Eni announced the signing of its joint venture with BF Group to develop research and experiment with agricultural seeds from oil plants to be used as feedstock at Eni’s bio-refineries.

The agreement will involve both companies having an equal share (50% Eni, 50% BF). It will also allow Eni to purchase a minority stake in BF Bonifiche Ferraresi’s subsidiary and will facilitate Eni’s entry into BF’s share capital by means of a reserved capital increase.

The Bonifiche Ferraresi is the largest Italian farm in terms of used agricultural surface area and Eni produces advanced biofuels at its bio-refinery in Gela and Venice Porto Marghera. This deal is a key milestone to help contain CO2 emissions in the transportation sector. These developments are also in line with Eni’s strategy to stop using palm oil in its production processes by 2030.

The testing and experimentation activities of the joint venture will be carried out at Bonifiche Ferraresi’s “Open Sky Laboratories” in Sardinia. These activities will seek to assess the ability to replicate the production processes currently used in Italy and in the other countries where Eni operates, specifically in Africa. The joint venture will involve the development of training programs for personnel in the agro-feedstock project development sectors.