The italian ip was originally a member of the eni group (formerly the italian petroleum corporation). Founded in 1926, the eni group is one of the world's seventh largest oil group companies and one of the world's largest integrated multinational oil companies, upstream and downstream, ranking eighth among the world's largest oil refineries. State-owned enterprises were converted into joint-stock companies in 1992. In 2009, the united states magazine fortune ranked 17th among the top 500 companies in the world. Today, there are more than 70 branches worldwide, employing more than 70,000 people. It is the world's more prominent integrated upstream and downstream multinational oil companies. In 1992, eni was placed on the market by the conversion of the state enterprise into a joint-stock company. The company operates in the areas of oil and gas exploration and exploitation, petroleum refining and oil marketing, production and sale of petrochemical products and engineering contracting...