Eni and Shell face Italian court ruling in Nigerian corruption case

MILAN, March 17 (Reuters) - A Milan court is due to issue a
verdict on Wednesday in the oil industry's biggest corruption
trial, a case centred around the purchase of a Nigerian oilfield
by Eni ENI.MI and Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L for $1.3 billion
a decade ago.
After more than three years of proceedings and 74 hearings,
judges withdrew to their chambers on Wednesday to consider their
verdict, said Marco Tremolada, who heads the panel of judges,
adding that a ruling was expected in the afternoon.
Prosecutors have called for Eni and Shell to be fined and
for a number of past and present managers from both companies,
including Eni Chief Executive Claudio Descalzi, to be jailed.
The defendants have all denied any wrongdoing. The long-running case revolves around the purchase of the
OPL 245 offshore oilfield in Nigeria in 2011 from Malabu Oil and
Gas, a company owned by former Nigerian oil minister Dan Etete.
Prosecutors allege that just under $1.1 billion of the
purchase price was siphoned off to politicians and middlemen,
including Etete, a convicted money launderer who served as oil
minister under Nigerian military ruler Sani Abacha.
The verdict comes at a time when investors are putting more
and more pressure on oil companies both to fight climate change
and come up with sustainable business models that take into
account the social impact of their activities.
"This case certainly doesn't help the two companies and has
taken a reputational toll though of course it's hardly the first
case of corruption we've seen," says Davide Tabarelli, head of
Italian energy think-tank Nomisma Energia.
A guilty verdict for the companies or the executives could
also put Nigeria, which has struggled for decades with endemic
corruption, in an awkward position. It would come under pressure
to rescind the licence from Eni and Shell, which could delay the
oilfield's development and the revenue it would produce.
Prosecutors have also asked that $1.092 billion, the
equivalent of the alleged bribes, be confiscated from all the
defendants.
The defendants say the purchase price for OPL 245 was paid
into a Nigerian government account and subsequent transfers were
beyond their control.
The exploration licence for the field, some 150 km (95
miles) off the Niger Delta, has not been revoked but it has not
been converted into a mining licence and no oil has been
produced.