Italiana Petroli S.p.A. (until 2019 Anonima Petroli Italiana S.p.A.), also known by the

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

API or Gruppo API, is an Italian

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

and

energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

headquartered Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. It is active in the

fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work (physics), work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chem ...

and mobility services sector through the IP Gruppo API brand. It is a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

of API Holding, 100% owned by the Brachetti Peretti family. The

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

of API is Ugo Brachetti Peretti and the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

is Alberto Chiarini. In 2018 the company totaled €6.8 billion in turnover and €63.1 million in

operating profit In accountancy, accounting and finance, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) is a measure of a firm's profit (accounting), profit that includes all incomes and expenses (operating and Non-operating income, non-operating) except interest expense ...

History

Anonima Petroli Italiana (API) was founded in

Ancona Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...

in 1933 by Ferdinando Peretti. It operates as a strategic coordinator of all API group's activities, through the direct supplying of semi-finished

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring u ...

and assigned in the production, the acquisition of finished products and their transport, the exchanges with other oil companies to optimize the distributive logistics, the complementary activity of trading of crude oil and by-products to clients, and the sale of all the by-products in Italy and to foreign countries. It also is dedicated to operate and develop

and

gas field A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presenc ...

properties. It owns a refinery in Ancona with a capacity of 3.9 million tonnes/year and an electric

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

of 250 MW. In 2005, the

acquired Italiana Petroli (IP) from

Agip Agip S.p.A., acronym for Azienda generale italiana petroli, was an Italian automotive gasoline, Diesel fuel, diesel, Liquefied petroleum gas, LPG, lubricants, fuel oil, and bitumen retailer established in 1926 and Subsidiary company, subsidiary ...

(

Eni Eni is an Italian oil and gas corporation. Eni or ENI may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Escuela Nacional de Inteligencia, the Argentine intelligence academy * Groupe des écoles nationales d’ingénieurs (Groupe ENI), a French engi ...

). After a few years running the chains in parallel, it switched all its

stations Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle stat ...

to a revamped IP image and supplies in 2012 around 4,200 filling stations (up from around 1,600 at the time of the acquisition) with a market share of 11%. In 2017,

Total Total may refer to: Mathematics * Total, the summation of a set of numbers * Total order, a partial order without incomparable pairs * Total relation, which may also mean ** connected relation (a binary relation in which any two elements are comp ...

and

Erg The erg is a unit of energy equal to 10−7joules (100Nano-, nJ). It is not an SI unit, instead originating from the centimetre–gram–second system of units (CGS). Its name is derived from (), a Greek language, Greek word meaning 'work' or ' ...

signed an agreement with Anonima Petroli Italiana, to sell the fuel marketing and refining assets in their TotalErg

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

. Total has stated that the reason behind this divestment is that the Italian fuel market is highly fragmented and the company's expectations for profitability have not been met. In 2018 TotalErg was acquired by Gruppo API, with the exception of the ''Special Fluids'' division, acquired by the newly formed Total Italia, and the subsidiary Totalgaz Italia, sold to the

UGI Corporation UGI Corporation (formerly United Gas Improvement Corp.) is a natural gas and electric power distribution company headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, with extensive operations in the United States and Europe. UGI owns AmeriGas, the ...

and renamed UniverGas Italia. All TotalErg stations will be progressively replaced by those bearing the IP Gruppo API

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

. In 2019, TotalErg

merged Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

into Anonoma Petroli Italiana, and the company took on the name Italiana Petroli.

Operations

The Gruppo API also includes: * API Ancona Refinery * API Energia * Festival * APIOil UK * API Services API leverages a network of refineries for a total capacity of 5.5 million tonnes per year, including the entirety of the Ancona refinery, a portion of the Sarpom refinery in

Trecate Trecate is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about east of Novara. It harbors a major refinery complex for fuels and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), serving ...

(

Novara Novara (; Novarese Lombard, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous ...

), and contract work at the Alma refinery in

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

. The company derives its revenue from two main sources. Firstly, they distribute semi-finished

products for the

petrochemical industry file:Jampilen Petrochemical Co. 02.jpg, 300px, Jampilen Petrochemical co., Asaluyeh, Iran The petrochemical industry is concerned with the production and trade of petrochemicals. A major part is constituted by the plastics industry, plastics (poly ...

to use in the

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Types of polyisoprene ...

and other associated industries. These products are being sold in both domestic and international markets. Secondly, the company generates income from the ownership and operations of the IP gas station chain. After purchasing 2,600 gas stations from the company

, IP currently manages in 2009 over 4,200 gas stations, which are supported by the company's own oil products. Starting in July 2021, Gruppo API has incorporated

renewable A renewable resource (also known as a flow resource) is a natural resource which will replenish to replace the portion depleted by usage and consumption, either through natural reproduction or other recurring processes in a finite amount of ti ...

raw materials into its refining process to produce

biofuel Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from Biomass (energy), biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels such as oil. Biofuel can be produced from plants or from agricu ...

s. In 2024 IP and Macquarie created a 50/50

, IPlanet, for the installation of electric charging stations in service stations.

IP Gruppo API

Italiana Petroli, also known by the

IP or IP Gruppo API, is the

owned by Gruppo API active in the

and mobility services sector. Italiana Petroli (IP) was officially born in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

in May 1974 as the epilogue of the process which, at the end of 1973, had led to the acquisition of the activities of

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

Italiana, by

(

): the new

inherits the entire distribution network of the

Anglo Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term ''Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British d ...

- Dutch company. The new

replaced that of Shell during 1975; the renewal process, in addition to the image, leads to the modernization of the company's

service stations Service station may refer to: * Filling station, a gasoline or petrol station * Automobile repair shop, a place where automobiles are repaired * Service centre or rest area, a public facility on motorways or controlled-access highways for resti ...

and the updating of the range of products sold. At the end of 2004 Eni put IP up for sale via tender, which in the first months of 2005 was purchased by Anonima Petroli Italiana (API) for 189 million euros; the transition was formalized the following 6 September. In 2007 IP was

by incorporation into API: a corporate

rebranding Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investors ...

followed which led all former API distributors to adopt the IP brand. In 2017, with the acquisition of TotalErg by Gruppo API, the former TotalErg network switched to the IP brand which thus became, with around 5,000 distributors, the most widespread oil brand on Italian roads with the 24% of the national market.

Gallery

File:Chiesa di San Rocco - Brignano Gera d'Adda 11-2006 - panoramio.jpg, Old API

gas station A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...

. File:Milano distributore corso Indipendenza.JPG, IP

. File:Distributore miscela olio benzina IP.jpg, An IP

distributor A distributor is an electric and mechanical device used in the ignition system of older spark-ignition engines. The distributor's main function is to route electricity from the ignition coil to each spark plug at the correct time. Design ...

from the 1980s showing the advertising link with the Italy national team. File:Gas pumps from 1950s.jpg, API 1950s

fuel pump A Fuel pump is a component used in many liquid-fuelled engines (such as petrol/gasoline or diesel engines) to transfer the fuel from the fuel tank to the device where it is mixed with the intake air (such as the carburetor or fuel inject ...

Logos

File:API globe vintage.jpg, A "globe" with the historical API logo on an old petrol pump preserved at the

Fisogni Museum The Fisogni Museum of the petrol station (in the past also SIRM Museum or Ormad Valseveso Museum), in Tradate, Italy, is a museum about gas pumps, gas stations and petroliana, founded by Guido Fisogni in 1966. With its 8000 pieces, between gas ...

. File:Api Italia 90.jpg, Historical API logo. File:Logo API.svg, New API logo (no longer in use since 2019). File:Gruppo API Logo.svg, New Gruppo API logo. File:IP Logo.svg, New IP Gruppo API logo. File:IPlanet Logo.svg, IPlanet logo.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Oil and gas companies of Italy Automotive fuel retailers Chemical companies of Italy Companies based in Rome Italian brands Italian companies established in 1933 Energy companies established in 1933 Non-renewable resource companies established in 1933