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Business News of Sunday, 19 November 2023

Source: bloomberg.com

Nigeria withdraws lawsuit against Shell over oil field deal

Operations at the oil block have been halted for more than a decade amid ongoing legal claims Operations at the oil block have been halted for more than a decade amid ongoing legal claims

Nigeria is withdrawing its lawsuits against Shell Plc alleging corruption in a decade-old oil field deal.

The country’s Ministry of Justice has ended civil proceedings related to an oil block known as OPL 245 before Italy’s highest court, according to a Shell spokesperson. Shell’s partner in the field, Eni SpA, confirmed on Thursday that it had received a letter from the government saying the claims would be withdrawn “unconditionally” by Friday.

“We are pleased that this claim has been withdrawn,” the Shell spokesperson said in an emailed response to questions. “It brings to an end to all legal cases against Shell on OPL 245 in Italian courts.”

Operations at the oil block have been halted for more than a decade amid ongoing legal claims. Shell, Eni and their former and current employees were definitively acquitted in a criminal case in Milan last year.

The defendants had been accused of knowing that much of the $1.1 billion they paid to acquire the license would be paid out in bribes, something that they always denied.

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