Sixty-one years ago, Enrico Mattei died when his plane crashed, killing all those on board. At the time, there were powerful people who wanted him dead.
As the founder of the Italian energy company ENI he had taken on the Seven Sisters: Exxon, Gulf, Texaco, Mobil and Chevron from the US as well as British Petroleum from England and Royal Dutch Group, Shell.
These companies dominated the world oil industry from the 1920s to the 1970s. Around 1950, the Seven Sisters controlled almost 98.3 per cent of the global oil market, using oligopoly market structures.
Mattei started showing his entrepreneurial flair after World War II when he was given the task of dismantling the Italian petroleum agency AGIP. Instead, he used it to build Italy’s oil and gas industry by creating the Natural Hydrocarbons Agency – ENI – in 1953.
Mattei was a thorn in the sides of the Seven Sisters and their governments (UK, US, Netherlands, France and Belgium). He succeeded in getting many contracts for ENI from wherever he went in the Mediterranean, the Middle East, the Gulf and Africa. He treated these countries as equals and offered them 50/50 partnerships and 75 per cent of the profits from their oil.
The US government put pressure on the Italian government to stop him. Mattei survived, thanks to his reputation as an anti-fascist and as an honest and competent entrepreneur, together with his strong roots in the Christian Democratic Party. He built ENI into a leader in oil and gas-related fields such as exploration, refining, oil and gas pipes, distribution networks, oil drilling equipment and petrochemicals. He shared this know-how with his partners overseas to allow them to use the money they earned from their natural resources to develop the health, education and welfare services of their people.
President John Kennedy personally called Italian prime minister Amintore Fanfani to stop Mattei from “undermining” western vested interests in the newly independent countries. At the time, Italy, especially through politicians like Christian Democrat Giorgio La Pira, a friend of Mattei’s, wanted to build new relations with the Mediterranean, the Arab world and Africa.
Pope Francis declared La Pira a “venerable” in 2018 for grounding his political life in his Christian faith and bearing witness to the Gospel in his politics. La Pira described Mattei as an entrepreneur and an intellectual inspired by Francis of Assisi who saw business as a profitable venture to improve the life of the people. Mattei rejected the materialism of both capitalism and communism.
Italian neutrality
Although Italy belonged to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Mattei was not constrained by the Cold War bloc logic of the US against the Soviet Union. He believed that Italy should be neutral to be more credible when developing its partnerships with the newly independent countries. He hoped to persuade the Christian Democrats to get Italy out of NATO and become neutral the same way he had persuaded them to move closer to the Socialist and Communist Party on specific national policies for the good of Italy, not because he agreed with their ideologies.
His way of conducting business in the oil- and gas-rich countries in the Arab world and Africa was seen as unacceptable by western political and business elites. He was seen as having crossed the red line when he negotiated agreements with the Soviet Union in 1959 to acquire cheaper and better-quality oil for Italy. West Germany had got away with such an agreement as it allowed American multinationals to manage those contracts. But Mattei, very ‘dangerously’ wanted Italy itself to manage this energy partnership with the Soviet Union.
Mattei defied the logic of spheres of influence and presented an alternative to economic colonialism- Evarist Bartolo
Mattei persevered in building equitable relations with the Mediterranean, the Arab world and Africa that disrupted the business model of the multinationals. He had persuaded the Italian government to pass a law, making Italy the sole sovereign owner of all the mineral wealth on its territory. He spread the same principle to the newly independent countries.
Mattei believed that it was in the interest of Italy to have an autonomous foreign policy, reaping the benefits of decolonisation and distancing it from the shortsighted western policies in the Mediterranean, including in the case of the Suez Crisis, and also the Seven Sisters’ aggressive policy. He supported Algeria in its war to liberate itself from France. He was ready to give these countries technical assistance in managing their own resources to foster economic development and political independence.
Mattei defied the logic of spheres of influence and presented an alternative to economic colonialism. His approach was considered too bold and too insubordinate for his own good. He was unstoppable. The only way to get rid of him was to kill him.
He was killed in tragic and mysterious circumstances when his plane ‘crashed’ 61 years ago. “We had conclusive evidence that Enrico was killed,” Mattei’s nephew, Angelo said on December 9, 1962, “when private experts told us that they found traces of explosive on the remains of the plane.”
Mattei worked to help Italy overcome its inferiority complex: its belief that it was only good to produce migrants, poets, singers but not the leadership skills to have a dignified role in the world. He exhorted young Italians to believe in themselves and build Italy’s tomorrow through studying, learning and understanding problems.
In his notes for a speech in Tunisia, which he did not live to give, he said that countries must struggle against fatality and resignation: “I had to do some decolonisation myself because many sectors of the Italian economy were colonised, indeed, I would say, that southern Italy itself had been colonised by the north of Italy! The colonial fact is not only political: it is also and, above all, economic. In the oil sector, this oligopolistic hegemonic power is the cartel. I fight against the cartel not only because it is oligopolistic but because it is… to the detriment of the producing countries as well as to the detriment of consuming countries.”
Evarist BartoloEvarist Bartolo is a former Labour education and foreign minister.