Shell, Eni acquitted in Nigeria oil corruption case

MILAN - A court in Milan on Wednesday acquitted oil giants Shell and Italy’s Eni of corruption charges in a $1.1 billion bribery case involving control of a lucrative Nigerian oil block.

In addition to the companies, Eni’s current CEO, his predecessor and a former Nigerian oil minister were among 13 defendants acquitted after a three-year trial involving the 2011 purchase of the OPL 245 offshore oil field.

Non-governmental organizations and activists expressed outrage at the verdict and called on Milan prosecutors to appeal. The court has 90 days to issue its reasoning.

BIDEN ENERGY POLICY HAVING ‘POSITIVE IMPACT’ ON OIL PRICES, ‘NEGATIVE IMPACT' ON ECONOMY: ANALYST

“This verdict must not mark a return to business as usual,’’ Global Witness senior campaigner Barnaby Pace said in a statement. “It is no vindication for either company, nor the industry as a whole who continue to put our planet at risk and cut short the lives of its inhabitants with their toxic practices.”

Milan prosecutors alleged that $520 million of the $1.1 billion paid into an escrow account for the acquisition was converted into cash and distributed as bribes, while several hundred million more went to a former oil minister.

Both Anglo-Dutch Shell and Eni, which is 30% owned by the Italian state, denied wrongdoing.

Eni welcomed the verdict, saying in a statement that the court “has finally established that the company, the CEO Claudio Descalzi and the management involved in the proceedings have all behaved in a lawful and correct manner.”

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE 

Along with Descalzi, predecessor Paolo Scaroni and the former Nigerian minister, the Milan court acquitted two former top Shell executives and a series of middlemen and advisers.

Defense lawyers argued that Eni and Shell had not paid bribes but to obtain a license for the oil block and that all discussions remained on a technical-economic level.