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Eni

Image by Getty Images via @daylife
Eni S.p.A. (BIT: ENI, NYSE: E) is an Italian multinational oil and gas company, present in 70 countries, and currently Italy's largest industrial company with a market capitalization of 87.7 billion euros (US$138 billion), as of July 24, 2008.[2] The Italian government owns a 30% golden share in the company, 20% held through the state Treasury and 10% held through the Cassa depositi e prestiti.
Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 1950s–1960s
2 Current operations
2.1 Exploration and production
2.2 Natural gas
2.3 Power
2.4 Engineering and construction
3 Split proposal
4 Controversies
5 Subsidiaries
6 Notes
7 Bibliography
8 External links
[edit]History

[edit]1950s–1960s
Despite initial postwar plans to break up Agip, administrator Enrico Mattei converted it to a state monopoly, renamed Eni. The name derives from the initials of the company's original full title Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi, but is no longer used as an acronym. The Italian Government authorized its establishment on February 10, 1953 in order to implement a national energy strategy based on the concentration of all the activities in the energy sector into one group. Eni was to supply energy to Italy and contribute to the country's industrial development.
The head of Eni, Mattei, a center left politician, had developed cooperation with communist countries, and the import of oil from the Soviet Union became an important part of Eni's operations. At the same time, Eni was involved in a series of high profile political corruption scandals.
[edit]Current operations

[edit]Exploration and production
Its crude oil production comes primarily from Libya, Egypt, Nigeria, the Congo, the North Sea, and Angola, with smaller amounts of crude oil production in Tunisia and in the United States. Eni's China production began in 1992, although it currently amounts to only 1 percent of Eni's total crude oil production.
In 2007, oil and natural gas production for the full year averaged 1.74 millions boe per day, making Eni Europe's third largest refiner, after Royal Dutch Shell and Total S.A..
Eni carried out several hydrocarbon discoveries in recent years; the main discoveries were made in: Angola, Brazil, Congo, Egypt, Indonesia, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Scotland, the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska. In 2007, a total of 81 new exploratory wells were drilled (43.5 of which represented Eni's share). Moreover, the company acquired oil and gas assets in the Gulf of Mexico from Dominion Resources and in onshore Congo from Maurel & Prom with total expenditures amounting to €4.52 billion.
In January 2010 a consortium led by Eni was awarded a license to develop the Zubair field, one of the largest oil fields in Iraq.[3]
[edit]Natural gas
Eni operates in the supply, transport, distribution and sale of natural gas. Gas sales reached 99 billion cubic meters in 2007. In June 2008 the company bought a 57% stake in Distrigas, a Belgian company that supplies natural gas to industries, resellers and electricity producers.[4] In March 2009 it bought the remaining 43%.[5]
In December 2010, Eni entered into the shale gas exploration market by acquiring Minsk Energy Resources owning three licences in the Polish Baltic basin.[6]
[edit]Power
Eni's electricity generation sites in Italy, as of January 2010, are the following:
Natural Gas Power Plants
Brindisi - 1321 MW
Ferrara - 61 MW
Ferrera Erbognone - 1030 MW
Livorno - 199 MW
Mantova - 836 MW
Ravenna - 972 MW
Taranto - 300 MW
Photovoltaic Power Plants
Nettuno - 30 MW
[edit]Engineering and construction
Eni operates in engineering, oilfield services and construction both offshore and onshore through Saipem, a subsidiary listed on the Italian Stock Exchange (Eni's interest is 43%).
[edit]Split proposal

Activist asset manager Knight Vinke, which owns 1% of the outstanding shares of the company, in October 2009 has begun pressing Eni's management to operate a spin off of Eni’s gas activities. In its opinion this would solve the undervaluation of the company and release up to 50 billion euros ($70bn) of hidden value.[7]
[edit]Controversies

The Central Energy Italian Gas Holding scandal in 2005 involved Eni and Gazprom [8]
In 2009, the European Commission filed formal antitrust charges against Eni. The commission believes that Eni has conspired to keep competitors from using its gas pipelines.[9]
In 2009 again, according to the WikiLeaks cables, US ambassador Lanier told Washington that bribery allegations were made in Uganda by Eni which at the time was in competition for oil assets in the country against Tullow Oil. The bribes were taken by the newly appointed Ugandan prime minister, Amama Mbabazi. [10]
[edit]Subsidiaries

AGIP - (Azienda Generale Italiana Petroli - General Italian Oil Company) is an Italian automotive gasoline and diesel retailer.
AGI (100% owned) - Agenzia Giornalistica Italia (Italian Journalist Agency) is one of the main Italian news agencies.
Distrigas (100% owned) - a natural gas company based in Belgium
Polimeri Europa (100% owned) - Polimeri Europa is a petrochemical company that manages the production and marketing of petrochemical products such as olefines, aromatics and intermediates (base chemicals) , styrenes, elastomers and polyethylene, being also able to count on a range of proprietary technologies, advanced plant facilities and a broad-based distribution network.
Saipem (43% owned) - Saipem is an oil and gas industry contractor. Saipem has contracted for designing and constructing several pipelines, including Blue Stream, Greenstream, Nord Stream and South Stream.
Snam Rete Gas (50% owned) - Snam Rete Gas (BIT: SRG) owns Italy's largest natural gas pipeline system and is one of the twoLNG operators in Italy.
Eni UK - carries out operations in the British section of the North Sea, in the Irish Sea and off the coast of the Shetland Islands. Has been present in UK since 1964. In 2006 Eni UK's average net production of hydrocarbons was more than 141,000 boe/d.[11]
Eni India is expected to start drilling at a deepwater block 2, near Andaman and Nicobar Islands in Q2 of 2011 as it has received 2 year extension for the completion of drilling program. The program was delayed due to various environmental issues and scarcity of oil rigs. ENI India had won this block in 2005 and partners with ONGC and GAIL India.[12]
[edit]Notes

^ a b c d e f "Annual Report 2010". Eni. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
^ "Complete Financial Data on the Security ENI - Borsa Italiana". Retrieved 2008-07-25.
^ "Eni, Occidental Petroleum and KOGAS sign the technical service contract with Iraq's South Oil Company and Missan Oil Company to redevelop Zubair field". Eni. 22 Jan 2010.
^ "Publigas, Eni reach agreement on Distrigas sale". Forbes. 2008-06-26. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
^ Eni completes the acquisition of Distrigas (Press release). Eni. May 6, 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
^ "Eni enters European shale play". Upstream Online (NHST Media Group). 2010-12-10. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
^ "Letter to Eni CEO". Knight Vinke Asset Management. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
^ The Putin and Pals Project. Kommersant. Dec. 24, 2005
^ EU hits Italian energy group ENI with antitrust charges
^ "Uganda names bribes-claim minister new PM". Reuters. 2011-05-24.
^ "Eni starts production at the Blane oil field offshore UK". Milan: Eni. 2007-09-12. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
^ "ENI India to start drilling in Q2 of 2011". Kolkata: The Economic Times. 2010-10-26. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
[edit]Bibliography

(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

Total S.A.

The company was founded after World War I after the French Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré rejected the idea of forming a partnership with Royal Dutch Shell in favour of creating an entirely French oil company. At Poincaré's behest, Col. Ernest Mercier enlisted the support of ninety banks and companies to found Total on 28 March 1924, as the Compagnie française des pétroles (CFP), literally the "French Petroleum Company". Petroleum was seen as vital in the case of a new war with Germany. However, the company was from the start a private sector company (it was listed on the Paris Stock Exchange for the first time in 1929). CFP took up the 23.75% share of Deutsche Bank in the Turkish Petroleum Company (renamed the Iraq Petroleum Company), awarded to France as compensation for war damages caused by Germany during World War I by the San Remo conference.

Tour Total, the Paris headquarters in La Défense

In 1991 the company name became simply Total. After Total's takeover of Petrofina in 1999, it became known as Total Fina. Afterwards it also acquired Elf Aquitaine. First named TotalFinaElf after the merger in 2000, it was later renamed back to Total in May 2003.

Chart of the major energy companies dubbed "Big Oil" sorted by latest published revenue

As of 2010, Total had over 96,000 employees and operated in more than 130 countries [2] As recently as 1992, the French government still held 5% of the firm's shares, down from a peak of over thirty percent.[3] In the time period between 1990 and 1994, foreign ownership of the firm increased from 23 per cent to 44 per cent.

[edit]Senior management

Christophe de Margerie has been chief executive since 14 February 2007. His total annual compensation for this role is €2,746,335, consisting of a €1,250,000 salary and €1,496,335 bonus.[4][5]

[edit]Organisation

[edit]Business segments

[edit]Upstream

Exploration and Production

Gas and Power

Solar

[edit]Downstream

Refining & marketing

Trading & shipping

[edit]Chemicals

Total Petrochemicals

Fertilizers

Resins, adhesives and electroplating

Cray Valley

Sartomer

Cook Composites & Polymers

Atotech

Bostik

Elastomer Processing

[edit]Environmental record

A total filling station in Wetherby, West Yorkshire.

In 1998 the Total SA company was fined €375,000 for an oil spill that stretched 400 kilometers from La Rochelle to the western tip of Brittany. The company was only fined that amount because they were only partially liable because Total SA did not own the ship. The plaintiffs had sought more than $1.5 billion in damages. More than 100 groups and local governments joined in the suit. The Total company was fined just over $298,000,000.[contradictory] The majority of the money will go to the French government, several environmental groups, and various regional governments. The Total SA company was also fined $550,000 for the amount of marine pollution that came from it. After the oil spill they tried to restore their image and have opened a sea turtle conservation project in Masirah in recent years.

Prior to the verdict in which Total was found guilty one of the counterparts in the incident, Malta Maritime Authority (MMA), was not to be tried for having any hand in the incident. In 2005 Total submitted a report to the Paris courts which stated that Total had gotten a group of experts that stated the tanker had corrosion on it and that Total was responsible for it. The courts sought a second expert reviewing of this information which was turned down.[6]

The AZF chemical plant which exploded in 2001 in Toulouse, France, belonged to the Grande Paroisse branch of Total.

On 16 January 2008, Total was required to compensate all of the victims of the pollution caused by the sinking of the ship Erika. They are required to compensate the victims in the amount of €192 million. This is in addition to the €200 million that Total spent to help clean up the spill. The company feels that the verdict is unfair because it wasn't their fault the ship sank. They will be appealing the verdict because it forced the users of the ship to also be the inspectors and not the people that made the ship.[7]

On 13 August 2007, Total announced a lower fuel emission, lower emissions and cost-efficient petroleum product, named Evolution. Evolution is designed to let its user use less fuel and get further than other fuels. The product was developed exclusively for Total because of the demand for more energy efficient products. This fuel can be used with any engine that runs on unleaded.[8]

[edit]Renewable and nuclear power

Total announced in 2007 that they are exploring the possibilities of entering the nuclear power sector. Although they already own one per cent of Areva, the largest nuclear business in the world [9] Total does not currently have extensive involvement in nuclear power. However, in January 2008 Total announced that they were to sign an agreement with Suez and Areva to submit a nuclear power plant project to the authorities in the United Arab Emirates.[10]

On 29 April 2011, Total agreed to buy 60% of photovoltaics company SunPower for US$1.38 billion.[11]

[edit]Controversies

[edit]Myanmar investments

Despite the European Union's sanctions against the military dictatorship Myanmar, Total is able to operate the Yadana natural gas pipeline from Burma to Thailand. Total is currently the subject of a lawsuit in French and Belgian courts for the condoning and use of the country's civilian slavery to construct the pipeline. The documentary 'Total Denial' shows the background of this project.[12] The NGO Burma Campaign UK is currently[when?] campaigning against this project.

[edit]Italian bribes

On 16 December 2008, the managing director of the Italian division of Total Lionel Levha, along with ten other executives, was arrested by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Potenza, Italy, for a corruption charge of €15 million to undertake the oilfield in Basilicata on contract. Also arrested was the local deputy of Partito Democratico Salvatore Margiotta and an Italian entrepreneur.[13][14]

[edit]UN Oil-for-Food Programme for Iraq

In April 2010, Total was accused of bribing Iraqi officials during former dictator Saddam Hussein's regime to secure oil supplies. A United Nations report later revealed that Iraqi officials had received bribes from oil companies to secure contracts worth over $10bn (£6.5bn).[15]

[edit]Investments in Iran

Total has been a significant investor in the Iranian energy sector since 1990.[16] Total is suspected of concealing the source of its oil imports from Iran.[17] On 28 June 2010 Total announced that it would cease shipments of oil products to Iran following adoption by the United States of economic sanctions against the country.[18]

[edit]Western Sahara oil exploration

In October 2001, Total signed a contract for oil-reconnaissance in areas offshore Western Sahara (near Dakhla), with the "Moroccan Office National de Recherches et d’Exploitations Petrolières" (ONAREP). In January 2002, Hans Corell (the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs) stated in a letter to the President of the Security Council that whenever the contracts are only for exploration they're not illegal, but if further exploration or exploitation are against the interests and wishes of the people of Western Sahara, they would be in violation of the principles of international law.[19] Finally, Total decided did not renew their license off Western Sahara.[20]

Capsized Review

The Good

• Richly detailed environments are captivating   
• A lot of fun ways to move around  
• Physics allow for creativity.

The Bad

• Problematic cooperative play   
• No online leaderboards.

The thrill of exploration and the desire to experience new things are two of the driving motivations that have fueled humanity's endeavors for thousands of years. For ages, this involved such dangerous acts as going to sea or tasting a new food described only as "Trust me," but nowadays all you need is the right machine and some money in your pocket. For the reasonable price of $9.99, Capsized takes you to a fertile alien world bursting with eye-catching vegetation and populated by a diverse range of unusual creatures, many of which want to kill you. To survive, you must fend off your assailants with powerful firearms, as well as master the mechanics of moving through this strange two-dimensional landscape. The locomotion tools encourage experimentation, and it's a joy to jump, fly, swing, and rocket your way through each level. Getting a feel for how to manipulate objects in order to solve puzzles and kill enemies is also a blast, and by the end of the campaign, you'll be eager to jump back into earlier levels and get even more creative with your hard-earned skills. The physics system behind this fun is prone to occasional hiccups, and there are other minor issues that crop up in the arcade modes (co-op is a bit wonky), but these are small matters compared to the immense satisfaction of adventuring through this beautiful and deadly world.

Shoot them, squish them, or fling a boulder at them.

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The situation is straightforward: your spaceship has crashed on an alien planet, and as one of the few survivors, you must locate crew members, call for help, and get yourself rescued. To accomplish all this, you must set off into the jungles of this lush world, which are an absolute treat for the eyes. The ground you walk across is a detailed mosaic of rocks and plants that come in many shapes and sizes. Small fungal bulbs, long dangling vines, and a rich variety of growths that wouldn't look out of place in a coral reef cover the landscape. There are also harmless creatures that stalk through the near background, grazing in the undergrowth or fluttering through the air. Faded scenery in the deep background creates a nice sense of depth, and the quality of sunlight changes to reflect how deep below the canopy you are. Eerie, atmospheric music adds a wonderful dimension to the alien ambience, and this artfully realized world continues to reveal lovely details even after hours of playing, making it a pleasure to explore these exotic environments.

To traverse these beautiful yet treacherous lands, you must make good use of your varied skill set. You walk at a moderate pace and jump many times your own height, thanks to the relatively low gravitational pull. This also means that when you jump into a wall, you can hang there indefinitely by holding the directional key toward the surface. You can use this trick to jump up walls as well, and this vertical mobility makes you feel nimbler than the average spaceman. The jetpack is another way to reach high places and gives you the freedom of flight as long as you can find the supplies to fuel it. Your gun plays a role in locomotion too. It's equipped with a gravity ram that shoots a short burst of force that violently propels you away from any surface, object, or enemy that you are close to. Point it at the ground, and it flings you into the air much higher than you can jump. Point it at a wall, and you can jet across a chasm to a far ledge. Shoot an object, and depending on its properties, it might zip forward (small rock), shoot you backward (big rock), or possibly even crumble to pieces (boxes and wood structures). Some enemies can be killed outright with the gravity ram, while others are too tough, and blasting them can send you rocketing backward like an inkless squid.

Your final movement tool is a hook that you can shoot in any direction. This hook is attached to your body by a kind of laser elastic and when it hits a surface or an object, it latches on and the elastic begins to contract. You can use it to drag yourself up to a platform or onto a wall. You can also swing through the air like Tarzan and use the elasticity to slingshot yourself to great heights. Furthermore, this tool lets you interact with enemies and objects in some neat ways. Hook an enemy, and you zip together for some close-quarters combat (protip: equip the flamethrower). Latch onto a large object, and you can drag it around, maybe removing a barrier or triggering a button. Snag a smaller object, and a force field encircles it. This means that not only can you carry it with you and move it around at will, but once you disengage the hook, you gravity-ram the object in whatever direction you aim. Quick-moving objects have destructive potential, and you can use them to damage enemies or break barriers.

Even gloomy corridors hide colorful surprises.

Between the hook, the gravity ram, the jetpack, and your clinging jump ability, Capsized gives you an impressively diverse array of locomotion tools. It's possible to make it through the game relying on only some of them, but you'd be missing out on so many delightful possibilities. Sure, you could burn a bunch of jetpack fuel to reach a high platform, but you could also climb a nearby wall and then gravity-ram yourself into space, deploy your hook to the ceiling, and gracefully swing up there. You can cling to a wall to avoid falling a long distance, but if you stay in the dive and shoot your hook once you've got a good head of steam, you can launch far beyond where you initially fell from. Finding out new ways to take advantage of your abilities makes exploring levels that much more exploratory, and the different sensations of movement combine in gratifying and invigorating ways.