards electrification, embracing technologies that could ensure competitiveness and independence for Italy, Matteo Leonardi, co-founder of climate change think-tank ECCO said.

"The CEO should commit to outlining what actions will be taken to protect the company from climate risk. They should explain how the company intends to achieve net zero within its overall strategy and ensure that the investment plan aligns with these objectives," Leonardi told Reuters.

(Reporting by Francesca LandiniEditing by Keith Weir)

((Email: francesca.landini@thomsonreuters.com))