Mar 17, 2017

Shell and Eni regain control of Nigeria oilfield

The ruling by the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday followed an appeal by Shell and Eni against the same court's order in January for the pair to temporarily forfeit control of a highly-prized deepwater licence called OPL245. It has been the subject of long-running investigations in Nigeria and Italy into claims that much of the $1.3bn paid by Shell and Eni for the asset in 2011 ended up with Nigerian politicians and their associates. Barnaby Pace, of the anti-corruption group Global Witness, said Friday's decision "Does not do away with risks that Shell and Eni have exposed their investors to" as the companies face the possibility of criminal prosecution in Italy and Nigeria. In documents supporting its request for the asset seizure, Nigeria's anti-corruption agency alleged that Nigerian subsidiaries of UK-listed Shell and Agip, owned by Eni, entered "a fraudulent agreement" to buy OPL245 from a Nigerian company linked to the country's then-oil minister and other senior politicians. Mr Descalzi, who is among 11 individuals facing possible trial in Italy along with Eni and Shell as companies, said last month that Eni "Did not do anything wrong".

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