Eni, Shell Trial over Nigeria Deferred
A trial of Shell, Eni and leading executives on charges of alleged corruption relating to a $1.1bn deal in 2011 for Nigerian offshore exploration block OPL 245 has been deferred for two months.
A half-hour hearing took place in the morning of March 5 at the Milan court's 10th division. It was also decided that a separate section of the court, division 7, which has judges currently with less of a caseload, should take the case on, a source present told NGW. None of the defendants turned up, whereas some 40 lawyers did, including two legal teams for the Nigerian government, the source added. The next hearing is scheduled May 14.
A clearer picture of how long the trial might last and what witnesses might be called is expected to emerge at that hearing, but the source told NGW that it may last a year and include several hearings of one or two days each.
In addition to the two companies, Eni’s current CEO Claudio Descalzi, former CEO Paolo Scaroni, current chief operations and technology officer Roberto Casula are standing trial alongside four former Shell staff members including its former upstream chief Malcolm Brinded and two former MI6 agents employed by Shell. The prosecution by the Milan public prosecutor was triggered by a complaint filed in autumn 2013 by three anti-corruption groups and a Nigerian campaigner Dotun Oloko.
Barnaby Pace, oil campaigner at one of the groups, Global Witness, said March 2: “This trial should be a wake-up call to the oil industry. Some of the most senior executives of two of the biggest companies in the world could face prison sentences for a deal that was struck under their watch.” The defendants were sent for trial in December 2017.
Shell late March 5 declined to comment on the court deferral but said: "We believe the trial judges in Italy will conclude that there is no case against Shell or its former employees” adding that, if evidence ultimately were to prove that improper payments were made in 2011, then it is Shell's position that none of those payments were made with its knowledge, authorisation or on its behalf.
Brinded had no comment to make but a spokesperson told NGW that the March 5 hearing was “procedural” and confirmed the case had transferred to a different, equivalent court.
Eni did not comment to NGW. However at its results briefing in mid-February 2018, Eni said that it plans to sanction a deepwater oil project development on licence OPL 245 later this year.