ENI SVILUPPO GIACIMENTI GAS OFFSHORE

The project consists of the drilling, workover and/or side-tracking of 85 wells, the installation of 8 new platforms, and about 125 km of sub-sea pipelines. Total incremental reserves are estimated at 26 GSm3.

The project follows a large number of Bank interventions between 1974 and 1995 in favour of Eni's gas production activity, which currently represents about 70% of the group's overall hydrocarbon production in Italy. It will contribute to the development of indigenous resources to supply growing energy requirements that would otherwise be met by imports. Increased gas production in Italy will reduce the growing dependence on imports, thereby contributing to improved security of energy supply. Gas availability will promote energy efficiency, particularly in the power generation sector, and additional sources of supply will encourage competition at a time when liberalisation of the Italian gas and electricity markets is progressing.

Gas produced by the project will be landed at seven on-shore terminals, six of which are located in regions defined as partly Objective 2 (Fano, Falconara, Casalborsetti, Rubicone, Ravenna Mare and Pineto) and one in the Reggio Calabria region that is designated as Objective 1 (Crotone). The economic benefits of the new supplies will be spread across the Italian gas network including both Objective 1 and Objective 2 regions.

About two thirds of the proposed schemes do not require a formal EIA, as they involve the re-entry and side-tracking of existing wells or the drilling of new wells from platform that have already been subject to a full EIA procedure during the previous field development phase.

The remaining schemes concern the development of new fields. Such development schemes fall under the Annex 1 category of EU directive 97/11 and require a full environmental impact assessment.

The EIA and the proposed mitigating and monitoring measures will be reviewed in detail during appraisal as well as the risk analysis and the promoter's operating safety policies. None of the proposed schemes is located within Natura 2000 sites.

The promoter has confirmed that procurement for the project is/will be carried out in line with EU directive 93/38. Previous experience with the promoter on similar projects has shown that contracts are generally awarded after formal international tendering or international consultation of pre-qualified firms. Pre-selection is based on the promoters’ vendor lists that are updated at regular intervals through periodic publications in the OJEU.

Gas production.