Enrico Mattei built Eni, then his jet crashed in 1962

In 1945 Mattei, a former partisan commander, was sent to wind up Agip, a failing state oil company. He kept it alive instead. In 1946 Agip found gas at Caviaga, near Lodi, and in 1953 a law created Eni, with Mattei at its head.

He then took on the "Seven Sisters", the name he popularised for the Western companies that controlled the world's oil. Their usual deal gave producing countries half the profits. In 1957 Mattei's deal with Iran gave the Iranian side 75%. From 1958 Eni also bought Soviet oil, in the middle of the Cold War.

On 27 October 1962 his jet crashed at Bascapè, near Pavia, on its way to Milan's Linate airport. Mattei, pilot Irnerio Bertuzzi and American journalist William McHale were k*lled. A first inquiry, closed in 1966, called it an accident.

In 1994 Pavia prosecutor Vincenzo Calia reopened the case. Tests found traces of explosives on the wreckage and on objects recovered from the plane. His 2003 conclusions say a small charge hidden behind the instrument panel went off as the landing gear came down. In 2004 a judge closed the case because the people responsible could not be identified.

Today the Italian state still controls Eni, with about 33% held by the Treasury and the state lender CDP. In 2023 the government set up the Mattei Plan for Africa by decree.

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The voice in this video is AI-generated. Script and fact-checking by The Italy Desk. Aerial footage: Palazzo Chigi, 20/6/2025. Photos: Wikimedia Commons.