For the father of three Anglo-Saxon kings, see Eni of East Anglia. For places in Iran, see Eni, Iran.
Eni S.p.A. is an Italian multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Rome. Sometimes considered one of the globalsupermajors, it has operations in 79 countries, and is currently world's 11th largest industrial company with a market capitalization of 68 billion euros (US$ 90 billion), as of August 14, 2013. The Italian government owns a 30.303% golden share in the company, 3.934% held through the state Treasury and 26.369% held through the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. Another 2.012% of the shares are held by People's Bank of China. The company is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index.
The name "ENI" was initially the acronym of "Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi" (national hydrocarbons authority). Through the years after its foundation however, it operated in a large number of fields including contracting, nuclear power, energy, mining, chemicals and plastics, refining/extraction and distribution machinery, hospitality industry and even textile industry and news.Eni constantly ranks among the top 100 on Forbes Fortune Global 500 list for largest companies by revenue. In 2016, the company holds the 65th place, a fall of 40 places from the previous year's 25th rank.
Eni was founded and established by law in 1953 from an existing company, Agip, which was created in 1926 with the aim to explore for oilfields, acquire and commercialize oil and derivatives. In March 1953, Enrico Mattei was nominated Eni’s Chairman.
Eni originally was an acronym for the company's full title Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi. Since 1995 the meaning ceased to be relevant but the name was maintained.
In 1952 Eni chooses its own logo, the six-legged dog, an imaginary animal symbolizing the sum of a car’s four wheels and the two legs of its driver.
Starting 1954 Eni holds extensive exploration rights in North Africa signing an agreement with the Egyptian government led by Nasserwhile providing an active and equal role for the crude producing countries through the establishment of joint ventures.
In 1957 Eni pushed for a similar agreement, known as the "Mattei formula", to be signed with Persian Shah Reza Pahlavi and the National Iranian Company.
In 1960, during the Cold War period, Eni signed an agreement with the Soviet Union for the importation of Russian crude at very reasonable prices.
On 27 October 1962 Enrico Mattei died on an aircraft accident involving his twin-jet while surrounding Bascapè,] on his way to Milan from Catania.
During the following years, Eni signed contracts in joint venture with foreign companies to supply crude from Egypt to Iran and from Libya to Tunisia.
In 1967 Eni acquired Italgas.
In October 1973 after the Yom Kippur War and the embargo against the United States and the Netherlands agreed by OPEC members Arab countries, a serious oil crisis occurred, pushing Eni in need to consolidate its position in the international market by signing an agreement with Sonatrach, the Algerian state oil entity for natural gas supply.
In 1974 Eni signed an agreement with Libyan government, followed by further agreements with Egypt, Nigeria and Tunisia, while developing two new major oil discoveries in the British North Sea got on 1972.
During the middle 70’s Eni planned a major infrastructure for transporting natural gas over long distances by building a pipeline network of thousands of miles throughout Europeand the Mediterranean.
After the inauguration of the Trans-Mediterranean Pipeline connecting Algeria to Sicily through Tunisia, Eni signs a new agreement with Libya for the exploitation of Boùri, the biggest oilfield in the centre of the Mediterranean, and develops its international role within the oil industry.
In 1992 Eni became a joint stock company by Law Decree, and was listed to the Italian and New York Stock Exchange in 1995.
From 1995 to 1998 Eni put four share offers fully successfully, as 70% of its capital assets were sold to private shareholders.
As the price of oil collapsed in 1998 as other major companies Eni got to turn into a race through merges, international acquisitions, new explorations and the foundation of real super-companies.
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