TheCable

Eni, says its oil company and Shell have invested over $2.5 billion on the oil prospecting license (OPL) 245 in Nigeria.

This follows a report filed by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA); Re:Common; Global Witness; and Corner House, that Eni had done nothing significant on the oilfield since it was acquired in 2011.

The NGOs had advised the federal government to resist Eni’s “blatant bullying” because it (Eni) is desperate as the OPL 245 licence will expire in early 2021, which will make the oil firm have no rights over the oil field.

However, in a statement sent to TheCable, Eni said it had invested about $726 million on OPL 245 since 2011, “including 1.3 billion paid to the Nigerian government under the resolution agreement of April 2011 and 500 millions previously invested by Shell in the exploration activities and wells.

“The non-governmental organisations (NGOs) claim that the company ‘has not done any significant work on the field’ is simply not true.

“Eni and Shell have spent in the aggregate in excess of $2.5 billion on OPL 245 and never lifted a single barrel of oil (which is still laying entirely unexploited on the bottom of OPL 245, completely de-risked at the expense of the international oil companies (IOCs)”.

Eni, however, said it had initiated an arbitration proceedings against the federal government at the World Bank’s international centre for settlement of investor disputes (ICSID) to protect its investments and its shareholders’ interests and “given that on May 2021, the license would be expiring in any event if not converted into an oil mining license (OML)”

The oil company argued that it is “straightforward and transparent, all the concerned parties might simply disclose all relevant materials voluntarily and shed light on the matter, providing the required transparency and comfort.”

Eni further said it has the right to use all available legal means to protect its reputation.