Nigeria has entered an agreement to split the oil prospecting license (OPL) 245 into four new assets, which will be operated by Eni and Shell.
According to Reuters, the deal could resolve the future of the field that has been at the centre of one of the country’s largest historical corruption trials in the oil sector.
The publication said the agreement paves the way for the development of the OPL 245, one of Nigeria’s biggest deepwater reserves, which has remained untapped for nearly 30 years due to overlapping legal disputes across multiple countries.
Reuters, quoting a source who had sought anonymity, said the final contracts are expected to be signed starting Monday.
Eni and Shell declined to comment. Shell and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited also had no immediate comment.
On April 9, 1998, the federal military government awarded OPL 245 to Malabu Oil and Gas Ltd, which was said to be owned mainly by Mohammed Abacha, son of Sani Abacha, and Dan Etete, who was the petroleum minister at the time.
On July 2, 2001, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo revoked Malabu’s licence and assigned the oil block to Shell — without a public bid. Malabu went to court, but ownership was reverted to it in 2006 after it reached an out-of-court settlement with the federal government.
Shell fought back and commenced arbitration against Nigeria, but when ex-President Goodluck Jonathan came to power in 2010, the controversy appeared to have been resolved with Shell and Eni agreeing to buy the oil block from Malabu for $1.1 billion.
The oil companies also paid $210 million as a signature bonus to the federal government of Nigeria.
However, activists launched an international campaign, alleging that the OPL 245 deal was fraudulent, arguing that the proceeds were used to bribe government officials.
In March 2021, a Milan court acquitted Eni, Shell, and several individuals of corruption in the $1.3 billion acquisition of the OPL 245 oilfield.
The court ruled that there was no case to answer. The acquittal was later upheld on appeal and became final in 2022.
The Nigerian government said it was surprised and disappointed by the verdict and would consider an appeal.
In Nigeria, the federal government in 2021 also withdrew its $1.1 billion civil case against Shell after discontinuing a similar suit against Eni.
Mohammed Adoke, Nigeria’s former attorney-general, was put on trial in Nigeria over the allegations but was discharged and acquitted by a federal high court in Abuja.
