Safety, security, environmental and other operational risk

The Group engages in the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, processing, transportation, and refining of crude oil, transport of natural gas, storage and distribution of petroleum products, production of base chemicals, plastics and elastomers. By their nature the Group’s operations expose Eni to a wide range of significant health, safety, security and environmental risks. The magnitude of these risks is influenced by the geographic range, operational diversity and technical complexity of our activities. Eni’s future results from operations and liquidity depend on its ability to identify and mitigate the risks and hazards inherent to operating in those industries.

In exploration and production, Eni faces natural hazards and other operational risks including those relating to the physical characteristics of oil and natural gas fields. These include the risks of eruptions of crude oil or of natural gas, discovery of hydrocarbon pockets with abnormal pressure, crumbling of well openings, leaks that can harm the environment and the security of our personnel and risks of blow-out, fire or explosion. Accidents at a single well can lead to loss of life, damage or destruction to property, environmental damage and consequently potential economic losses that could have a material and adverse effect on the business, results of operation, liquidity, reputation and prospects of the Group.

Eni’s activities in the Refining & Marketing and Chemical segments also entail health, safety and environmental risks related to the overall life cycle of the products manufactured, and to raw materials used in the manufacturing process, such as oil-based feedstock, catalysts, additives and monomer feedstock. These risks can arise from the intrinsic characteristics of the products involved (flammability, toxicity, or long-term environmental impacts such as greenhouse gas emissions and risks of various forms of pollution and contamination of the soil and the groundwater), their use, emissions and discharges resulting from their manufacturing process, and from recycling or disposing of materials and wastes at the end of their useful life.

As to transportation activities related to all Eni’s segments of operations, the type of risk depends not only on the hazardous nature of the products transported, but also on the transportation methods used (mainly pipelines, maritime, river-maritime, rail, road, gas distribution networks), the volumes involved and the sensitivity of the regions through which the transport passes (quality of infrastructure, population density, environmental considerations). All modes of transportation of hydrocarbons are particularly susceptible to a loss of containment of hydrocarbons and other hazardous materials, and, given the high volumes involved, could present a significant risk to people and the environment.

The Company invests significant amounts of resources in order to upgrade methods and systems for safeguarding safety and health of employers, contractors and communities, and the environment; to prevent risks; to comply with applicable laws and policies; and to respond to and learn from unexpected incidents. Eni seeks to minimize these operational risks by carefully designing and building facilities, including wells, industrial complexes, plants and equipment, pipelines, storage sites and distribution networks, and managing its operations in a safe, compliant and reliable manner. Failure to manage these risks effectively could result in unexpected incidents, including releases or oil spills, blowouts, fire, mechanical failures and other incidents resulting in personal injury, loss of life, environmental damage, legal liabilities and/or damage claims, destruction of crude oil or natural gas wells as well as damage to equipment and other property, all of which could lead to a disruption in operations. Eni’s operations are often conducted in difficult and/or environmentally sensitive locations such as the Gulf of Mexico, the Caspian Sea and the Arctic, in which the consequences of any incident could be greater than in other locations. Eni also faces risks once production is discontinued, because our activities require environmental site remediation.

Furthermore, in certain situations where Eni is not the operator, the Company may have limited influence and control over third parties, which may limit our ability to manage and control such risks. Eni maintains insurance coverage that includes coverage for physical damage to its assets, third party liability, workers’ compensation, pollution and other damage to the environment and other coverage. Eni’s insurance is subject to caps, exclusion and limitation, and there is no assurance that such coverage will adequately protect it against liabilities from all potential consequences and damages. In particular, in the case of oil spills and other environmental damage, current insurance policies cover costs of cleaning up and remediating polluted sites, damage to third parties and containment of physical damage up to $1.1 billion for offshore events and $1.5 billion for onshore plants (refineries). These are complemented by insurance policies that cover owners, operators and renters of vessels with the following maximum amounts: $1 billion for the fleet owned by the subsidiary LNG Shipping in the Gas & Power segment and FPSOs used by the Exploration & Production segment for developing offshore fields; $500 million for time charters.

The occurrence of the above mentioned events could have a material adverse impact on the Group business, competitive position, cash flow, results of operations, liquidity, future growth prospects, shareholders’ return and damage to the Group reputation.