Enrico Mattei - Agip and ENI

Agip and ENI

In 1945, the National Liberation Committee appointed him to the leadership of Agip (Azienda Generale Italiana Petroli - General Italian Oil Company), the national oil company created by the Fascists, with instructions to close it as soon as possible. Mattei, instead, worked hard to restructure the company and transform it into one of the nation's most important economic assets.

In 1949 Mattei made an astonishing public announcement: the soil of the Po Valley in Northern Italy was rich in oil and methane, and Italy would solve all its energy needs using its own resources. Through the Italian press, he then encouraged the idea that the nation (still suffering from the consequences of defeat in war), would soon become rich. Agip's financial value immediately grew in the Stock Exchange markets, and the company (owned by the State, but operating as a private company) became at once solid and important. The reality was a little different: in the territory of Cortemaggiore, in the Valley of Po, a certain amount of methane had been found together with a small quantity of oil.

Mattei’s strategy was to use natural gas to support the development of a national industry in Northern Italy, sustaining the postwar boom known as the "Italian economic miracle." The gas was not a mere substitute for imported oil, but a cheaper and more functional substitute for imported coal for the growing industrial activities of. High profits from natural gas sales were plowed back into exploration, production, the expansion of pipelines, and the acquisition of new customers.

Agip obtained an exclusive concession for gas and oil exploration within the national territory, and was able to retain the profits. Political views were divided: the leftists supporting him, and the conservatives (together with the industrialists), opposing him. At this time Mattei is alleged to have widely used unofficial financial resources of Agip for extensive bribery, especially of politicians and journalists. He used to say of political parties: "I use them like I would use a taxi: I sit in, I pay for the trip, I get out". Agip gained control of hundreds of companies in all economic fields in the country. Mattei paid great attention to the press, and Agip soon took possession of several newspapers and two agencies.

In 1953 a law created the ENI, Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi, into which Agip was merged. Mattei was initially its president, then also the administrator and the general director. In practice, Eni was Mattei and Mattei was Eni.