Eni and PETRONAS have signed a Feasibility Agreement to evaluate the development of high-performance bio-gasoline, starting from Eni's established Ecofining technology process, for potential use in motorsport competitions and subsequent commercial application. The agreement was signed during the 2026 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix.
What Ecofining Actually Is
Ecofining is the proprietary process Eni has used since 2014 to produce hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) biofuels from renewable raw materials. This agreement extends that established technology base toward bio-gasoline specifically, a different fuel category from the diesel and jet fuel outputs Ecofining has primarily supported to date, rather than developing an entirely new production process from scratch.
Why Motorsport Is the Proving Ground, Not the End Market
The stated aim is assessing technical, market and sustainability profiles, along with performance levels, of new bio-gasolines suitable for motorsport competition before applying that development toward commercial products. Using high-performance racing conditions as an initial testing environment lets both companies evaluate the fuel under demanding operating conditions ahead of broader commercial rollout, a sequencing that mirrors how several other fuel technologies in this series have moved from demonstration-scale testing toward wider deployment.
What Each Company Brings
Eni contributes its experience producing commercially available biofuels from renewable feedstocks, including HVO diesel and SAF, at its Enilive biorefineries, along with its bio-gasoline development work specifically. PETRONAS brings its fuel technology expertise spanning both fossil-based and high-performance sustainable fuels for combustion engines, along with its own sustainable energy and product development experience, a complementary pairing of biorefining capability and combustion fuel engineering rather than two companies with overlapping expertise.
An Existing, Multi-Project Relationship
This agreement extends collaboration between two companies with several other active joint ventures. Eni and PETRONAS have established Searah, a 50:50 joint venture combining gas production and development assets across Indonesia and Malaysia. Separately, PETRONAS, Enilive and Euglena have formed Pengerang Biorefinery Sdn. Bhd., developing a biorefinery in Johor, Malaysia, expected to process up to 650,000 tonnes of renewable feedstocks annually by the second half of 2028, producing SAF, HVO diesel and bio-naphtha. This bio-gasoline feasibility study sits alongside those existing projects as a further extension of the companies' broader biofuels collaboration.
What Remains to Be Determined
A feasibility agreement evaluates technical, market and sustainability viability; it is not a commercial supply agreement or production commitment. No timeline for completing the assessment, specific performance targets, or a decision point for moving toward commercial development have been disclosed.
Source: Eni, 7 September 2026.
