Italy court to give verdict on Nigerian oil field corruption case by March 2021

A final decision on the long-running graft case involving Shell and Eni could be reached by the end of March 2021.

Reuters reported that Italian judges are expected to hand down their verdict earlier than expected, according to a top court official.

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The case, which is one of the oil industry’s biggest-ever corruption trials, is in relation to Oil Production License (OPL) purchase in Nigeria.

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What they are saying

Marco Tremolada, President of the judges that will pass sentence, said:

• “Lawyers for the two companies would be heard in January, followed by prosecutors and defence lawyers in February. A final decision could then be reached by the end of March.”

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What you should know about the oil field corruption case

• The long-running graft case revolves around the purchase of the Nigerian OPL 245 offshore oil field in 2011 for about $1.3 billion.
• Prosecutors allege that about $1.1 billion of that was siphoned off to politicians and middlemen.
• The companies and defendants involved, including Eni’s current CEO Claudio Descalzi, have all denied any wrongdoing.

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