Our Initiatives

Environment

In the environmental field, Eni is determinedly committed, as outlined in the four-year plan presented to the government, to the drastic reduction in gas flaring through the re-use of gas for the production of electricity with:

a) the construction of two gas-fired power stations using associated gas from M’boundi;
b) the reinjection of remaining quantities of gas.

The projects in Congo are an integral part of the flaring down plan announced by Eni in its industrial plan, which sets a target reduction of gas flaring of 70% by 2012 compared with 2007 levels (the baseline year).

With specific regard to M’Boundi, the integrated project for the field foresees zero flaring by 2012. The associated gas that is currently produced, which comes from the offshore fields of Kitina, Djambala and Foukanda, is collected and transported through a 55 km-long gas pipeline to the area of Djeno, where it is used to fire two power stations: the existing Centrale Electrique Djeno (CED) power station, where the initial capacity was doubled in December 2008 from 25 MW to 50 MW and which has been fired by associated gas from M’Boundi since April 2009, and the new Centrale Electrique du Congo (CEC) (with a capacity of 300 MW, the first 150 MW of which has been operational since March 2010).

The CED+CEC project will lead to a substantial increase in the power generating capacity of Congo, able to meet the present and future demand for electricity of the entire country.

Tar Sands

The preliminary agreements, signed in February 2008 with the Congolese government, regarding the tar sands project resulted, in April 2008, in the assignment to Eniof two exploration permits at Tchikatanga and Tchikatanga-Makola, through a government decree, subsequently published in the Official Congolese Gazette. The official meeting with the leaders of local communities in July 2008, was followed by a number of meetings with local communities to illustrate the activities conducted by eni in the areas affected by its operations.

Currently, the only fully defined project concerns the opening of a small pilot quarry at Dionga to study the feasibility of using tar sands for the surfacing of roads in Congo. This was expressly requested by the Congolese government, given the need to reduce expensive imports of industrial bitumen (and is therefore not part of eni’s business programme).
In order to ensure full compliance with best practice, also and above all on the environmental side, a pilot scheme has been introduced to evaluate the sustainability of the initiative and a site has been identified at Dionga where a ESIA (Etude d'Impact Social et Environnemental - Exploitation des grés bitumineux de Dionga – Carrière b permis de Tchikatanga-Makola), has been conducted and presented in January 2010 to the relevant ministries and validated by the Ministerial Environmental Commission. The site was selected because it responds to the agreed  environmental and social compatibility requisites. The pilot project will last just a few months and foresees subsequent environmental recovery.
As foreseen by the new legislative decree (415/2009), a public conference was held at Hinda on 17 April 2010 for all of the stakeholder affected by the project, reinforcing the public inquest phase, during which a presentation was made of the environmental impact study and the pilot quarry project, as well as the plans for subsequent recovery of the terrain after the work is completed.

Activities aimed at the production of crude oil, meanwhile, are still at the exploration stage and include studies and the acquisition of data through the drilling of survey wells to evaluate the quality, thickness and distribution of tar sands. If the results are positive, subsequent developments could involve the implementation of a small-scale pilot project, using different extraction technologies appropriate to the local ecosystem. Only after this, and after a project has been defined, can a study of the environmental and social impact be made and an eventual development plan be defined, in a normal time frame for this type of project.

The potential uses of tar sands in Congo can only be determined after feasibility studies and the guarantee that the fundamental principles the underpin all of Eni’s actions can be respected. No primary forest and areas rich in biodiversity will be involved.

Moreover, the techniques under consideration in no case foresee open-cast mining activities, or the creation of tailing ponds, both of which are considered high risk in terms of impact and are characteristic of Canadian tar sand activities.

Community

Health

Agriculture

Energy for development

Eni cooperates with and actively supports the Republic of Congo, in the production of electrical energy through the use of the associated gas from petroleum. To this end, a gas pipeline or around 55 km has already been built between the M’boundi site and the Djeno area (coastal zone).

The transported gas is used to fire the CED and CEC power stations:

• in December 2008 work was completed to double the capacity of the Djeno power station (25+25 MW). The plant, which since April 2009 is fired by gas from M’boundi, mainly supplies the city of Pointe-Noire over the SNE distribution network;
• a bigger power station, the Central Electrique du Congo (CEC), became operational (the first  turbine has a capacity of 150 MW) at the end of March 2010. The plant has two combined-cycle turbines with a total capacity of 300 MW, and can be expanded to 450 MW. The energy produced will be used to provide steady and reliable supplies to meet both the present and future civil and industrial  needs of the country.

Given the limitations of the country’s grid and the need to ensure the efficacy of the abovementioned projects for the generation of electricty, eni is also cooperating with “Société Nationale Energétique‘ (SNE) and the Congolese ministry of energy to modernise and upgrade the medium and low tension Pointe Noire network and the high tension line between Pointe-Noire and Brazzaville (the RIT project), with the realisation of medium tension intermediate plants that will make it possible to supply electricity not only to the main cities of Congo but also to smaller towns

Infrastructure projects

The drilling of water wells for the inhabitants of the villages has encountered such technical and environmental limits that the validity of this approach is now in doubt. In fact it is not clear that the water needs can be met in this way. A recent survey on the condition of pumping systems has only underlined these limitations.

As a result of objections, alternative uses of the water from the wells have been considered and put to the committees of the villages around M’boundi. The proposal to distribute water using a lorry tanker is a temporary measure before water containers and/or tanks can be installed at the villages that are consonant with the needs and the population density. Consequently, in October and November 2009 a total of 8 meetings were held, involving 6 village committees. Technical support at these meetings was provided by representatives of the NGO Medicin d’Afrique. An assessment of water needs was also prepared along with the BGO, using a participatory approach.

Support for the schools system involves the improvement and adaptation of existing school buildings  and the provision of  equipment and didactic materials. A contract has been approved for the refurbishment of the school canteen at the Tchibanda-Mboukou school and work is expected to begin in April.
 
Future actions:
In the villages surrounding the area affected by petroleum extraction, water continues to be distributed by lorry tankers, also to ensure supplies following the damage and silting of some water wells. There are plans to buy drinking water tanks to be installed at the villages.

Conservation of cultural and environmental assets

A project has begun for the environmental recovery of the M’Boundi are which aims to recover degraded areas using simple naturalistic engineering techniques  to replenish the vegetation.

In the context of initiatives for the promotion of cultural and environmental assets in Congo, Eni has begun a procedure for UNESCO support for the creation of a  geo-park at the Diosso Gorge, an important site of cultural and environmental value.

In August 2009 a series of activities began to contain erosion in areas surrounding some of the platforms in the M’boundi field and the environmental recovery and landscaping of onshore sites. The aim of this initiative is to return sites affected by drilling sludge to their original condition.

The commitment of Eni Congo can also be seen in nature conservation, through efforts to obtain recognition for the “Diosso Gorge‘ site as a geo-park by UNESCO. The bureaucratic procedure is being carried forward along with a Congolese association and a meeting was held in Brazzaville on 30-31 October 2009 and the proposal presented, also to the minister for sustainable development. The initiative was also presented during the Open Day (8 December 2009).
In January 2010 Eni Congo was invited to take part in two international meetings: ‘Atelier de Lancement du Processus REDD in Congo‘, an international initiative under the aegis of the United Nations, the World Bank and ministry for sustainability (21-22 January 2010) and “The Integrated Management of Mangrove Ecosystems and other Humid Zones and Forests in Coastal Congo‘ (27-28 January 2010).
On 30 January 2010  a site visit was conducted with a representative of the international NGO to determine the impact of the sealine water injection on coastal fauna.
A number of environmental NGOs operating in the PNR area were met at Eni’s offices  for the presentation of a partnership proposal (framework agreement). The agreement was signed by six NGOs (CARITAS, IPHD, RENATURA, HELP, Commission Diocésaine Justice et Paix and Medicins d’Afrique) selected from around fifteen on the basis of experience and reliability; signing of the framework agreement has been scheduled for 30 April 2010.

Palm Oil

The principal aim of the “Palm Oil‘ project in Congo is the development of the agricultural sector, which represents an important opportunity for the diversification of the local economy, currently heavily dependent on petroleum, and is part of national development plans aimed at reducing dependency on imports of palm oil.
The objective is to reinforce the country’s agricultural capacity through the development of large-scale cultivation of palm trees, for the production of palm oil for the national and international food market. In this context Eni’s role is essentially that of technical consultant to the ministry of agriculture for the identification of the most suitable areas and technology for production and the creation of a consortium to manage the project.

This project, which is currently undergoing a feasibility study, foresees the production of vegetable oil mainly for alimentary purposes. The implementation phase will be preceded by an ESHIA (Environmental, Social, Health Impact Assessment), conducted in agreement with local authorities. This study will make it possible to evaluate the sustainability and the feasibility of palm oil production for alimentary purposes according to internationally defined criteria and in line with Eni’s code of ethics.
The proposed operational model is based on the spread of agricultural best practice, the introduction of mechanisation and advanced technology, the development of managerial competences and the promotion of research and development activities (also in association with international research centres). In this way, the realisation of these projects can encourage the creation in loco of the necessary know-how in order to grow and consolidate a modern agro-industrial sector, with undisputed benefits for the living conditions of the rural population.

The project will be managed in a consortium (in which Eni can have a stake of up to 10%), and will be open to both private and public partners. The project has been developed in compliance with sustainability criteria in terms of soil conservation and the maintenance of biodiversity, the mitigation of the social and environmental impact, according to international norms and the sustainability criteria of reference (RSPO, RSB, UE).

The project is also part of local sector policies which give priority to the alimentary needs of the local and national market. An important consideration in the assessment of the project is the sustainability analysis for the production of palm oil and its eventual transformation and refining for use as a biofuel for the quantities which exceed food needs. This analysis will be an integral part of the life-cycle assessment of the product, as regards the emission of greenhouse gases, the cultivation phase, transformation and marketing. The project will be realised only in areas of low-biodiversity, not covered in vegetation or destined for cultivation.

Following the signing of the Protocol Agreement between Eni Congo and the Republic of Congo, on 24 November 2008 the constitution was formalised of the Comité de Suivi (CdS) and the Groupe de Travail (GdT),  made up of representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and from Eni. In 2009 the GdT met on three occasions (February, March and October).

During 2009 a series of data gathering missions were completed in support of the preparation of the feasibility study (June, July, August and October).
In February a special  FAO mission visited Congo to evaluate the project’s potential. For the occasion Eni Congo organised an official meeting to present the project, as well as a visit to the site at Mbé, in the Pool region.

Past Initiatives

In 2005, a molecular biology and serology laboratory for the diagnostics of HIV transmission from mothers to child was set up in the Hôpital des Armées in Pointe Noire. The structure is a fundamental part of the project aimed at providing diagnosis and therapy for mother-infant transmitted HIV that was set up by Eni in 2004 in the Kouilou region, in collaboration with the Clinica delle Malattie Infettive of the University of Genoa.

Between September 2005 and August 2006, 2,900 women attended the health structures involved in the project and around 2,500 of them underwent screening. Thanks to the measures adopted, 98% of the babies born who came under the healthcare protocol were HIV free. During the entire project, the presence of doctors from the University of Genoa was guaranteed at Pointe Noire, providing training to healthcare and local laboratory personnel.

Eni was responsible for restructuring the Talangai Hospital in Brazzaville and supplying all the necessary equipment. Set up in collaboration with the Medicus Mundi NGO, this healthcare structure is one of the main hospitals in the Congolese capital, offering medical assistance to a population of around 300,000 people. In order to ensure that the structure is run properly, Eni promoted a cooperation agreement between the Talangai Hospital and the Sacco Hospital   in Milan, which specialises in tropical diseases.

After the Ebola epidemic that broke out in the north-west of the country in the first half of 2003, Eni donated emergency healthcare kits to local healthcare authorities in support of the relief operations carried out by international healthcare and humanitarian organisations involved in helping the population hit by the disease. Thanks to the collaboration of the International Dispensary Association, medicines were distributed to the various medical structures in the areas of the West Cuvette hit by the epidemic.

Eni, in collaboration with the West African Rice Development Center (WARDA) and local authorities, successfully set up a project to help local farmers reintroduce rice cultivation and renew seed stocks destroyed during the war. The initiative involved local agrarian technicians and workers, encouraging them to apply the cultivation techniques and agrarian knowledge they had acquired