Eni have released a statement on 8 February stating that its board of directors are free of any involvement in the alleged corruption in the 2011 acquisition of OPL 245 in Nigeria
Eni have released a statement in regards to its involvement in the 2011 acquisition of OPL 245 in Nigeria:
"With regard to the news reported by the media on the request for trial by Milan prosecutors relating to the 2011 acquisition of a stake in OPL 245 in Nigeria, Eni’s Board of Directors, following an in-depth legal analysis, confirms its total confidence that Eni is entirely free of any involvement in the alleged corrupt conduct subject to investigation.
The Board of Directors also confirms its total confidence that the company’s CEO, Claudio Descalzi, was not involved in any way in the conduct under investigation, and maintains their upmost support for him as CEO.
The Board of Directors also confirms its total confidence in the judiciary."
Stay updated with this story with our initial report here where Oil Review Africa gives some background to this story such as; "In 2011, Shell and Agip - now Eni - bought the bloc for US$1.2bn. However, investigators have discovered that the payment to former petroleum minister Dan Etete was potential fraudulent and that the state oil company only received US$210m from the deal."