President Bola Tinubu has ordered the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi SAN, to resolve court cases concerning the $1.3 billion deepwater OML 245 oil block in the Niger Delta.
Additionally, the directive extends to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), as well as the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd).
The Minister of State for Petroleum, Heineken Lokpobiri disclosed this to reporters in Abuja on Wednesday.
The minister noted that the parties engaged in the deal are presently in negotiations to resolve the prolonged 28-year crisis and legal disputes concerning the highly productive oil block situated in the southern Niger Delta within the upcoming month.
- He said, “The previous administration initiated most of the cases that we are talking about today, and they took us to court, while we took Eni, Malabu, others to different courts in Europe, Canada, etc, but we didn’t win any of the cases.
- “To even shock you, there is one that got us a penalty of over 70 million pounds. So, we have been fined over 70 million pounds by the court. Who will pay that? You and I will pay that, or our children will pay, because it is a judgement debt.
- “And in all the ones that we pursue both in Switzerland and other locations, we have no evidence to get conviction.”
- “And so, it makes sense for this government to come and say that for 28 years, this block has been idle. This block is a prolific block that will add so much value to our economy, so let’s see how we can resolve the problem,”
FG negotiating with Shell and ENI
Furthermore, the Minister mentioned that there were ongoing discussions with Eni and Shell to address various challenges. He added that during the last meeting, it was decided to proceed with negotiations and reconvene within a month to resolve all issues, ensuring the continuation of investments.
Legal dispute surrounding OML 245
The OML 245 has been embroiled in litigation across the globe since its award by the Federal government.
In 1998, the Federal Government awarded the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 245 to Malabu Oil and Gas Ltd. for $20 million. Subsequent administration will later revoke the license from Malabu and re-awarding such to Shell which ignited a series of dispute since 2001 which has lasted to this day.
