Italy's Eni is planning to spin off a group of domestic downstream assets, including its traditional oil refineries, into a new company as part of its "satellite" strategy to attract capital and investment, according to trade unions.
Following a meeting with Eni representatives on 17 June, trade union Filctem-Cgil said the company has begun the legal process to establish the new entity, which will be called Eni Industrial Evolution (EIE) from 1 July.
"The operation includes the refineries of Taranto, Livorno, Sannazzaro, Milazzo [50pc], the research centre, 16 fuel depots and Costiero Gas [the Livorno LPG facility]," said Filctem-Cgil national secretary Antonio Pepe.
Pepe said the new company will not include the biorefineries in Venice and Gela, nor the Eni Slurry Technology (EST) unit, which enables fuel production from oil waste and heavy crudes.
"We don't understand why the biorefineries have been excluded," he said, adding that EIE will initially operate for Eni and later for other companies.
Trade union Femca Cisl, which also met with Eni managers this week, said EIE will absorb the assets of Eni's Refining Evolution & Transition business. It will manage traditional refining, primary logistics and the planned conversion of the Livorno and part of the Sannazzaro sites into biorefineries, it said.
"Eni has guaranteed a gradual transition without any unexpected stops in production, confirming the strategic importance of traditional refining to the group," said Femca Cisl national secretary Sebastiano Tripoli.
Tripoli also welcomed Eni's announcement of a €50mn investment at the Sannazzaro refinery to upgrade the capacity of its fluid catalytic cracking unit.
Eni declined to comment.
In recent years, the company has spun off several businesses, including its retail and renewables unit Plenitude and biofuels division Enilive. It has also carved out its Norwegian and Angolan upstream assets into Var Energi and Azule Energy, respectively, and could sell a minority stake in its carbon capture and storage business.
