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Mattei's growing political influence has even his own Christian Democrats worried. Though they criticize his iron rule of E.N.I., they dare not curb it since the government depends heavily on E.N.I. profits, which amounted to $7.4 million on sales of $577 million for its past fiscal year. Furthermore, Mattei ranks as a national hero for his much-headlined battles against the oil Goliaths, and for reducing Italian gasoline prices by 22% in the past two years. He has built E.N.I., once a discredited Fascist enterprise, into one of Europe's biggest industrial complexes—one which turns out a range of goods from soap and kitchen equipment to heavy machinery and oil rigs, employs 21,500 workers and has a fleet of 15 tankers.
Last week Enrico Mattei proudly listed his accomplishments: "We're building seven refineries in Morocco, Tunisia, Ghana, Poland, Sicily, the Po Valley and Switzerland. We're building our own offshore drilling rigs. One is already in the Red Sea, two in the Persian Gulf, one will start soon in a gas field in the Adriatic. Just yesterday I returned from Rumania, where I sold $5,000,000 worth of equipment. Not bad, eh?"
As for Iraq, Mattei is more than ready to take on the Western oil majors there, or anywhere else. "Now we have experience," says he. "Now we have our staff of thousands of engineers, geologists, chemists and other specialists. Now I'm in the same situation as the big oil companies." And he adds: "I'm not afraid."
*Controlled by five western oil companies: British Petroleum (23.75%), Royal Dutch Shell (23.75%), France's C.F.P. (23.75%), Standard Oil of New Jersey (11.875%) and Socony Mobil (11.875%).