I work on industrial history and the relations between state and enterprise. My PhD research is a study on the role of the oil industry in the Algerian decolonisation process.
I also work on public history projects. Supervisors: Martin Daunton and Dominique Barjot
Between 1954 and 1962, Algeria was the scene of an independence war that mainly opposed the Frenc... more Between 1954 and 1962, Algeria was the scene of an independence war that mainly opposed the French military to groups of guerrilla fighters. From 1956 on, massive geological and geophysical campaigns by French companies and Anglo-French joint ventures materialised in a series of major oil and gas discoveries in Algeria's Saharan region. Such discoveries, beside causing an increased international interest for Algerian territory, were deemed fundamental for France's energy autonomy, in that they would allow the country to achieve a certain degree of independence from US major oil companies. However, in order for France to exploit Algerian oil- and gas fields, these two resources had to be channeled to Europe, and that was all but a trivial procedure in a war-ravaged country attempting to achieve independence. While French administrations tried to implement a juridical distinction between the Northern part of Algeria and the Southern territories in order to retain control over the Sahara even in the event of independence, the National Liberation Front (FLN) claimed complete control over the territory and declared void any agreement signed by the oil companies with the French authorities. The FLN therefore enacted a strategy focussed on impeding that oil and gas from Algerian fields could reach France. They did this through various means. First and foremost, by trying to prevent the construction of pipelines themselves; later on, by attempting to sabotage the pipelines, and in one case by killing a crew of prospectors. When faced to such actions, the French responded either by constituting considerable military protection set-ups around the oilfields, or by considering alternative layouts for their pipelines, so as to minimise the amount of Algerian territory that pipelines would cross; for example, by building their terminals in Tunisia. These costly military measures proved that the exploitation of the Saharan hydrocarbon resources would not be economically viable without peace. In line with Timothy Mitchell's and Andrew Barry's arguments developed in Carbon Democracy and Material Politics respectively, this paper aims to analyse the value of pipelines as active subjects of politics in the case of a contested territory.
Review of "Myths of the Oil Boom: American National Security in a Global Energy Market" by Steven... more Review of "Myths of the Oil Boom: American National Security in a Global Energy Market" by Steven A. Yetiv
The Business History Network at Oxford University, in collaboration with the YSI – Inet, is setti... more The Business History Network at Oxford University, in collaboration with the YSI – Inet, is setting up a working group on Business History. The group will meet on a monthly basis to discuss papers related to Business History. The papers will be presented online during webinar sessions. We are currently inviting graduate students and early-career scholars to join the group and to present a paper for the 2015-2016 academic year.
The Association for the Studies of Modern Italy will hold its annual summer school at the Univers... more The Association for the Studies of Modern Italy will hold its annual summer school at the University of Reading on the 22nd and 23 June, 2015. We welcome papers on Italian culture and Italian History from postgraduate students (master and PhD) and early career researchers
Eogan (the European Network for Oil and Gas Archives) will hold its annual meeting in Copenhagen ... more Eogan (the European Network for Oil and Gas Archives) will hold its annual meeting in Copenhagen on the 28th-29th May. We welcome any abstract on history of energy and/or business archival preservation
Offshore wind power (OSW) plays a key role within the UK strategy for a transition towards a low-... more Offshore wind power (OSW) plays a key role within the UK strategy for a transition towards a low-carbon economy, offering vast potential for establishing a high-tech manufacturing industry. Previous experiences in the onshore sector (OWP) suggest the UK might fail in fully capturing these macroeconomic benefits. In this work, we investigate the history of UK renewable policies, comparing its national strategy to those of other major OSW-export countries. Through the use of a numerical general equilibrium model, we quantify the macroeconomic impacts under three scenarios: a baseline, which relies on previous estimates and foresee limited local content; a 'contamination' scenario, where the UK content reaches the same levels of OWP; and a 'non-myopic' scenario, where investors expect governmental support to decrease or disappear, replicating a common path of past renewable policies. We identify the UK as a FDI-oriented country. Our results suggest that increasing the share of locally-sourced capital goods in OSP to OWP-level could generate larger income and employment effects in the UK economy. We find that under forward-looking investors the economic benefits are significantly lower than the case of myopic agents. Our results show an inherent conflict with stated purposes of UK policy for OSW.
The Transmed gas pipeline connects the hydrocarbon resources of Hassi R’Mel in Algeria to the Nor... more The Transmed gas pipeline connects the hydrocarbon resources of Hassi R’Mel in Algeria to the North of Italy, running for 220km across Tunisia, the Mediterranean sea and Italy. It was built between 1978 and 1983 and it is the largest gas pipeline in Southern Europe. It is also one of the world’s first major infrastructures built specifically for gas, at a time when the gas market was developing from second-class fuel consumed regionally to major energy source . At the present time, it is still one of the most important Italian energy hubs, with some 30,2bcm of natural gas imported every year, making Algeria the most important gas supplier to Italy . The history of the Transmed is interesting for a number of reasons. Firstly, despite its relevance, the pipeline can be considered the smaller outcome of a larger plan to supply Europe via the Sahara desert, that France and Italy tried to implement in the early ‘60s, right after Algeria’s independence. Secondly, the bumpy history of the negotiations between Italy and Algeria for the set-up of the pipeline and the supply contracts is extremely indicative of the difficult relations between European oil companies, the American giants, and newly independent countries. It also shows the lack of a common European energy strategy in negotiating energy supplies and in trying to promote stable relations with Northern African countries. In fact, after many setbacks, the Transmed project was eventually carried out not because of the international strategy under which it was conceived, but thanks to the insistence of the local government in Sicily, which was hoping to bridge the industrial gap with the North by establishing a major South-South agreement with Africa.
Between 1954 and 1962, Algeria was the scene of an independence war that mainly opposed the Frenc... more Between 1954 and 1962, Algeria was the scene of an independence war that mainly opposed the French military to groups of guerrilla fighters. From 1956 on, massive geological and geophysical campaigns by French companies and Anglo-French joint ventures materialised in a series of major oil and gas discoveries in Algeria's Saharan region. Such discoveries, beside causing an increased international interest for Algerian territory, were deemed fundamental for France's energy autonomy, in that they would allow the country to achieve a certain degree of independence from US major oil companies. However, in order for France to exploit Algerian oil- and gas fields, these two resources had to be channeled to Europe, and that was all but a trivial procedure in a war-ravaged country attempting to achieve independence. While French administrations tried to implement a juridical distinction between the Northern part of Algeria and the Southern territories in order to retain control over the Sahara even in the event of independence, the National Liberation Front (FLN) claimed complete control over the territory and declared void any agreement signed by the oil companies with the French authorities. The FLN therefore enacted a strategy focussed on impeding that oil and gas from Algerian fields could reach France. They did this through various means. First and foremost, by trying to prevent the construction of pipelines themselves; later on, by attempting to sabotage the pipelines, and in one case by killing a crew of prospectors. When faced to such actions, the French responded either by constituting considerable military protection set-ups around the oilfields, or by considering alternative layouts for their pipelines, so as to minimise the amount of Algerian territory that pipelines would cross; for example, by building their terminals in Tunisia. These costly military measures proved that the exploitation of the Saharan hydrocarbon resources would not be economically viable without peace. In line with Timothy Mitchell's and Andrew Barry's arguments developed in Carbon Democracy and Material Politics respectively, this paper aims to analyse the value of pipelines as active subjects of politics in the case of a contested territory.
Review of "Myths of the Oil Boom: American National Security in a Global Energy Market" by Steven... more Review of "Myths of the Oil Boom: American National Security in a Global Energy Market" by Steven A. Yetiv
The Business History Network at Oxford University, in collaboration with the YSI – Inet, is setti... more The Business History Network at Oxford University, in collaboration with the YSI – Inet, is setting up a working group on Business History. The group will meet on a monthly basis to discuss papers related to Business History. The papers will be presented online during webinar sessions. We are currently inviting graduate students and early-career scholars to join the group and to present a paper for the 2015-2016 academic year.
The Association for the Studies of Modern Italy will hold its annual summer school at the Univers... more The Association for the Studies of Modern Italy will hold its annual summer school at the University of Reading on the 22nd and 23 June, 2015. We welcome papers on Italian culture and Italian History from postgraduate students (master and PhD) and early career researchers
Eogan (the European Network for Oil and Gas Archives) will hold its annual meeting in Copenhagen ... more Eogan (the European Network for Oil and Gas Archives) will hold its annual meeting in Copenhagen on the 28th-29th May. We welcome any abstract on history of energy and/or business archival preservation
Offshore wind power (OSW) plays a key role within the UK strategy for a transition towards a low-... more Offshore wind power (OSW) plays a key role within the UK strategy for a transition towards a low-carbon economy, offering vast potential for establishing a high-tech manufacturing industry. Previous experiences in the onshore sector (OWP) suggest the UK might fail in fully capturing these macroeconomic benefits. In this work, we investigate the history of UK renewable policies, comparing its national strategy to those of other major OSW-export countries. Through the use of a numerical general equilibrium model, we quantify the macroeconomic impacts under three scenarios: a baseline, which relies on previous estimates and foresee limited local content; a 'contamination' scenario, where the UK content reaches the same levels of OWP; and a 'non-myopic' scenario, where investors expect governmental support to decrease or disappear, replicating a common path of past renewable policies. We identify the UK as a FDI-oriented country. Our results suggest that increasing the share of locally-sourced capital goods in OSP to OWP-level could generate larger income and employment effects in the UK economy. We find that under forward-looking investors the economic benefits are significantly lower than the case of myopic agents. Our results show an inherent conflict with stated purposes of UK policy for OSW.
The Transmed gas pipeline connects the hydrocarbon resources of Hassi R’Mel in Algeria to the Nor... more The Transmed gas pipeline connects the hydrocarbon resources of Hassi R’Mel in Algeria to the North of Italy, running for 220km across Tunisia, the Mediterranean sea and Italy. It was built between 1978 and 1983 and it is the largest gas pipeline in Southern Europe. It is also one of the world’s first major infrastructures built specifically for gas, at a time when the gas market was developing from second-class fuel consumed regionally to major energy source . At the present time, it is still one of the most important Italian energy hubs, with some 30,2bcm of natural gas imported every year, making Algeria the most important gas supplier to Italy . The history of the Transmed is interesting for a number of reasons. Firstly, despite its relevance, the pipeline can be considered the smaller outcome of a larger plan to supply Europe via the Sahara desert, that France and Italy tried to implement in the early ‘60s, right after Algeria’s independence. Secondly, the bumpy history of the negotiations between Italy and Algeria for the set-up of the pipeline and the supply contracts is extremely indicative of the difficult relations between European oil companies, the American giants, and newly independent countries. It also shows the lack of a common European energy strategy in negotiating energy supplies and in trying to promote stable relations with Northern African countries. In fact, after many setbacks, the Transmed project was eventually carried out not because of the international strategy under which it was conceived, but thanks to the insistence of the local government in Sicily, which was hoping to bridge the industrial gap with the North by establishing a major South-South agreement with Africa.
To be published in In A. Smith, C. Jeppesen (eds.), Britain, France & Africa: Tangled Empires and... more To be published in In A. Smith, C. Jeppesen (eds.), Britain, France & Africa: Tangled Empires and Decolonisation, UCL Press
The internet has rapidly and dramatically changed the way in which companies operate, sell, commu... more The internet has rapidly and dramatically changed the way in which companies operate, sell, communicate. With the internet, even the smallest and most localised business has a potential global reach, and the development of online payment has redefined the selling market in most sectors. Boundaries and borders are being radically re-discussed. However, the fast and dispersed nature of the world wide web makes it particularly difficult to make estimates on the size and growth of a country’s economy online. This paper analyses the impact that the diffusion of the internet had on UK companies in the mid to late 1990s. In 2010, the United Kingdom enjoyed the world’s largest e-commerce market per capita and the second largest online advertising market ; but how did companies react to the arrival of the internet as a tool for everyday life? This research attempts to investigate a series of questions related to the creation of online space on part of UK companies between 1996 and 2001; a framework that defines a period in which internet was starting to spread, but it was not as common and as pervasive as it would be in the following decade. In first instance, the paper analyses which types of companies where the first to “evolve” to the digital world; which business sectors were the most proactive; how many UK-based companies opened their websites already in the 1990s, and for which reasons; when did the internet become a fundamental tool for the commercial and communication strategies of British companies, rather than just another medium. The paper then proceeds to analyse the evolution of the online presence of UK companies with a comparison between the website (or webpage) of a company in the 1990s and the live website. This section addresses the evolution of the structure, graphics and content of companies’ websites; the changes in the aesthetic, in the type of content provided and in the way in which this content is organised for the visitors. The section also focuses on the creation of digital “addresses” on part of UK businesses, from the choice of internet services providers to decisions regarding the domain (in particular, the choice between the .com domain as opposed to the more “national” and “local” .co.uk). Finally, this part of the research studies the relations between live websites and social networks. In third instance, the paper attempts to understand which British companies were the first to adopt e-commerce solutions on their websites, and of which type. This sections also focuses on the relation between UK businesses and the large American platforms for online sales, such as Amazon and Ebay. Finally, in its fourth and final section the paper reconstructs the debate over the arrival of the internet on the economic press of the time: what was the perception of the impact that the internet would have in the near future on the economy, and what were the expectations and the worries brought about by such a powerful new medium. In order to provide an answer to the aforementioned questions, the paper uses a combination of online archival sources and a more traditional approach. Most of the research is based on the Internet Archive, accessed through the web engine devised by the British Library in collaboration with the Big UK Domain Data for the Arts and Humanities. In addition, the research has been based on live internet sources, mostly live companies’ websites and social networks. The data collected thanks to the digital sources were combined with questionnaires sent to a selection of companies and business archives and with articles from the specialized press published in the period taken in consideration. All in all, the paper hopes to provide a first reconstruction of the history of the online presence of economic agents in a specific country and also to provide a set of data and a methodological framework for further research on the relations between the internet and a country’s economic system.
The Business History Network at Oxford University is co-hosting a webinar series on business hist... more The Business History Network at Oxford University is co-hosting a webinar series on business history. Abstract submission deadline: 15 November 2015.
Up until the establishment of OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries), the only supr... more Up until the establishment of OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries), the only supranational institution for the management of the oil industry was the informal cartel established by the so-called Seven Sisters, seven private or semi- private companies based in the United States and the UK, which controlled both world production and the European market, the largest in the world. Between the mid-1950s and the mid-1960s, the Italian State company Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi (National Hydrocarbon Agency, ENI) challenged the structure of the international oil industry and influenced the creation of OPEC in 1960. It signed a series of treaties with oil-producing countries, which assigned producers wider control over their resources through the establishment of a shared joint-venture between ENI and the producer country. This formula - known as the “Mattei formula” (from the name of ENI’s President, Enrico Mattei) - redefined the rules of the international oil market by allowing for the first time production-sharing agreements and overcoming the “50:50 formula,” which previously regulated revenues to producer countries on part of the cartel. The first contract that used the “Mattei formula” was signed in 1957 with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and soon after in Egypt, followed by several other countries, especially in Africa, which was emerging as the new production area after the Middle East and Latin America. ENI’s policies reshaped oil relations between Western Europe, North Africa and the Middle East in the crucial years of decolonization and the Cold War, and influenced the emergence of oil nationalism as well as the creation of OPEC, which looked at Mattei as an ally in the West. Following the example of Mattei, France and other European countries discussed the possibility of conducting State-State negotiations with OPEC and other producer countries, limiting the role of the oil companies to contractors rather than political actors in the negotiations. In the aftermath of the 1973 shock, Europe discussed the possibility of creating an OPIC (Organisation of Petroleum Importing Countries) to avoid the inference of the international oil industry, which was offloading on consumer countries the extra costs of revenues paid to OPEC countries. Through a study of primary documents from the historical archives of ENI, of OPEC and of the European Union, this paper will examine the changes introduced by ENI and Enrico Mattei in the international oil structures, the limits and successes of this small “revolution” in the oil industry, the relations between OPEC and Europe and the role of the Seven Sisters in the rising power of OPEC as the new “supervising” agent of the international oil market. In particular, the paper will examine the relations ENI established with leaders in the oil-producing world during the 1950s, the impact of the “Mattei formula” in early OPEC policies, and the legacy of ENI’s policy in the subsequent development of the oil industry in the 1960s and early 1970s.
The development of a national Algeria oil industry in the aftermath of the independence war: prof... more The development of a national Algeria oil industry in the aftermath of the independence war: professional training and acquisition of know-how
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At the present time, it is still one of the most important Italian energy hubs, with some 30,2bcm of natural gas imported every year, making Algeria the most important gas supplier to Italy .
The history of the Transmed is interesting for a number of reasons. Firstly, despite its relevance, the pipeline can be considered the smaller outcome of a larger plan to supply Europe via the Sahara desert, that France and Italy tried to implement in the early ‘60s, right after Algeria’s independence. Secondly, the bumpy history of the negotiations between Italy and Algeria for the set-up of the pipeline and the supply contracts is extremely indicative of the difficult relations between European oil companies, the American giants, and newly independent countries. It also shows the lack of a common European energy strategy in negotiating energy supplies and in trying to promote stable relations with Northern African countries. In fact, after many setbacks, the Transmed project was eventually carried out not because of the international strategy under which it was conceived, but thanks to the insistence of the local government in Sicily, which was hoping to bridge the industrial gap with the North by establishing a major South-South agreement with Africa.
At the present time, it is still one of the most important Italian energy hubs, with some 30,2bcm of natural gas imported every year, making Algeria the most important gas supplier to Italy .
The history of the Transmed is interesting for a number of reasons. Firstly, despite its relevance, the pipeline can be considered the smaller outcome of a larger plan to supply Europe via the Sahara desert, that France and Italy tried to implement in the early ‘60s, right after Algeria’s independence. Secondly, the bumpy history of the negotiations between Italy and Algeria for the set-up of the pipeline and the supply contracts is extremely indicative of the difficult relations between European oil companies, the American giants, and newly independent countries. It also shows the lack of a common European energy strategy in negotiating energy supplies and in trying to promote stable relations with Northern African countries. In fact, after many setbacks, the Transmed project was eventually carried out not because of the international strategy under which it was conceived, but thanks to the insistence of the local government in Sicily, which was hoping to bridge the industrial gap with the North by establishing a major South-South agreement with Africa.
This paper analyses the impact that the diffusion of the internet had on UK companies in the mid to late 1990s. In 2010, the United Kingdom enjoyed the world’s largest e-commerce market per capita and the second largest online advertising market ; but how did companies react to the arrival of the internet as a tool for everyday life?
This research attempts to investigate a series of questions related to the creation of online space on part of UK companies between 1996 and 2001; a framework that defines a period in which internet was starting to spread, but it was not as common and as pervasive as it would be in the following decade. In first instance, the paper analyses which types of companies where the first to “evolve” to the digital world; which business sectors were the most proactive; how many UK-based companies opened their websites already in the 1990s, and for which reasons; when did the internet become a fundamental tool for the commercial and communication strategies of British companies, rather than just another medium.
The paper then proceeds to analyse the evolution of the online presence of UK companies with a comparison between the website (or webpage) of a company in the 1990s and the live website. This section addresses the evolution of the structure, graphics and content of companies’ websites; the changes in the aesthetic, in the type of content provided and in the way in which this content is organised for the visitors. The section also focuses on the creation of digital “addresses” on part of UK businesses, from the choice of internet services providers to decisions regarding the domain (in particular, the choice between the .com domain as opposed to the more “national” and “local” .co.uk). Finally, this part of the research studies the relations between live websites and social networks.
In third instance, the paper attempts to understand which British companies were the first to adopt e-commerce solutions on their websites, and of which type. This sections also focuses on the relation between UK businesses and the large American platforms for online sales, such as Amazon and Ebay.
Finally, in its fourth and final section the paper reconstructs the debate over the arrival of the internet on the economic press of the time: what was the perception of the impact that the internet would have in the near future on the economy, and what were the expectations and the worries brought about by such a powerful new medium.
In order to provide an answer to the aforementioned questions, the paper uses a combination of online archival sources and a more traditional approach. Most of the research is based on the Internet Archive, accessed through the web engine devised by the British Library in collaboration with the Big UK Domain Data for the Arts and Humanities. In addition, the research has been based on live internet sources, mostly live companies’ websites and social networks. The data collected thanks to the digital sources were combined with questionnaires sent to a selection of companies and business archives and with articles from the specialized press published in the period taken in consideration.
All in all, the paper hopes to provide a first reconstruction of the history of the online presence of economic agents in a specific country and also to provide a set of data and a methodological framework for further research on the relations between the internet and a country’s economic system.
Between the mid-1950s and the mid-1960s, the Italian State company Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi (National Hydrocarbon Agency, ENI) challenged the structure of the international oil industry and influenced the creation of OPEC in 1960. It signed a series of treaties with oil-producing countries, which assigned producers wider control over their resources through the establishment of a shared joint-venture between ENI and the producer country. This formula - known as the “Mattei formula” (from the name of ENI’s President, Enrico Mattei) - redefined the rules of the international oil market by allowing for the first time production-sharing agreements and overcoming the “50:50 formula,” which previously regulated revenues to producer countries on part of the cartel. The first contract that used the “Mattei formula” was signed in 1957 with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and soon after in Egypt, followed by several other countries, especially in Africa, which was emerging as the new production area after the Middle East and Latin America.
ENI’s policies reshaped oil relations between Western Europe, North Africa and the Middle East in the crucial years of decolonization and the Cold War, and influenced the emergence of oil nationalism as well as the creation of OPEC, which looked at Mattei as an ally in the West. Following the example of Mattei, France and other European countries discussed the possibility of conducting State-State negotiations with OPEC and other producer countries, limiting the role of the oil companies to contractors rather than political actors in the negotiations. In the aftermath of the 1973 shock, Europe discussed the possibility of creating an OPIC (Organisation of Petroleum Importing Countries) to avoid the inference of the international oil industry, which was offloading on consumer countries the extra costs of revenues paid to OPEC countries.
Through a study of primary documents from the historical archives of ENI, of OPEC and of the European Union, this paper will examine the changes introduced by ENI and Enrico Mattei in the international oil structures, the limits and successes of this small “revolution” in the oil industry, the relations between OPEC and Europe and the role of the Seven Sisters in the rising power of OPEC as the new “supervising” agent of the international oil market. In particular, the paper will examine the relations ENI established with leaders in the oil-producing world during the 1950s, the impact of the “Mattei formula” in early OPEC policies, and the legacy of ENI’s policy in the subsequent development of the oil industry in the 1960s and early 1970s.