Italy’s Eni Plans Chemicals Revamp

Italian oil firm Eni is seeking to revamp its troubled Polimeri Europa chemical unit. Announcing Eni’s new strategic plan, CEO Paolo Scaroni noted that the chemical unit has “always been weak,” making little money under the best of circumstances and losing money when market conditions are poor, as they are now. “The European chemical sector has suffered from increasing price pressure on base chemicals, with ethylene costs a multiple of those in the Middle East,” he noted. The company will focus on value-added products such as elastomers, styrenic resins, and ethylene vinyl acetate, aiming to increase the sale of such products by 50% by 2015. Eni will close money-losing sites or convert them into biobased chemical facilities, as it is doing in Sardinia. As part of the plan, the company plans to reduce its polyethylene capacity by 20%.