The Italian-Soviet Oil Agreement of 1960 in the Context of European Energy Security

Main Article Content

Abstract

On October 11, 1960, an agreement was made between the Italian state energy company Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi (ENI) and the Soviet “Soyuznefteexport” for the export to Italy of a batch of oil worth 100 million US dollars in exchange for large-diameter pipes, machinery, tires, and technical assistance. This agreement, despite its purely economic nature, significantly influenced the international political situation of its time.


Firstly, this agreement demonstrated a dangerous trend towards establishing economic cooperation between the countries of the European Economic Community and the USSR, despite belonging to opposing camps of the Cold War. Shortly after its signing, the European Economic Community was forced to review its policy in the energy sector and for the first time introduce the concept of “energy security” into official documents.


Secondly, the agreement between ENI and “Soyuznefteexport”, in which the price of oil was lower than the global average, served as a pretext for NATO to declare the existence of the Soviet plan “Soviet Oil Offensive”. According to reports of the time, the USSR planned to export large volumes to Western European countries in exchange for a change in their political position to a more neutral one. As a result of the research conducted, the NATO Economic Committee and the US Congress limited themselves to issuing recommendations on continuing to study the USSR’s plans to expand trade with Western European countries and to establish quotas on the import of Soviet oil.


Thirdly, an indirect consequence of signing this agreement was the formation of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which feared a dumping of oil prices due to the emergence of a new competitor. In 1960, the founding of this organization went unnoticed, but in the future, it significantly influenced the development of the history of the last third of the 20th century.


Thus, studying the circumstances of the signing of the Italian-Soviet oil agreement of 1960 allows us to trace the formation of the problem of European energy security, which poses a serious problem for the countries of the European nowadays.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Article Details

How to Cite
Domin, O. and Samofatov, M. (2024) “The Italian-Soviet Oil Agreement of 1960 in the Context of European Energy Security”, Problems of World History, (25), pp. 69–85. doi: 10.46869/2707-6776-2024-25-3.
Section
Articles
Author Biographies

O. Domin

Domin Oleg – Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Professor of Odesa I.I. Mechnikov National University.

M. Samofatov

Samofatov Mykhaylo – Postgraduate Student, Lecturer of Odesa I.I. Mechnikov National University.

References

Bagnato, B. (2003). Prove di ostpolitik: Politica ed economia nella strategia italiana verso l’Unione Sovietica: 1958-1963. [Online]. Firenze: Leo S. Olschki editore. Available from: http://www.byterfly.eu/islandora/object/librib%3A229185#mode/2up [In Italian].

Bagnato, B. (2010). L’Italia e la guerra d’Algeria : il governo, i partiti, le forze sociali e l’Eni di Mattei. Enrico Mattei e l’Algeria durante la Guerra di Liberazione Nazionale (pp.23-40). [Online]. Algeri: Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Algeri. Available from: https://baldi.diplomacy.edu/diplo/texts/cantini_Mattei_IT.pdf [In Italian].

Cantoni, R.(2015). Breach of faith? Italian-Soviet Cold War Trading and ENI’s International “Oil Scandal”. Quaestio Rossica. [Online]. Vol. 4, pp. 180–198. Available from: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01264554/document [In English].

Salacone, A. (2013). Le relazioni italo-sovietiche nel decennio 1958-1968. Storicamente. [Online].Vol. 5, pp. 1-11. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1473/stor434 [In Italian].

Oddo, G., Antoniani, R. (2022). L’Italia nel petrolio: Mattei, Cefis, Pasolini e il sogno infranto dell’indipendenza energetica. Feltrinelli, 2022 [In Italian].

Weil, G. (Ed.) (1965). A Handbook on the European Economic Community. New York, Washington, London: Praeger. [Online]. Available from: https://aei.pitt.edu/3216/1/3216.pdf [In English].

Yergin, D. (1991). The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power. [Online]. Simon&Schuster. Available from: https://rb.gy/wr5a1x [In English].

Papanikos, G. T. (2015). Energy security, the European Energy Union and the Mediterranean countries. Athens Journal of Mediterranean Studies. [Online]. Vol. 3, pp. 341-354. Available from: https://rb.gy/jb6vvx [In English].

Fishbane, J.D. (1994). The Troubled Evolution of Energy Policy in the EEC: A Discordant Note in the Harmonization Process. Akron Law Review. [Online]. Vol. 27: Iss. 3, Article 2, pp. 301-354. Available from: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/232682362.pdf [In English].

Matsumoto, K., Doumpos, M., & Andriosopoulos, K. (2018). Historical energy security performance in EU countries. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. [Online]. Issue 82, pp. 1737–1748. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.06.058 [In English].

Varsori, A. (2022). Dalla rinascita al declino: Storia internazionale dell’Italia repubblicana. Bologna: Il Mulino [In Italian].

Ginsborg, P. (1989). Storia d’Italia dal dopoguerra a oggi. Torino: Einaudi [In Italian].

Samofatov, M. (2023). Italijs"kyj vektor polityky SShA u period prezydenstva Dzhona Kennedi. Amerykans"ka istoriya ta polityka, 16, pp. 70-79. [Online]. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.17721/2521-1706.2023.16.6 [In Ukrainian].

Samofatov, M. (2023). “Zolotyj vik”: intehraciya italijs"koyi ekonomiky u yevropejs"kyj rynok (1951-1973 rr.). Yevropejs"ki istorychni studiyi, 15, pp. 6-17. [Online]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.17721/2524-048X.2023.25.1 [In Ukrainian].

Clarke, J.C. (1991). Russia and Italy against Hitler: The Bolshevik-Fascist Rapprochement of the 1930s. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. [In English].

Protocole sur les moyens d'assurer une politique coordonnée dans le domaine de l'énergie, intervenu entre le Conseil de Ministres et la Haute Autorité lors de la 45e session du Conseil tenue le 8 octobre 1957. EUR-Lex. [Online] 7.12.1957. pp. 574-578. Available from: https://rb.gy/u0uzwe [In Dutch, German, French, Italian].

Memorandum on the energy policy (1962). Bulletin of the European Coal and Steel Community. [Online]. 2ndspecial issue, pp. 1-35. Available from: https://aei.pitt.edu/40589/ [In French].

Numero della Pravda dell'anno 1958. Archivio storico ENI. Busta 4 (Consigliere economico. URSS e altri). Fascicolo 4883. 10 f. [In Russian].

Promemoria per l’ing. Mattei. Questioni da trattare con il Sig. Salimowsky.Archivio storico ENI. Busta 36 (Viaggio URSS e Cina 14–26 dicembre 1958). Fascicolo 312. 4 f. [In Italian].

Relazione al Dott. Cefis: colloqui a Mosca del 24 luglio 1959. Archivio storico ENI. Busta 36 (Viaggio URSS e Cina 14–26 dicembre 1958). Fascicolo 312. 7 f. [In Italian].

Missione a Mosca (8–17 marzo 1960). Archivio storico ENI. Busta 264 (Russia 1960–1968). Fascicolo 482E. 5 f. [In Italian].

LaFantasie, G.W. (Ed.) (1972). Foreign Relations of United States, 1958–1960, Foreign Economic Policy, Volume IV. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office. [Online]. Available from: https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v04 [In English].

LaFantasie, G.W. (Ed.) (1993). Foreign Relations of United States, 1958–1960, Western Europe, Part 2. [Online]. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office. Available from: https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v07p2 [In English].

SSSR – Italija. Stranicyistorii, 1917–1984: Dokumenty i materialy (1985). Moscow: Politizdat, 1985. [In Russian].

Hoskins, H.L. (1961). Soviet Oil in the Cold War. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office. [Online]. Available from: https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.a0000447979 [In English].

Vneshnie ekonomicheskie svjazi SSSR v 1989 g. (1990). Moscow: Finansy i statistika [In Russian].

Notkin D. Perestrojka toplivnogo balansa (1959). Planovoe hozjajstvo. № 1, pp. 42-53.[In Russian].

Bagnato, B. (ed.) (2002). I diari di Luca Pietromarchi. Ambasciatore italiano a Mosca (1958–1961). Firenze: Leo Olshki. [Online]. Available online: http://www.byterfly.eu/islandora/object/librib:228177#mode/2up [In Italian].

Bodriyar, Zh. (2004). Symulyakry i symulyaciya. Kyiv: Osnovy. [Online]. Available from: https://shron1.chtyvo.org.ua/Jean_Baudrillard/Symuliakry_i_symuliatsiia.pdf [In Ukrainian].

Pasolini, P.P. (2014). Nafta: roman. Kharkiv: Folio. [In Ukrainian].