Economy
We’re Aware Malabu Would Get Oil-Deal Cash—Shell
By Dipo Olowookere
More revelations are emerging in the controversial Malabu Oil saga as Royal Dutch Shell Plc said on Tuesday in a statement that it knew a firm linked with former Minister of Petroleum in Nigeria, Mr Dan Etete, Malabu Oil and Gas Ltd, would get a share of the $1.1 billion paid to the Nigerian government in 2011 for an exploration license.
Shell said in the statement that it “knew that the Federal Government of Nigeria would compensate Malabu to settle its claim on the block,” saying further that, “Over time, it became clear to us that Etete was involved in Malabu and that the only way to resolve the impasse through a negotiated settlement was to engage with Etete and Malabu, whether we liked it or not.”
This is a change in the previous stance of Shell on a deal presently under investigation for alleged corruption.
It was alleged that Shell and Eni used the deal to “corruptly” pay $801 million to Malabu, Mr Etete and others.
The oil giant previously said it was unaware Mr Etete would be paid from the deal until today, when it admitted in the statement.
However, the Anglo-Dutch oil company reiterated that its joint purchase with Eni SpA of the license was “fully legal,”
Shell and Eni SpA’s joint purchase of Nigeria’s Oil Prospecting License 245, estimated to hold about 9 billion barrels of crude, is being investigated in three countries.
Eni reiterated in a statement that it hasn’t been involved in any wrongdoing and did not make payments to Malabu, Etete or any public official.
Dutch authorities are investigating Shell’s role in the deal. A Milan judge is also considering whether to accept a prosecutors’ request that Eni Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi be indicted for his involvement in the deal. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 20.
The change in Shell’s stance since the internal emails were first published by Buzzfeed on April 9 runs counter to previous comments about the deal, according to Global Witness.
“This is a huge U-turn,” Simon Taylor, founder of the anti-corruption campaign group, said by email. “Now its private emails have come to light, Shell has admitted it dealt with Mr Etete.”
Lagos-based Malabu was awarded the prospecting license in 1998 by former military leader General Abdulsalami Abubakar, at a time when Mr Etete was serving as oil minister.
The government of President Olusegun Obasanjo, which took office in May 1999, cancelled the license in 2001 and awarded it to Shell a year later.
Malabu was awarded the field again in 2006 and Shell contested the rights until 2011, when along with Eni it paid the government to settle the dispute. The state subsequently transferred funds to Malabu to resolve its claim on the license.
Additional information from Bloomberg.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has asked retail investors interested in investing in the FGN savings bonds to begin to talk to their financial advisers.
This is because subscription for the retail bonds for March 2026 has commenced and will close on Friday, March 6, according to a circular issued by the agency on Monday.
The debt office is selling two tenors of the debt instrument, with the shorter note maturing in two years’ time and the longer maturing a year later.
Details of the notice showed that the two-year paper is being offered at a coupon of 12.906 per cent, and the three-year paper at 13.906 per cent.
Both notes are sold at a unit price of N1,000, with a minimum subscription of N5,000 and in multiples of N1,000 thereafter, subject to a maximum subscription of N50 million. They can be purchased via approved stockbroking firms in Nigeria.
The FGN savings bond qualifies as a security in which trustees may invest under the Trustee Investment Act. It also serves as government securities within the meaning of the Company Income Tax Act (CITA) and the Personal Income Tax Act (PITA) for tax exemption for pension funds, amongst other investors.
It can be used as a liquid asset for liquidity ratio calculation for banks, and is listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited for trading at the secondary market.
The bond is backed by the full faith and credit of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) and charged upon the general assets of the country.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria has broken up the OPL 245 oil block into four new assets to be operated by Eni and Shell, potentially settling the future of the field at the centre of one of the oil industry’s biggest historic corruption trials.
According to Reuters, the agreement clears the way for the development of OPL 245, one of Nigeria’s biggest deepwater reserves that has remained untapped for almost three decades amid overlapping lawsuits in multiple countries.
The final contracts are expected to be signed starting Monday, the report said, citing a source familiar with the situation.
The Nigerian government had signalled for years that it was keen to find a solution that would bring the block into production. The source wished to remain anonymous as they are not authorised to comment on government policy before an official announcement.
Located in the Niger Delta’s deepwaters, the field has languished since its initial award in 1998 to Malabu Oil and Gas, a shadowy firm controlled by Mr Dan Etete, Nigeria’s oil minister at the time. The block is estimated to hold up to 9 billion barrels of oil equivalent in reserves—enough to rival Nigeria’s entire proven reserves if fully developed.
Mr Etete controversially awarded the lucrative licence to his own company for a nominal $20 million fee, sparking immediate controversy over conflicts of interest.
The saga escalated in 2011 when Malabu sold its rights to a Shell-Eni joint venture for $1.3 billion.
Italian and Nigerian prosecutors alleged that over $1 billion of that sum was siphoned off through bribes to politicians, middlemen, and Mr Etete himself, including hefty payments to then-President Goodluck Jonathan’s associates.
The two European energy giants and some of their former and current executives, including Eni CEO, Mr Claudio Descalzi, faced trial in Italy but all were acquitted in 2021, having denied all wrongdoing.
Shell and Eni have consistently denied wrongdoing, insisting the payments complied with due diligence.
The anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has pursued parallel probes, recovering over $200 million in frozen funds, but progress stalled amid political shifts.
Operations at the Nigerian oil block have been halted for more than a decade by a series of trials and competing legal claims.
In 2023, the federal government withdrew civil claims totalling $1.1 billion against Eni, ending the long battle.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, has been increased by at least N100 per litre at the pump.
This followed the recent increase in the price of crude oil in the global market as a result of the bombardment of Iran by the United States and Israel over the weekend.
The air strikes killed the Supreme Leader of Iran, Mr Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and several others.
Iran has responded by firing missiles at US facilities in some Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, and others.
Crude oil prices rose to about $80 per barrel on the market from about $70 per barrel before the Middle East crisis.
Oil marketers in Nigeria have responded to the tension and have raised the prices of petroleum products.
At most MRS Oil retail stations in Lagos, the new price notice showed an increase of about N100 per litre.
As of Monday, the price of PMS was N837 per litre, but on Tuesday morning, it had changed to N938 per litre, while at NNPC retail stations, it was N930 per litre instead of the previous N830 per litre.
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