Enrico Mattei (April 29, 1906 – October 27, 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 '
Seven 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
Christian Democrat, and a member of parliament from 1948 to 1953. Mattei made ENI a powerful company, so much so that Italians called it "the state within the state." He died in a mysterious plane crash in 1962, likely caused by a bomb in the plane. The unsolved death of Mattei has obsessed Italy for years and was the subject of an award-winning film
The Mattei Affair by
Francesco Rosi in 1972.