Editing Enrico Mattei (section)

==Agip and ENI==
{{more citations needed|section|date=October 2018}}<!--3 paragraphs without citations-->
 
In 1945, the National Liberation Committee appointed him to the leadership of [[Agip]] (''Azienda Generale Italiana Petrolio'' – General Italian Oil Company), the national [[Petroleum|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.<ref name=time291154>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100211204952/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,857753,00.html "State v. Private Capital"]. ''Time''. 29 November 1954.</ref>

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 [[World War II]]) would soon become rich. Agip's financial value immediately grew in the stock exchanges, 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 River|Po]], a certain amount of methane had been found together with a small quantity of oil.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

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]].<ref name=time021162/><ref name=hayes>Hayes, Mark H. (May 2004). [http://www.bakerinstitute.org/publications/algerian-gas-to-europe-the-transmed-pipeline-and-early-spanish-gas-import-projects "Algerian Gas to Europe: The Transmed Pipeline and Early Spanish Gas Import Projects"]. Prepared for the Geopolitics of Natural Gas Study, a joint project of the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development at Stanford University and the [[James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy]] of Rice University. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130504092105/http://bakerinstitute.org/publications/algerian-gas-to-europe-the-transmed-pipeline-and-early-spanish-gas-import-projects |date=4 May 2013 }}</ref> The gas was not a mere substitute for imported oil but rather a cheaper and more functional substitute for imported coal which the growing industrial activities relied on. High profits from natural gas sales were ploughed back into exploration, production, the expansion of pipelines, and the acquisition of new customers.<ref name=hayes/>

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 supported him, and the conservatives (together with the industrialists) opposed him. At this time, Mattei is alleged to have widely used the 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.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

In 1953, a [[law]] created the [[Eni|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.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}