Empresa Nacional del Petróleo, or ENAP (English: ''National Petroleum Company'') is a state-owned company in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, based in Las Condes. The company is engaged in the exploration, production, refining, and marketing of

hydrocarbon In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and Hydrophobe, hydrophobic; their odor is usually fain ...

s and their derivatives.

Corporate overview

ENAP was created by Law No. 9618, on June 19, 1950. It was initially responsible for prospecting and exploiting oil in

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main is ...

and the

Strait of Magellan The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago to the south. Considered the most important natura ...

, where deposits were discovered between 1945 and 1950. The company's subsidiary, ENAP Refinerías, operates three

refineries A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value. Types of refineries Different types of refineries a ...

: Aconcagua, Bío Bío, and Gregorio. Together they have a total capacity of , which represents all of Chile's refining capacity. The three refineries supply over 80% of Chile's fuel needs. ENAP's international exploration and production subsidiary, ENAP Sipetrol ("International Petroleum Company"), was founded in 1990. The company has operations in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, and

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, Sipetrol began exploration in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

in 2001, but had ceased operation there as of 2018. Sipetrol had 49 percent ownership interest in Manu Peru (a gas station chain located in

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

) and Primax Comercial (a gas station chain located in Ecuador), but sold this interest in 2013.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empresa Nacional del Petroleo Oil and gas companies of Chile

Energy companies established in 1950 Non-renewable resource companies established in 1950 Government-owned companies of Chile Chilean companies established in 1950 1950 in Chilean law