OPL 245: Shell reacts as Nigeria loses $1.1bn compensation claim in court

Shell, an International Oil Company (IoC), has reacted as Nigeria loses a $1.1 billion compensation claim in an Italian court over Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245.

The appeals court in Milan, Italy, yesterday, rejected Nigeria’s request for $1.1bn compensation from Shell and Eni, the two IoCs that bought the oil block from Malabu Oil & Gas Limited in 2011.

The Milan appeals court, which rejected the nation’s claims, promised to make its reasons public within 90 days.

The government had alleged that there was corruption in the deal, leading to a number of criminal trials in Nigeria and Italy.

However, the company disclosed that it was pleased with the dismissal of the case, adding that Shell or its former employees have no case to answer.

In a statement obtained by Vanguard, it stated: “We are pleased that these civil proceedings have been dismissed. This follows the Milan criminal tribunal’s finding that there was no case to answer for Shell or its former employees when they were fully acquitted in 2021, a decision that was upheld in July 2022, when criminal proceedings ended.”

Previously, the Court of Milan had ruled in March 2021 after three years of the criminal trial that the prosecutors did not establish any proof of corruption, discharging and acquitting Shell, Eni, and all the defendants.

The prosecutors subsequently filed an appeal but Celestina Gravina, the Italian attorney general, said the case “has no basis”.

In a different case, the High Court of England and Wales also ruled in July 2022 that Nigeria failed to prove its allegations against Mohammed Bello Adoke, the former attorney-general of the federation, who was accused of corruption in the deal.

Adoke has severally maintained that he did not collect any bribe, but the government is currently prosecuting him in two different courts in Nigeria.