Eni SpA (E) said Thursday that it expects hydrocarbon output to grow by about 3% in the 2015-2022 period as the top Italian oil and natural gas company aims to drum up its credentials among leading upstream players after shedding its regulated gas assets and freeing up funds to spend on large projects.

Eni said it also expects hydrocarbon production to rise by more than 3% adjusted for factors such as the disruptions in Libya following last year's civil war that toppled Moammar Gadhafi.

Italy 's biggest oil and gas company by volume said it expects more than 1.3 million barrels of oil equivalent in new daily production by 2022.

Earlier this year, Italy 's technocrat government of Prime Minister Mario Monti forced Eni to shed its controlling stake in Snam SpA (SRG.MI), the country's biggest gas grid and storage company by capacity, to open up the energy sector to competition. Eni has agreed to sell the majority of its stake to state-controlled Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA.

Eni, which is one of Africa 's biggest oil producers, is spearheading its exploration growth with large-scale projects as it faced disruptions from its large Libyan operation.

The Rome-based company expects its share of daily production in Libya to be an average of 240,000 barrels of oil equivalent in 2012, Roberto Casula, executive vice president of Africa and Middle East , said in a company presentation in London .

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