Risks associated with sector-specific regulations in Italy

Risks associated with the regulatory powers entrusted to the Italian Authority for Electricity and Gas in the matter of pricing to residential customers
The Authority for Electricity and Gas is entrusted with certain powers in the matters of natural gas pricing. Specifically, the Authority for Electricity and Gas holds a general surveillance power on pricing in the natural gas market in Italy and the power to establish selling tariffs for the supply of natural gas to residential and commercial users consuming less than 50,000 CM/y (as provided for by Resolution ARG/gas No. 64/2009) taking into account the public goal of containing the inflationary pressure due to rising energy costs. Accordingly, decisions of the Authority for Electricity and Gas on these matters may limit the ability of Eni to pass an increase in the cost of the raw material onto final consumers of natural gas. Historically, the indexation mechanism set by the Authority for Electricity and Gas basically provided that the cost of the raw material in the pricing formula to the residential sector was indexed to crude oil prices. This allowed Eni to maintain profitable operations in the retail market since selling prices mirrored supply costs.

However, following a wave of governmental measures intended to spur competition in the domestic markets, the AEEG with resolution No. 196 effective October 1, 2013, reformulated the pricing mechanism of gas supplies to retail customers by introducing a full indexation of the raw material cost component of the tariff to spot prices. The new tariff regime intends to partially offset the negative impact to be born by wholesalers by introducing certain tariff components, applicable for the next two thermal years, in order to provide a gradual transition from oil-linked prices to spot market determined prices, to cover the costs of the transition to the new supply formula and to favour an effective renegotiation of long-term contracts for importing gas. Management believes that this development is likely to negatively affect the profitability of the Company sales in the residential market in Italy because it is expected that trends in spot prices will be less favourable than the oil-linked cost of gas supplies to the Group, thus limiting the ability to pass cost increases to clients. This is likely to adversely affect the Company’s future results and cash flow.