The San Donato Milanese Oil and Gas Laboratory

Eni’s San Donato Milanese laboratories specialise in research and development for the oil and gas sector – in both upstream and downstream segments – as well as providing specialised services to the business lines.

From fields to bio-fuels

At our San Donato laboratory in Milan our research spans energy from oil and gas to bio-fuels.

The science and technology of hydrocarbons

This is where we analyse rock samples taken from underground, as well as the liquids produced at our fields, to provide the necessary data for all of our research work. This is also the laboratory where we developed technologies such as Eni Slurry Technology (EST) – which produces quality fuel from the less noble refining residues – and developed the idea of converting an entire refinery into a bio-refinery that uses biological raw materials. The resulting facility at Porto Marghera is the first of its kind in the world.
These cutting-edge scientific and technological developments make our oil and gas laboratory one of the most advanced international research sites serving the industry, with expertise and facilities to produce innovative products for the Eni brand.

EST, our technology that operates in Sannazzaro, is the greatest technological innovation of the last 40 years in the field of conventional refining.

Giuseppe Tannoia

The laboratory

The San Donato Milanese laboratories entered service in 1985, having been developed from the original research facilities in Metanopoli to provide an innovative complex consisting of offices, labs, workshops, warehouses, archives and service areas, equipped with state-of-the-art scientific instruments.

It covers an area of over 74,000m2 and employs around 290 researchers, technicians and other staff. The activities conducted in the laboratories encompass every aspect of the upstream and downstream oil and gas sector, with the aim of consolidating Eni’s technological leadership and increasing the efficiency and sustainability of our operations, products and processes.