Editing Agip (section)

===The constitution of the company and the ''ad aziendam'' laws===
With a [[royal decree]] on April 3, 1926, the government of the [[Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)|Kingdom of Italy]] established the ''Azienda generale italiana petroli'' (''Agip''), a [[joint-stock company]], to conduct all activities relating to the [[petroleum]] industry. 60 percent of the share capital was held by the [[Ministry of the Treasury (Italy)|Ministry of the Treasury]], 20% by [[Istituto Nazionale Assicurazioni]] (INA), and the remaining 20% by the Italian Social Insurance fund. The first president was [[Ettore Conti]], a contractor in the electricity sector.<ref>{{Cite web |last=enrico |date=2022-05-19 |title=Enrico Mattei: From Agip to ENI |url=https://www.neperos.com/article/rc511cfaa2eb4ca7 |access-date=2022-11-23 |website=Neperos |language=en}}</ref> The establishment of the company was attributed by many analysts to [[Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata]], Ministry of Finance, and [[Giuseppe Belluzzo]], Ministry for the National Economy. Volpi di Misurata, however, was directly involved in oil-related interests, working together with [[Fiat Automobiles|FIAT]] of [[Giovanni Agnelli]], and with the financial backing of [[Banca Commerciale Italiana]], which had searched unsuccessfully for oil in Emilia-Romagna.
In 1927 a ''Mining Act'' was enacted, which gave the ownership of the [[subsoil]] to the State and imposed the rule that any oil-related activity was subject to government authorization and/or grant.

Agip experienced difficulties after the [[crisis of 1929]] but began to flourish in the 1930s. In 1933 a new law was issued that restrained protectionist [[refineries]] and Agip could operate with greater ease in this area.