Eni

Multinational oil and gas company based in Italy

Eni S.p.A. (NYSEE) is an Italian multinational oil and gas company. Eni is present in 61 countries, and currently is Italy's largest industrial company. It has a market capitalization of US$ 50 billion, as of 31 December 2023.[1] The Italian Government owns a 30.33% golden share in the company. Golden shares are special stock shares that allow the government to control a company. 4.37% of the shares are held through the state Treasury and 25.96% are held through the Cassa depositi e prestiti[2] (a bank mostly owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Italy). In 2023 Eni ranks 81st on the Fortune Global 500 and 61st on the Forbes Global 2000 list for largest companies by revenue.[3][4]

ENI S.p.A.
Company typeJoint-stock company (NYSEE)
IndustryPetroleum industry
Founded10 February 1953
HeadquartersRome, Italy
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Giuseppe Zafarana (Chairman), Claudio Descalzi (CEO)
ProductsOil and natural gas exploration, production, refining and marketing, electricity generation, renewable energy, oil and gas engineering and construction
Revenue€93.72 billion (2023)[1]
€8.257 billion (2023)[1]
€4.771 billion (2023)[1]
Number of employees
33.142 (2023)[1]
SubsidiariesEnilive, Eni Plenitude, Versalis, Eni Rewind, EniPower, EniProgetti, Saipem
Websitewww.eni.com

History change

 
ENI Palace, Rome, built 1959-1962.[5] Photo by Paolo Monti, 1967.

Agip was started in 1926. After World War II, Enrico Mattei was appointed Special Administrator to close down Agip. With the discovery of the Caviaga gas field in the Po Valley, the process of closing Agip was halted. Enrico Mattei converted it to a state monopoly (a company with no competition), and renamed it Eni. Eni comes from the company's original full name Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi (National Hydrocarbons Agency). Eni was to supply energy to Italy and contribute to the country's industrial development.

Eni decided that natural gas would supply the energy needed from the crisis of the 1973 oil embargo. They import gas from the Soviet Union and the Netherlands. Snam started the Transmediterranean pipeline, moving gas from the Hassi-R-Mel field in Algeria to the Po Valley. The gas pipeline was more than 2,500 km or 1550 miles long. It started in the Algerian desert and crosses Tunisia. It then crosses the Sicilian Channel at a water depth of over 650 metres or 2100 feet. Next it goes through Sicily and up the length of the entire Italian peninsula.

In the 1990s, Eni changed from a public corporation into a joint stock company. Most of Eni's share capital was put on the market in four successive public issues. Agip's international work increased with new acquisitions in Algeria, China, Angola, the North Sea and Egypt. New agreements were signed with Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and for the Nigerian and Angolan deep water oil. Eni incorporated Agip, and became an oil and gas producer. Eni's daily oil and gas production reached the equivalent of 1,871 million barrels of oil.

In the 2000s, Eni started many projects for the production of renewable sources in Italy, such as the conversion of its refineries in Porto Marghera[6] and in Gela[7] into biorefineries (refineries that convert organic material to energy), or Progetto Italia, to build photovoltaic plants in Sardinia (Assemini,[8] Porto Torres[9]).

Eni is the main shareholder of the American company Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS).[10] Together with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), CFS is trying to build a fusion reactor using a principle called Tokamak. This reactor is expected to be cheaper than the ones designed in other international projects.[11] In September 2021 CFS carried out an experiment using high-temperature superconductors, which showed that it is possible to create a fusion chamber that mimics the fusion process of deuterium and tritium that occurs inside the sun, in order to produce sustainable energy.[12]

Current operations change

Exploration and production change

Eni operates in the exploration (searching) and production of hydrocarbons (oil and natural gas) in Italy, North Africa, West Africa, the North Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and Australia. It also operates in areas with great potential to produce oil such as the Caspian Sea, the Middle and Far East, India and Alaska.

Its crude oil production comes primarily from Libya, Egypt, Nigeria, the Congo, the North Sea, and Angola. Smaller amounts of crude oil production come from Tunisia and in the United States. Eni's China production began in 1992, but it is only 1 percent of Eni's total crude oil production.

Gas change

Eni supplies natural gas. Gas sales reached 50,51 billion cubic meters in 2023.[1] In June 2008 the company bought 57% of Distrigas, a Belgian company that supplies natural gas.[13] In March 2009 it bought the rest of Distrigas. As of June 30, 2009 Distrigas is a fully owned subsidiary of Eni.[14]

Power change

Eni's generates electricity in Italy, using both natural gas and solar power.

Engineering and construction change

Eni operates Saipem, a subsidiary, and owns 30.54% of the company. Saipem works in engineering, and oilfield services and construction.

Refining and marketing change

Eni is one of the majors operators in refining and marketing of petroleum products in Italy.[15] Eni is also engaged in retail and wholesales activities in Central Europe and Eastern Europe.[16]

Sustainability change

Since 2007, Eni ranked in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index [17] and it was also included in the FTSE4Good Index,[18] two famous indexes that evaluate the sustainability performance and the ethical investments of the companies that are listed on international markets. In 2013 Eni was the only FTSE MIB (Milano Italia Borsa) company to have the triple E for Standard Ethics.[19] Eni is among the Top 10 companies by sustainability score in the WBCSD rank, a rank conceived by a global organization including over 200 international companies that works on issues related to sustainable development.[20] Eni is involved in many projects to help fighting the climate change and cooperates with several institution to reduce its impact on the environment.[21][22]

Controversies change

The Central Energy Italian Gas Holding scandal in 2005 involved Eni and Gazprom. Eni was one of the two companies selected to provide natural gas to Italy. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was a close friend of one of the main owners of Eni. The Italian parliament canceled the contract.[23] In 2009, the European Commission filed formal antitrust charges against Eni. The commission believes that Eni has conspired (planned) to keep competitors from using its gas pipelines.[24] In 2010, Eni proposed to sell its shares of the pipelines TAG, TENP e Transitgas and the European Commission accepted Eni proposal.[25]

References change

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "Annual Report 2023" (PDF). Eni.
  2. "Eni Shareholders".
  3. "ENI | 2023 Global 500". Fortune. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  4. "The Global 2000 2023". Forbes.
  5. La costruzione dell'architettura: temi e opere del dopoguerra italiano. Gangemi Editore. 2016. pp. 190–. ISBN 978-88-492-9096-7.
  6. "Eni has converted its refinery in Porto Marghera, Venice, to the production of high quality bio-fuel from vegetable oil and biomass".
  7. "Eni opens Gela bio-refinery in Europe".
  8. "ENI BUILDS PHOTOVOLTAIC PLANT AT SALT-PRODUCTION SITE IN SOUTHERN ITALY". 5 July 2018.
  9. "Eni Starts Production at Photovoltaic Plant in Porto Torres". Archived from the original on 2020-08-15. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  10. "A new era in fusion research at MIT". News.mit.
  11. Tollefson, Jeff (2018). "MIT launches multimillion-dollar collaboration to develop fusion energy". Nature. 555 (7696): 294–295. doi:10.1038/d41586-018-02966-3. PMID 29542724.
  12. "Fusion gets closer with successful test of new kind of magnet at MIT start-up backed by Bill Gates". CNBC. 8 September 2021.
  13. "Distrigas Transaction" (PDF). Eni.
  14. "Eni completes the acquisition of Distrigas". Eni. May 6, 2009. Archived from the original on 2011-07-10. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
  15. "OIL REFINING IN ITALY".
  16. "Global Presence". eni.com.
  17. "Eni marks ninth year on Dow Jones Sustainability Index".
  18. "Eni SpA: Eni confirmed in the FTSE4Good Index".
  19. "STANDARD ETHICS ITALIAN INDEX" (PDF).
  20. "WBCSD Reporting Matters 2019" (PDF).
  21. "UNEP: Oil and Gas Methane Partnership Initiative to Manage Methane Emissions from Upstream Oil and Gas Operations".
  22. "Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership (GGFR)".
  23. The Putin and Pals Project Archived 2013-11-07 at the Wayback Machine. Kommersant. Dec. 24, 2005
  24. "EU hits Italian energy group ENI with antitrust charges". Archived from the original on 2009-04-26. Retrieved 2010-07-27.
  25. "Unilateral conduct in the energy sector: An overview of EU and national case law".

Bibliography change

  • (en) Marcello Boldrini, Mattei, Rome, Colombo, 1969
  • (it) Marcello Colitti, Energia e sviluppo in Italia, Bari, De Donato, 1979
  • (en) Paul H. Frankel, Oil and Power Policy, New York – Washington, Praeger, 1966
  • (en) Pier Paolo Pasolini, Petrolio, various
  • (it) Nico Perrone, Enrico Mattei, Bologna, Il mulino, 2001 ISBN 8-81507-913-0

Other websites change