Codice albumGBB-F-004586

Image IDGBB-F-004586-0000

The italian politician ENRICO MATTEI (1906 - 1962) was an Italian public administrator. After World War II he was given the task of dismantling the Italian Petroleum Agency Agip, a state enterprise established by the Fascist regime. Instead Mattei enlarged and reorganized it into the National Fuel Trust Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi (ENI). Under his direction ENI negotiated important oil concessions in the Middle East as well as a significant trade agreement with the Soviet Union which helped break the oligopoly of the ' Severn Sisters ' that dominated the mid 20th century oil industry. He also introduced the principle whereby the country that owned exploited oil reserves received 75 of the profits. Mattei, who became a powerful figure in Italy, was a left-wing Christian Democrat (DC - Democrazia Cristiana) and a member of parliament from 1948 to 1953. He died in a mysterious plane crash in 1962.

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