After decades of legal and political disputes over OPL 245 oil block, the Federal Government has divided the oil block into four to be operated by Eni and Shell as part of its current efforts to unlock one of the nation’s largest huge oil and gas reserves for exploration.
A news report from Reuters on Monday indicated that the splitting of the oil block had effectively cleared the path for the development of the offshore asset and improved contribution of the oil sector to the nation’s GDP
The online medium quoted a source in the know of the latest government decision on the OPL 245, who spoke on condition of anonymity, as saying that the final agreements for the restructured assets are expected to be signed beginning yesterday
The news report reads: “The Federal Government has broken up the OPL 245 oil block into four new assets to be operated by Eni and Shell, a source told Reuters, potentially settling the future of the field at the centre of one of the oil industry’s biggest historic corruption trials. The agreement clears the way for the development of OPL 245, one of Nigeria’s biggest deepwater reserves that has remained untapped for almost three decades amid overlapping lawsuits in multiple countries.”
- Advertisement -
The latest initiative of the Federal Government is seen by analysts as desirable for the country after previous efforts to resolve the legal and commercial dispute surrounding the oil block by successive governments had failed.
It would be recalled that disputed OPL 245 was originally awarded in 1998 to Malabu Oil and Gas, a company linked to a former Minister of Petroleum, Dan Etete, but the licence was later acquired by Shell and Eni in a deal valued at about $1.3 billion.
However, the transaction was regarded as one of the high-profile corruption cases in the nation’s hydrocarbon resources industry as Italian prosecutors alleged that part of the purchase price was diverted to politicians and their cronies. The allegations led to prolonged trial in Milan of those involved in the deal in two oil majors and their top officials, including Eni’s Chief Executive Officer, Claudio Descalzi.
In 2021, an Italian court acquitted Eni, Shell, and the executives, who consistently denied the allegations, of all wrongdoing, thereby ending the European criminal proceedings to an end.
Industry experts believe that if the splitting of the oil block is executed through the ongoing agreement deals, the commencement of exploration of the block will boost Nigeria’s crude oil production and has the potential of attracting more investments into the oil sector with the attendant positive implications for improved revenues for the country.
