Abstract

Beginning with the oil shocks of the 1970s, Italy was faced with the absolute need to diversify her energy sources. Among its other initiatives, Eni accelerated negotiations with Algeria to obtain natural gas supplies through construction of a trans-Mediterranean pipeline that would connect the Sahara fields to Italy’s methane pipeline grid: an idea that started from afar, one of Mattei’s last intentions before his death. The study aims to analyse the decision-making path of this complex negotiation that presupposed Italy playing a considerable role in the international framework of the time.