Legal

Italian judge puts Nigerian businessman on trial in oil graft case

February 19, 2020 | Current Affairs, Legal, Management, Nigeria

Milan, Italy | –  An Italian judge has ordered a Nigerian businessman to stand trial for alleged international corruption relating to a Nigeria oil graft case involving Eni and Shell, a judicial source and his lawyer said on Wednesday. Milan prosecutors allege that Alhai Aliyu Abubakar played a central role in one of the oil industry’s biggest scandals in years, handing out more than $500 million in cash to powerful Nigerian government officials. The money is alleged to come out of the $1.3 billion licence …

US warns Europe not to develop barter system to evade Iran sanctions

July 26, 2019 | Government & Regulations, Legal, Middle East, Nuclear

As the remaining signatories to the Iran deal — China, Russia, Britain, France, Germany, and the EU are due to meet in Vienna on Sunday London, UK | – American officials have issued a warning to European nations that they risk falling foul of sanctions on Iran if they press ahead with a barter system that could allow the export of Iranian oil. Last week, Russia signalled it was interested in joining the mechanism, known as Instex, as part of an effort to resuscitate a …

Nigeria says ex-President and his Oil Minister took bribes: court filing

May 14, 2019 | Legal, Management, Nigeria

Abuja, Nigeria | – The Nigerian government has accused former President Goodluck Jonathan and his then oil minister of accepting bribes and breaking the country’s laws to broker a $1.3 billion oil deal eight years ago, a London court filing shows. The deal, in which Anglo-Dutch company Royal Dutch Shell and Italian peer Eni jointly acquired the rights to the OPL 245 offshore oilfield, has spawned legal cases spanning several countries. In papers advancing a London commercial court suit against Shell and Eni, lawyers for …

Nigerian court dismisses govt’s $55 million oil export claims against Eni, Petrobras

May 10, 2019 | Government & Regulations, Legal, Nigeria

Lagos, Nigeria | –  A Nigerian court on Wednesday dismissed government claims that subsidiaries of Eni and Petrobras illegally exported crude oil to the United States, but a lawyer representing authorities in the West African country said an appeal would be launched. Crude oil sales are the mainstay of Africa’s biggest economy, making up two-thirds of the country’s revenue and around 90 percent of foreign-exchange earnings. In a lawsuit filed in 2016, Nigeria alleged that a number of companies exported a total of 57 million …

Shell, Eni executives face corruption allegations over Nigerian oil deal

May 10, 2019 | Legal, Management, Nigeria

London, UK | –  Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Eni SpA face additional corruption allegations over a Nigerian oil deal, after the West African country’s government said in a London lawsuit that it believes a handful of executives, including CEOs, were tied to more than $1 billion in bribery payments. In court documents filed in early April, the Nigerian government said the oil companies’ senior managers agreed in 2011 to make a large payment for an offshore oil block, understanding the money would trickle down …

Nigeria assigning oil blocks to IOCs, Individuals unconstitutional – Falana

March 27, 2019 | Government & Regulations, Legal, Nigeria

Abuja, Nigeria |  — Nigerian lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has said the practice of allocating crude oil blocks to individuals and International Oil Companies (IOCs) by the federal government is against the constitution of Nigeria, and should be stopped. Femi Falana, therefore asked President Muhammadu Buhari, to henceforth allocate oil blocks only to the federal and state governments, saying that those who got oil blocks often got more money from the blocks than Nigeria did. In a letter he …

Shell facing criminal prosecution over Nigeria oil deal and other charges

March 04, 2019 | Legal, Licensing & Concessions, Nigeria

Oil giant Shell will be prosecuted by the Dutch Public Prosecutor’s Office over an allegedly corrupt oil deal in Nigeria. Shell and Italian firm Eni stand accused of bribery over payments made to secure an exploration licence for a Nigerian oil block. Shell has also been summoned by Dutch prosecutors over an explosion at its Moerdijk facility in 2014, as well as accusations it exceeded ethylene oxide emissions limits between 2015 and 2016. London, UK | – Dutch prosecutors are preparing criminal charges against Royal Dutch …

Report allegedly shows IOCs methods of stealing Nigeria’s crude oil

January 22, 2019 | Government & Regulations, Legal

Nigeria loses N995.2bn yearly to oil theft A new report on the age-long crude oil theft in Nigeria has revealed how International Oil Companies (IOCs) in the Niger Delta region steal and siphon large volumes of crude oil from the country undetected by her authorities. The report revealed the revenue losses over the last few years, and estimated that the country lost N995.2 billion annually to oil theft. According to the report, various strategies used include small-scale pipeline tapping, bunkering and over lifting. While all …