With oil costing around $130 a barrel, Oil&Gas is an increasingly promising sector. And not only in the core activity of research and production of crude oil, but also in the oil equipment sector, or to be more precise the supporting services of the extraction industry. Italy boasts of some, among the key players in the global sector, joining a network of small and medium enterprises that are - often - leading niches ennobled by key references: having such high credentials, ‘Made in Italy’ will participate in the next edition of the Rio Oil & Gas fair thanks to ICE’s commitment, the Italian National Institute for Foreign Trade.

The 2008 edition of the Brazilian exhibition, founded in 1982, will take place from 15^th to 18^th September at the Riocentro Convention Centre in Rio de Janeiro. In 2006, more than 32,000 visitors attended the fair, which is held every two years, attracted to the Brazilian city by the 800 exhibitors representing 26 different nations. The geographical location of the event is strategic and has helped to further accredit Rio de Janeiro as the «capital» of the Brazilian oil industry: moreover, the state of Rio extracts 80% of the oil and 50% of the natural gas produced every year in the South American nation. Gradually, the fair has become an important opportunity for Brazilian and international petroleum operators interested in promoting their products and services. At the same time, participants can take advantage of the several seminars, meetings and conferences held, which are planned in order to organise networking schemes, analyse major technological issues of the industry sector in question and promote ideas and innovative solutions.

With regards to innovation, the Italian industry can definitely offer added value to the Oil&Gas services: an example is the Socotherm group , one of the global key players in the pipe coating sector for the extraction and transportation of oil and gas, having oil fields in Italy, Spain, Australia, Malaysia, China, Nigeria, Angola, Qatar, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela and the United States. The Italian group offers any type of pipe coating and is specialised in thermal insulation in the Deep Water sector (very deep oil extraction). The «Thermakote®» solutions for thermal insulation with sprayed polyurethane and extruded polyethylene, «Thermapipe®» solutions for thermal insulation of pipes having a «pipe-in-pipe» system and «Wetisokote®» solutions for thermal insulation of underwater pipelines in syntactic polypropylene to transport hot liquids, are all exclusive and original solutions developed and patented by the Italian company.

The ‘Made in Italy’ oil service also includes frontline key players, such as Saipem (Eni group), the largest, most balanced and international company among the global contractors capable of providing ‘turnkey’ solutions to the oil industry. The company, which offers various types of services, both onshore and offshore, including specialised services and those for maintenance, modification and operation, is particularly aimed towards projects which are more complex and challenging from a technological aspect: activities in remote areas, deep waters and projects that involve the difficult extraction of gas or crude oil substances. With revenues amounting to 9.5 billion Euros in 2007 (+30% per annum), Saipem is a worldwide leading contractor, with significant local presence in strategic areas such as West Africa, the former Soviet Union, Central Asia, Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia.

The excellence of the sector also includes Trevi Finanziaria , a group that is specialised in providing drilling services in the Oil&Gas industry as well as supplying onshore and offshore drilling equipment. However, as mentioned above, ‘Made in Italy’ also includes a number of small niche companies which are considered to be gems: the most striking example is Bellelli Engineering , not yet ten years old (founded in 2001) and yet it is the only worldwide company that is the licensee of air separation technologies of the giant U.S. Air Products in the Oil&Gas market. And, having such strong references, the Italian company has subsequently won major orders from the great businesses within the sector such as British Petroleum, Total and Saipem.