Italian energy company Eni said Thursday it doubled its net profit during the second quarter despite a poor market environment in the European refining sector.

Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi said the market environment had deteriorated for the company in the European refining sector. Nevertheless, net profit increased from $368 million during second quarter 2013 to $881 million in its most recent report.

"Eni reported a significant increase in cash flow thanks to the renegotiation of long-term gas supply contracts," he said in a statement. "In the upstream sector, exploration continues to deliver outstanding successes and, in the context of the complex geopolitical environment, our oil and gas production remains stable."

The company in a separate statement Thursday announced it made a natural gas discovery off the coast of Gabon, with an initial potential reserve estimate of 500 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Eni said second quarter oil and gas production remained relatively unchanged when compared with second quarter 2013. Its resource base, however, increased by 420 million barrels of oil equivalent in the first half of the year, with growth primarily coming from African basins.