Shell, Eni deal cost Nigeria $6 billion: report

The OPL 245 deal with Shell and Eni cost Nigeria USD 6 billion in future revenues, Global Witness reported on Monday.

A study commissioned by the international watchdog group from Resources for Development Consulting found the agreement on OPL 245 eliminated the Nigerian government’s share of profit oil.

“The deal reduced the government’s expected revenue by an estimated USD 5.86 billion compared to the previous terms that had applied to the block,” Global Witness said in its report.

In September, Emeka Obi and Gianluca Di Nardo were sentenced to four years in prison for their role as go-betweens in the 2011 sale of the OPL 245 offshore block to Shell and Eni.

The two companies and 13 defendants were sent to trial by an Italian judge in December 2017. Among the defendants are Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi and former chief Paolo Scaroni. Malcolm Brinded, former executive director for upstream international; Peter Robinson, former vice-president for Shell’s sub-Saharan Africa operations; Guy Colegate, a business adviser; and John Copleston, a strategic investment adviser, were all charged with bribery in October. Shell and Eni both deny wrongdoing.