Four months after taking to the helm of Italian state-run Eni, CEO Claudio Descalzi is now the subject of a corruption investigation related to the acquisition of the large and lucrative deepwater oil prospecting lease (OPL) 245 offshore Nigeria.
Located in the Gulf of Guinea, OPL 245 has reserves estimated at 9 billion bbl. Eni acquired a 50% stake and the operatorship of the license in 2011, and says that the area “contains the highest potential non-developed mining deposits in the country’s deep offshore area.” Descalzi (pictured) headed Eni’s exploration and production unit at the time of the transaction.
Although considered one of Nigeria’s most valuable blocks, it has had a tangled, troubled history of ownership disputes.
In 1998, former Nigerian oil minister Dan Etete awarded the block to a company in which he himself was the majority shareholder, Malabu Oil and Gas, for US$2 million, Reuters reported. He was later convicted of money-laundering in France for taking bribes while in office.
In 2011, Eni and Shell purchased the concession for $1.1 billion from the Nigerian government. In May 2012, Reuters reported that the UK authorities opened an inquiry against Eni and Shell, stating it had court documents showing that the money mysteriously made its way back to Etete.
Watchdog group Global Witness has been campaigning for authorities to investigate the transactions, stating at the time of Descalzi's May appointment that his “personal involvement in a corrupt oil deal in Nigeria [OPL 245] raises serious questions about his suitability for his role managing the Italian oil giant.”
In February 2014, a committee within the Nigerian House of Representatives called to cancel the award to the two-partner consortium.
Eni released a statement today (September 11) confirming the investigation but noting that the company was “cooperating with the Milan prosecutor’s office, and is confident that the correctness of it actions will emerge during the course of the investigation.”
The company “highlights that it entered into agreements for the acquisition of the block only with government of Nigeria and Shell. The entire payment for the issuance of the license to Eni and Shell was made uniquely to the Nigerian government.”
The Financial Times noted that judicial actions such as this preliminary inquiry are not uncommon in Italy, and might not escalate further.
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