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_-_distributore_di_benzina_Agip.jpg) Agipfilling station in Florence, Italy | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Petroleum |
| Founded | April 3, 1926; 99 years ago (1926-04-03) |
| Founders | Mussolini Cabinet |
| Defunct | 2013 (2013) |
| Fate | Disposal of the brand in favor ofEni |
| Successor | Eni Station |
| Headquarters | , Italy |
Area served | Italy |
| Products | Petroleum |
| Owner | Eni (100%) |
| Parent | Eni |
| Subsidiaries | AgipGas (100%) |
| Website | www.agip.eni.it |
Agip S.p.A.,acronym forAzienda generale italiana petroli, was an Italianautomotivegasoline,diesel,LPG,lubricants,fuel oil, andbitumenretailer established in 1926 andsubsidiary ofEni S.p.A.
In 2013 Agipmerged into Eni, creating the Refining and Marketing Division (R&M).[1]
In 1924,Sinclair Oil, a U.S. oil company, and the Italian Ministry of National Economy created a fifty-year joint venture agreement to explore oil inEmilia-Romagna andSicily, over an area of 40,000 km2.[2] 40% of the capital was held by the ministry, all expenditure was incurred by Sinclair Oil and 25% of profits went to the Italian ministry. The political opposition, headed byGiacomo Matteotti andDon Sturzo, alleged that the joint venture was damaging to the nation and started a controversy which led to suspicions of corruption; Matteotti indeed was killed two days before he was due to give a speech on this issue. Don Sturzo continued the controversy, stating that a public company was the only way to maintain national energy independence.
Coal in Italy was scarce and of poor quality.[3] It was imported from abroad at prices that weighed on Italy’s trade balance and limited industrial growth.Power plants, which were not very developed and mainly concentrated in the north of the country, could not satisfy the needs of energy.
With aroyal decree on April 3, 1926, the government of theKingdom of Italy established theAzienda generale italiana petroli (Agip), ajoint-stock company, to conduct all activities relating to thepetroleum industry. 60 percent of the share capital was held by theMinistry of the Treasury, 20% byIstituto Nazionale Assicurazioni (INA), and the remaining 20% by the Italian Social Insurance fund. The first president wasEttore Conti, a contractor in the electricity sector.[4] The establishment of the company was attributed by many analysts toGiuseppe Volpi di Misurata, Ministry of Finance, andGiuseppe Belluzzo, Ministry for the National Economy. Volpi di Misurata, however, was directly involved in oil-related interests, working together withFIAT ofGiovanni Agnelli, and with the financial backing ofBanca Commerciale Italiana, which had searched unsuccessfully for oil in Emilia-Romagna.In 1927 aMining Act was enacted, which gave the ownership of thesubsoil to the State and imposed the rule that any oil-related activity was subject to government authorization and/or grant.
Agip experienced difficulties after thecrisis of 1929 but began to flourish in the 1930s. In 1933 a new law was issued that restrained protectionistrefineries and Agip could operate with greater ease in this area.
Agip had a facility for refining atFiume and in 1936 it took over arefinery atPorto Marghera, owned by Volpi di Misurata. Soon after it made an agreement with Montecatini to create a joint enterprise,Anic (Fuel Hydrogenation National Company), which was to pursue the derivation of fuel by hydrogenation ofbrown coal. Anic built two refineries to process the oil extracted inAlbania fromAzienda Italiana Petroli Albanesi (AIPA), a subsidiary of Agip. However, the Albanian oil was of poor quality and its processing proved uneconomical.
Simultaneously, however, because of the costs to support colonial campaigns, Agip had to exit some foreign investments, in particular their exploration campaigns inIraq. It was the explorerArdito Desio who found oil inLibya and in 1939 came the so-called "Petrolibia operation", in which Agip was linked to FIAT, with which the year before it had created an Italian company for synthetic fuels, to explore the possibility of obtaining gasoline fromsynthetic chemistry.
.JPG)
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