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Eni's Expenditure in R&D

Eni's economic commitment to technological innovation is further proof of its dedication to these issues.

The Oil Industry has often been accused of not investing enough in scientific research and technological research. This criticism is based on the evidence of the figures dedicated to R&D expenditure in their Annual Reports.
However, such expenses do not include the effort put in the research and development of hydrocarbons; these activities cannot be not standardized and do not have "assembly lines" to be applied to the various oil fields. In this context, laboratory activities can provide only but a modest contribution to the growth of knowledge and to development of new technology.

Technological innovation requires on field development to be achieved through technicians and researchers that select the exploration technology most appropriate to the particular geological formation found, develop appropriate programs to elaborate all seismic data gathered - employing the maximum calculation potential among all industrial sectors - identify and adapt technologies of extraction to the characteristics of the specific oil field and to the chemical-physical properties of hydrocarbons.
All these activities hold high technical risks and call for advanced technical and scientific know-how among the human resources employed; they are hence to be considered as applied research activities.

Eni's total economic commitment to R&D, including exploration and development activities in "frontier areas" , exceeded three billion Euros in 2008. 330 million Euros of them were invested in Innovative Technology Development.
Moreover, it is important to point out that the above shown figures are only inclusive of highly innovative Research and Development costs incurred in the renewable energy area and not inclusive of industrial application related ones . Such R&D activities achieved important results in 2008 that will be transferred next year on pilot or demo plants, hence leading to an expected future increase of Eni's economic commitment to the renewable energy sector.

Note:

1 - On the overall, Eni's development costs amounted to over EUR 6.4 billions in 2008.
2 - Among them, for example, there is the installation of photovoltaic panels on top of Eni service stations' roofs.