Italian oil producer Eni sees jump in profits

Italian gas and oil giant Eni says its fourth-quarter profits rose more than five-fold to 2.1 billion euros ($2.6 billion) thanks to higher gas prices and record production.

That compares with fourth-quarter earnings last year of 340 million euros. In the period, Brent crude prices rose by nearly a quarter to $61.39 a barrel.

Eni reported a record production level last year of 1.9 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in December, as it posted the highest quarterly production for the last seven years. The increased production was due to startups in Egypt, Angola, Ghana and Indonesia.

Eni said it returned to profits for the full-year, with earnings of 3.4 billion euros for 2017 compared with a 1.4 billion euro loss the year before.