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Eni Annual Report 2008



 

The glossary of oil and gas terms is available on Eni's web page at the address www.eni.it. Below is a selection of the most frequently used terms.

FINANCIAL TERMS

Dividend Yield Measures the return on a share based on dividends for the year. Calculated as the ratio of dividends per share of the year and the average reference price of shares in the last month of the year.

Leverage Is a measure of a company's debt, calculated as the ratio between net financial debt and shareholders' equity, including minority interests.

ROACE Return On Average Capital Employed is the return on average capital invested, calculated as the ratio between net income before minority interests, plus net financial charges on net financial debt, less the related tax effect and net average capital employed.

TSR (Total Shareholder Return) Measures the total return of a share calculated on a yearly basis, keeping account of changes in prices (beginning and end of year) and dividends distributed and reinvested at the ex-dividend date.

OIL AND NATURAL GAS ACTIVITIES

Average reserve life index Ratio between the amount of reserves at the end of the year and total production for the year.

Barrel Volume unit corresponding to 159 liters. A barrel of oil corresponds to about 0.137 metric tons.
Boe Barrel of Oil Equivalent Is used as a standard unit measure for oil and natural gas. The latter is converted from standard cubic meters into barrels of oil equivalent using a coefficient equal to 0.00615.

Concession contracts Contracts currently applied mainly in Western countries regulating relationships between States and oil companies with regards to hydrocarbon exploration and production.
The company holding the mining concession has an exclusive on mining activities and for this reason it acquires a right on hydrocarbons extracted, against the payment of royalties to the State on production and taxes on oil revenues.

Condensates These are light hydrocarbons produced along with gas, that condense to a liquid state at normal temperature and pressure for surface production facilities.

Deep waters Waters deeper than 200 meters.

Development (or Rubber) Polymers, either natural or synthetic, which, unlike plastic, when stress is applied, return to their original shape, to a certain degree, once the stress ceases to be applied.
The main synthetic elastomers are polybutadiene (BR), styrene-butadiene rubbers (SBR), ethylene-propylene rubbers (EPR), thermoplastic rubbers (TPR) and nitrylic rubbers (NBR).

Enhanced recovery Techniques used to increase or stretch over time the production of wells.

EPC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction)
A contract typical of onshore construction of large plants in which the contractor supplies engineering, procurement and construction of the plant.
The contract is defined "turnkey" when the plant is supplied for start-up.

EPIC (Engineering, Procurement, Installation, Commissioning) A contract typical of offshore construction of complex projects (such as the installation of production platforms or FPSO systems) in which the global or main contractor, usually a company or a consortium of companies, supplies engineering, procurement, construction of plant and infrastructure, transport to the site and all preparatory activities for the start-up of plants.

Exploration Oil and natural gas exploration that includes land surveys, geological and geophysical studies, seismic data gathering and analysis, and well drilling.

FPSO vessel Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading system made up of a large capacity oil tanker including a large hydrocarbon treatment plant.
    This system, moored at the bow in order to maintain a geostationary position, is in fact a temporary fixed platform linking by means of risers from the seabed the underwater wellheads to the treatment, storage and offloading systems onboard.

Infilling wells Infilling wells are wells drilled in a producing area in order to improve the recovery of hydrocarbons from the field and to maintain and/or increase production levels.

LNG Liquefied Natural Gas obtained through the cooling of natural gas to minus 160° C at normal pressure. The gas is liquefied to allow transportation from the place of extraction to the sites at which it is transformed and consumed. One ton of LNG corresponds to 1,400 cubic meters of gas.

LPG Liquefied Petroleum Gas, a mix of light petroleum fractions, gaseous at normal pressure and easily liquefied at room temperature through limited compression.

Mineral Potential ("Potentially recoverable hydrocarbon volumes") Estimated recoverable volumes which cannot be defined as reserves due to a number of reasons, such as the temporary lack of viable markets, a possible commercial recovery dependent on the development of new technologies, or for their location in accumulations yet to be developed or where evaluation of known accumulations is still at an early stage.

Mineral Storage Volumes of natural gas required for allowing optimal operation of natural gas fields in Italy for technical and economic reasons.

Modulation Storage
Volumes of natural gas required for meeting hourly, daily and seasonal swings of demand.

Natural gas liquids Liquid or liquefied hydrocarbons recovered from natural gas through separation equipment or natural gas treatment plants.
Propane, normal-butane and isobutane, isopentane and pentane plus, that used to be defined natural gasoline, are natural gas liquids.

Network Code A code containing norms and regulations for access to, management and operation of natural gas pipelines.

Offshore/Onshore The term offshore indicates a portion of open sea and, by induction, the activities carried out in such area, while onshore refers to land operations.

Olefins (or Alkenes) Hydrocarbons that are particularly active chemically, used for this reason as raw materials in the synthesis of intermediate products and of polymers.

Over/Underlifting Agreements stipulated between partners regulate the right of each to its share in the production of a set period of time. Amounts different from the agreed ones determine temporary Over/Underlifting situations.

Possible reserves Amounts of hydrocarbons that have a lower degree of certainty than probable reserves and are estimated with lower certainty, for which it is not possible to foresee production.

Probable reserves
Amounts of hydrocarbons that are probably, but not certainly, expected to be extracted. They are estimated based on known geological conditions, similar characteristics of rock deposits and the interpretation of geophysical data. Further uncertainty elements may concern: (i) the extension or other features of the field; (ii) economic viability of extraction based on the terms of the development project; (iii) existence and adequacy of transmission infrastructure and/or markets; (iv) the regulatory framework.

Production Sharing Agreement Contract in use in non OECD area countries, regulating relationships between States and oil companies with regard to the exploration and production of hydrocarbons. The mining concession is assigned to the national oil company jointly with the foreign oil company who has exclusive right to perform exploration, development and production activities and can enter agreements with other local or international entities. In this type of contract the national oil company assigns to the international contractor the task of performing exploration and production with the contractor's equipment and financial resources. Exploration risks are borne by the contractor and production is divided into two portions: "cost oil" is used to recover costs borne by the contractor, "profit oil" is divided between contractor and national company according to variable schemes and represents the profit deriving from exploration and production. Further terms and conditions may vary from one country to the other.

Proved reserves Proved reserves are estimated volumes of crude oil, natural gas and gas condensates, liquids and associated substances which are expected to be retrieved from deposits and used commercially, at the economic and technical conditions applicable at the time of the estimate and according to current legislation. Proved reserves include: (i) proved developed reserves: amounts of hydrocarbons that are expected to be retrieved through existing wells, facilities and operating methods; (ii) non developed proved reserves: amounts of hydrocarbons that are expected to be retrieved following new drilling, facilities and operating methods.
On these amounts the company has already defined a clear development expenditure program which is expression of the company's determination.

Recoverable reserves Amounts of hydrocarbons included in different categories of reserves (proved, probable and possible), without considering their different degree of uncertainty.

Reserve replacement ratio Measure of the reserves produced replaced by proved reserves. Indicates the company's ability to add new reserves through exploration and purchase of property. A rate higher than 100% indicates that more reserves were added than produced in the period. The ratio should be averaged on a three-year period in order to reduce the distortion deriving from the purchase of proved property, the revision of previous estimates, enhanced recovery, improvement in recovery rates and changes in the value of reserves - in PSAs - due to changes in international oil prices. Management also calculates this ratio by excluding the effect of the purchase of proved property in order to better assess the underlying performance of the Company's operations .

Ship or pay Clause included in natural gas transportation contracts according to which the customer for which the transportation is carried out is bound to pay for the transportation of the gas also in case the gas is not transported.

Strategic Storage Volumes of natural gas required for covering lack or reduction of supplies from extra-European sources or crises in the natural gas system.

Swap In the gas sector, the swap term is referred to a buy/sell contract between some counterparties and is generally aimed to the optimization of transport costs and respective commitments in purchasing and supplying.

Take or pay Clause included in natural gas transportation contracts according to which the purchaser is bound to pay the contractual price or a fraction of such price for a minimum quantity of the gas set in the contract also in case it is not collected by the customer. The customer has the option of collecting the gas paid and not delivered at a price equal to the residual fraction of the price set in the contract in subsequent contract years.

Upstream/Downstream The term upstream refers to all hydrocarbon exploration and production activities. The term downstream includes all activities inherent to the oil sector that are downstream of exploration and production activities.

Wholesale sales Domestic sales of refined products to wholesalers/distributors (mainly gasoil), public administrations and end consumers, such as industrial plants, power stations (fuel oil), airlines (jet fuel), transport companies, big buildings and households. They do not include distribution through the service station network, marine bunkering, sales to oil and petrochemical companies, importers and international organizations.

Workover Intervention on a well for performing significant maintenance and substitution of basic equipment for the collection and transport to the surface of liquids contained in a field.