suggested citation: S. Orioli, Le dimensioni del potere strutturale nella strategia di Eni per una ‘giusta’ transizione energetica in Africa, lceonline (www.lceonline.eu), 2/2025, II/Rubriche, p. 1 ss.
key words: IPE, Susan Strange, just energy transition, oil and gas industry, Afric
abstract: The power of the oil and gas industry in the global energy transition has been analysed by IPE scholars mainly in relation to their resistance towards a radical transformation of the system, thus not allowing for a deeper understanding of the crucial contribution this sector is called upon to make. The link between the imperative of a just energy transition in Africa and the decarbonisation strategies of some fossil fuel companies – including Eni’s strategy examined in this paper – is a specific issue which has not been adequately addressed so far. Exploiting Susan Strange’s concept of structural power – i.e. the ability of an actor to shape the international arena by determining the rules of the game, the agenda and influencing other actors – this paper analyses the influence of Eni’s energy transition strategy in relation to three of the dimensions of power indicated by Strange: knowledge, production and finance. This analytical approach allows to understand how the structural power exerted by Eni – while pursuing its profit and decarbonisation goals and simultaneously by assuring new sources of energy supply for Italy – can contribute to the process of ‘just’ energy transition in Africa. Moreover, questioning who benefits from this strategy – as Strange suggests political analysists should always do – the article discusses it in the light of African priorities, with a view to understand under which conditions the company can foster an energy transition consistent with the concept of justice on which the strategy itself is based.
