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Report: OPL 245 case broadens for Eni
niGERia
ITALIAN prosecutors are considering scaling up an investigation into Eni over allegations of corruption in Nigeria. Reuters reported last week that the probe is focused on suspicion that com- pany o cials may have tried to discredit two wit- nesses for the prosecution in a corruption case on OPL 245. e news agency cited three sources with knowledge of the investigation. ere is no certainty that charges will be brought.
Eni – and Royal Dutch Shell – are on trial in Milan over their 2011 acquisition of OPL 245. e companies paid $1.3bn to the government to secure the o shore block. e Nigerian gov- ernment then paid on the majority of this cash to well-connected o cials, including Malabu Oil and Gas, owned by Dan Etete, in addition to various other o cials.
Italian prosecutors are considering whether actions taken in 2015-16 by Eni’s then legal head, Massimo Mantovani, and other unnamed com- pany o cials, tried to discredit two board mem- bers, who became witnesses in the OPL 245 trial.
Reuters said Luigi Zingales and Karina Lit- vack had been critical of Eni’s role in the deal, in particular the use of a broker to carry out the deal.
Prosecutors are considering whether Man- tovani played a role in a conspiracy to le false criminal complaints against the two directors, Reuters said. e complaint alleged they had criminally defamed Eni’s CEO, Claudio Descalzi, the report said, by connecting him to corruption in the Nigeria purchase. Mantovani declined requests for comment.
e complaints were investigated – and dis- missed – by a Milan judge in September 2017, the report continued.
Eni denied knowledge of such attempts, say- ing it would consider itself to be an “o ended party” if there had been any “alleged activities aimed at diverting any investigations carried on by any Italian prosecuting authority”, it told Reuters.
The report also raised an allegation that a company, Eni Trading and Shipping, chaired by Mantovani had paid €25mn ($27.6mn) for a polyethylene purchase from Napaq, which was believed to be owned by another Eni legal advi- sor, Piero Amara. is was supposedly part of the plot to discredit the two directors. A lawyer for Amara denied this was the case.™
PRojECts & ComPaniEs
Eni’s fast-track Algeria work
alGERia
ENI has committed to starting up produc- tion on new projects in Algeria and secured transportation deals with Tunisia. e Italian energy company’s CEO, Claudio Descalzi, met Sonatrach’s new head, Rachid hachichi, in Algiers on July 2.
Eni con rmed plans for North Berkine. e rst phase began in May and should reach 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil by the end of July.
e second phase will see gas starting to ow, which is due to begin in late September. is gas phase will be unlocked through the completion of the BRN-MLE pipeline. Gas production will reach 6mn cm per day and 7,000 bpd of associ- ated liquids by the end of 2019.
e company signed a deal on three licences – Sif Fatima II, Zemlet El Arbi and Ourhoud II – in North Berkine in October 2018. At that time, Eni said the reserves on the blocks were esti- mated at 145mn barrels of oil equivalent, with production due to start by the end of 2020. e farm-in came into force in February this year and oil began owing just three months later. e three blocks cover 8,500 square km.
e speed demonstrates Eni’s enthusiasm for “fast track” projects. e company attributed this success to its shared strategy with Sonatrach and the Algerian companies’ contractor companies.
e same day, Descalzi signed a new deal on the transportation of gas through Tunisia with Tunisian Minister of Industry Slim Feriani. Eni will operate the Trans-Mediterranean Pipeline exclusively for the next 10 years, until 2029, and is responsible for modernising infrastructure.
e pipeline was built in the 1980s and is 370 km long, running from the Algeria-Tunisia bor- der, to the Cap Bon headland. It has two lines and ve compression stations. Capacity is 34bn cm per year. At the end of June, the Transmed com- pany announced a public o er for transportation capacity via the pipeline, to be held on July 23.
Eni signed a deal with Sonatrach in mid- May on extending gas supplies until 2027, with another two years available as an option. is deal covers around 15% of Italy’s gas imports.
Italy is Algeria’s largest gas market, taking 35% of exports, while Spain receives 31%. Total exports in 2018 reached 51.5bn cm, of which three quarters went via pipeline. ™
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Week 27 09•July•2019