Italian multinational oil and gas company ENI signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Qatar Petroleum International, with both companies agreeing to seek joint investment opportunities in international projects in the exploration and production sector. The companies will focus on exploiting new or existing resources of natural gas and oil, as well as developing joint projects in power generation and the petrochemical industry. ENI had operated in Qatar since 1967 but abandoned it in 2002 as part of a revision of its asset portfolio. “Abandoning the country was one of our major mistakes,” ENI CEO Paolo Scaroni said. Qatar’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy Abdullah Bin Hamad Al- Attiyah, who signed the MOU on behalf of Qatar Petroleum International, said: “Today’s signature marks another milestone in Qatar Petroleum’s realising our ambition of becoming a leading global energy company, a goal that depends on the development of key projects in Africa and the Mediterranean area through the cooperation with leading partners.” Scaroni said ENI will bid alone for four blocks without any partners but expected keen competition from its peers. “We expect very tough competition — these are very attractive blocks,” he said. “We want to win at least some of them.”