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The province of Piacenza occupies an
important place in the history of hydrocarbons in Italy, as it was in this
region that AGIP discovered two gas and condensates reservoirs in the
Thirties and Forties. This discovery, which launched explorations in the
Po Valley, was later discovered to contain one of the most important
reservoirs in Western Europe as far as natural gas production is concerned.
These reservoirs were Podenzano, discovered in 1930 and Cortemaggiore,
discovered in 1949.
These distant episodes were brought to mind again on 19 September in
Grazzano Visconti (Piacenza) by the AGIP Pioneers and Veterans Association
(APVA) which also organized a photographic exhibition of AGIP’s activities
in Italy, and throughout the world between 1926 and 1966. Attending the
exhibition were the Industry Minister Pierluigi Bersani, as well as top
management figures from ENI and hundreds of oil Pioneers.
The discovery of the Podenzano reservoir enabled this gas to be conveyed
to Milan in 1940, thereby creating the first industrial use for natural
gas in Italy. Although by current standards it was a relatively small gas
reservoir (300 million cubic metres) it was concrete proof of the presence
of a hydrocarbon bearing structure at the edges of the Po Valley. This was
later confirmed by the discovery of the huge gas and condensates reservoir
of Cortemaggiore in 1949, with reserves of 14 billion cubic metres of gas
and 8 million barrels of condensates. This laid the scene for the major
success stories which have brought Italy to its current position as one of
the largest gas producers in Western Europe. Current Italian production of
gas is 20 billion cubic metres a year.
This concentration of activity in the province of Piacenza in the first
thirty years of oil exploration in Italy led to the emergence of a class
of top quality oil experts, including, among others, the Zanmatti brothers,
Carlo and Alberto from Travo in Val Trebbia, and Giuseppe Faverani from
Monticelli d'Ongino.
Carlo Zanmatti, born in 1896 and actively working until the end of the
Sixties, was the man who led AGIP through its pioneering period in pre-war
years to become the modern, internationally recognized company it is today.
He joined AGIP in 1927, one year after the company was formed, and gained
a vast amount of experience working not only in Italy but also in Albania
and East Africa, becoming sole General Manager in 1939 and later Chairman
during the war years, when the company’s headquarters moved to Podenzano.
After the war Carlo Zanmatti joined Enrico Mattei as Managing Director and
began the process of modernising AGIP, a task which he handed over to
Egidio Egidi in the Sixties to put the finishing touches to the company’s
transformation.
His brother Alberto, two years younger, was a well known drilling and
production engineer who gained experience in Romania, Iraq and East
Africa, as well as in Italy.
Giuseppe Faverzani, born in 1920, was Managing Director when he retired in
the early eighties. For many years he led AGIP’s operations in Italy and
abroad and was amongst the most valued colleagues of Egidi in giving AGIP
its modern structures.
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