L'ITALIA E L'ENI DI FRONTE ALLE CRISI PETROLIFERE DEGLI ANNI SETTANTA. (Italian)

The lack of any primary energy sources had conditioned for a long time both the Italian industrial development and its international role. This situation would have had to push Italy to intervene for guaranteeing sure and convenient energy supplying. Notwithstanding this, a series of wrong evaluations and incorrect sectorial investments, especially during the Sixties, determined the general failure of the Italian energy policy. Moreover, the European cooperation didn't help to recover this situation because of its incapability of setting up a common energy policy. Therefore Italy was completely not ready to the events of the first oil shock, inevitably suffering the serious economic repercussions determined by the increase of the oil price and by its limited availability. At the beginning of the 1973 oil crisis, Rome recurred to bilateral agreements with the Mediterranean and Middle East oil producers, trying to act as a bridge between the continent, North Africa and the Middle East. Subsequently, the Italian Government tried to start a new energy strategy with new investments in the nuclear field and the continuation of the European energy cooperation. Nevertheless, for a series of circumstances the results of this action didn't carry out soon; then, also during the second oil shock Italy was strongly dependent from the importations. An important role in both the oil crises were played by the ENI, the Italian oil company; it seemed to want to regain the old role held during the years of Enrico Mattei, when it was the point of reference of some of the main oil producing countries of the Mediterranean area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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