Nigeria breaks OPL 245 oilfield into four blocks under deal with Eni, Shell

Reports indicate that Nigeria has broken OPL 245 oil block into four new assets to be operated by Eni and Shell.

This, it is believed, will eventually end the long-standing deadlock over Nigeria’s lucrative block in the centre of one of the oil industry’s corruption trials.

Located 150 km offshore in the Niger Delta, it is considered one of the most valuable, albeit contentious, oil assets.

The agreement is expected to clear 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.

The final contracts, according to report, are expected to be signed starting Monday, quoting a source familiar with the situation.

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The government had signalled for years that it was keen to find a solution that would bring the block into production.

minister,Initially awarded in 1998 to Malabu, a company linked to a former Nigerian oil minister Dan Etete, the licence was later sold to Shell and Eni.

Italian prosecutors then alleged that most of the $1.3 billion purchase price for the licence for OPL 245 was siphoned off to politicians and middlemen.

The two European energy giants and some of their former and current executives, including Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi, faced trial in Italy, but all were acquitted in 2021, having denied all wrongdoing.