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  • Eni restates commitment to education, innovation

    Eni restates commitment to education, innovation

    • By Motunrayo Akintunde

    Eni’s subsidiary, Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited (NAE), has restated its commitment to the promotion of the future of education, innovation and manpower development of the country.

    Speaking at a ceremony to beneficiaries of scholarships to 30 Nigerian graduates for Post Graduate studies in Nigerian and overseas universities under its 2024/2025 Scholarship Awards Scheme in Abuja, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of NAE, Mr. Fabrizio Bolondi, said the award underscored the commitment of the company to the future of the country.

    Under the scheme, 10 beneficiaries will undertake postgraduate studies in various universities in the United Kingdom and Canada. The remaining awardees will pursue their post-graduate studies in Nigerian universities in disciplines such as Engineering, Geosciences, Petroleum and Environmental Technology, Renewable Energy and Petroleum Law.

     Bolondi congratulated the awardees, stating that the scholarship award has presented them with the opportunity to pursue their dreams and achieve their career objectives.

    “The award ceremony highlights our continuous commitment to the future of education, innovation, and progress in Nigeria, and a moment of pride for the company to recognize the incredible talent and dedication of the scholars,” he said.

    In a statement, it said Eni’s subsidiary, Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited (NAE), on behalf of NNPC Limited and NAE Production Sharing Contract (PSC), awarded scholarships to the winners who were selected among over 600 shortlisted applicants, based on their excellent academic standing and their performances at the Computer Based Testing (CBT) recently conducted.

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    Bolondi enjoined the beneficiaries to remain focused on their studies to capture the full benefits of the initiative.

    The postgraduate scholarship scheme was instituted by NAE PSC partners in 2007 as part of the company’s human capital development initiatives to promote knowledge acquisition and bridge the skills gap in specialized fields relevant to deep offshore oil and gas operations in Nigeria.

    To date, 320 graduates have benefitted from the Postgraduate Scholarship Schemes, instituted by the company to contribute to the training of local professionals, providing the knowledge and skills required within the industry.

    Eni, through NAE, has implemented other sustainability initiatives in Nigeria in areas of health, education, access to water and infrastructure provisions, as well as specific initiatives for stakeholder empowerment in local communities. These include provision of 22 integrated water schemes for domestic consumption and irrigation purposes in North-East Nigeria and Abuja Federal Capital Territory, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to improve access to water for the communities affected by the humanitarian crisis in North-East Nigeria. Others are provision of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) equipment to the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Port Harcourt; Cardiothoracic equipment including Heart-Lung Machine LivaNova (Sorin/Stockert) S5 complete system at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano; as well as a Research and Innovation Laboratory at the University of Lagos, Nigeria.

    NAE was incorporated in 1996 to manage the company’s deep offshore exploration and production assets. NAE has the distinction of being the first oil and gas company in Nigeria to produce oil from the country’s deep offshore. NAE has interests in 6 deep offshore blocks in Nigeria, either as Operator or as Co-Venturer.

  • Shell, Eni face $1.1b lawsuit over Nigeria deal

    The Federal Government is suing Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Eni SpA and other companies for more than $1 billion over a 2011 oil deal it said was tainted by corruption.

    The suit, filed in London, alleges that money the companies paid to acquire an oil exploration license in the Gulf of Guinea was diverted to bribes and kickbacks, the government said in a press release. The transaction is already the subject of a separate, ongoing criminal trial in Milan.

    Nigeria’s government claims that Shell and Eni are partly responsible for the behaviour of “corrupt Nigerian officials” who used a $1.1 billion payment to acquire the oil block for personal enrichment. The suit seeks to recoup that money, which it says belongs to the Nigerian people.

    The Federal Government is already a civil party in the case in Milan, and can seek damages from that court. Additionally, it sued JPMorgan Chase & Co. in London last year, accusing it of failing to prevent the illicit transfer of funds related to the transaction. The bank said the claim was without merit.

    Shell and Eni have previously denied any wrongdoing in the criminal case over the block, called OPL 245, that is under way in Italy. They said they made the payment into a legitimate government account to settle legal claims related to the block.

    A spokesperson for Shell reiterated that the company’s payments in Nigeria over OPL 245 were legitimate and said that since the matter is being tried in Milan “it would not be appropriate for us to comment in detail on the new claims.” A spokesperson for Eni said it confirmed “the correctness and compliance of every aspect of the transaction in respect of OPL 245” and rejected “any allegation of impropriety or irregularity.”

    The Federal Government also included Nigeria-based Malabu Oil & Gas in the lawsuit, and a company called Energy Venture Partners Ltd. Malabu was allegedly controlled by Nigeria’s former Petroleum Minister Dan Etete, who took possession of the $1.1 billion payment and used it for bribes and kickbacks, according to the lawsuit.

     

    A lawyer for Etete, Antonio Secci, said the London suit “surprises” because the Federal Government is already seeking damages in Milan. “This situation cannot be represented again in London because it is repetitive,” he said.

    The case is Nigeria v. Royal Dutch Shell, High Court of Justice, Commercial Court, Case No. CL-2018-000787.

  • Nigeria risks losing $6b to bad oil deal, experts warn

    •Eni, Shell deny wrongdoing

    Nigeria will lose an estimated $6billion following the controversial 2011 deep water block Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245 deal with Shell and Italian energy giant Eni, industry experts warned yesterday.

    An analysis presented in Lagos by Resources for Development Consulting found that in the contract, commonly referred to as the Malabu deal, Nigeria is cheated of billions of dollars in revenue from two out of three regular sources.

    The firm noted that the deal excluded Shell and Eni from paying royalty and Profit Oil on the OPL 245 which were part of the fiscal terms contained in earlier contractual agreements with the oil companies in 2003 and 2005.

    The investigation was commissioned by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) Global Witness, Human and Environmental Development Agency (HEDA), RE: Common and The Corner House.

    They urged the Federal Government to revoke the deal.

    OPL 245 has about nine billion barrels of crude oil, estimated to be worth half a trillion dollars.

    According to Resources for Development Consulting President, Dr Don Hubert, the fiscal terms governing the OPL 245 deal favoured only Shell and Eni.

    Using a discounted cash flow analysis model made up of elements, including fiscal terms, field data from various sources, an oil price assumption of $70 a barrel, the firm projected that Nigeria lost at least $4.5 billion based on 2003 fiscal terms on the deal.

    It said the Federal Government lost $5.86 billion over the lifetime of the project, based on 2005 fiscal terms.

    Hubert said: “The payment of $1.1 billion dollars in 2011 was not only a payment to secure rights to OPL 245, the payment also served fiscal terms that were highly generous to the IOCs (International Oil Companies)but were highly detrimental to the government of Nigeria.

    “The lack of profit oil in the current fiscal terms that is governing OPL 245 will result, our analysis shows, in a loss to the Nigerian people of at least $4.5 billion.”

    Barnaby Pace from Global Witness said: “Today’s report shows how the terms of agreement was in their favour… Globally, there is call on the Nigerian government to revoke the licence so that its estimated $6 billion losses will be stopped in its track. We also call for contracts to be made public.”

    Olanrewaju Suraj, chairman at HEDA, said: “The crux of the concern elicited by the controversial deal derives from the process of awarding the licence to ENI and Shell.

    “The multinationals included clauses depriving the Nigerian state of its rightful share of oil production and, by implication, incur monumental losses in revenues that ought to accrue to the coffers of the country.

    “It is estimated that with oil prices in the region of $70 per barrel, potential revenues that were negotiated away could amount to $5.86 billion.

    “There is therefore a need for Nigerian government to diligently pursue ongoing litigation, including taking necessary steps to enhance the prosecution of the cases arising from the OPL 245 scam and to cancel this scandalous deal.”

    Reacting to the analysis by Global Witness, Eni and Shell denied any wrongdoing.

    Erika Mandraffino, Eni’s senior vice president, Global Media Relations and Crisis Communication, queried the methodology of the analysis.

    “We note that Global Witness draws conclusions on the appropriateness of Eni’s and its partner’s transaction and on the legitimacy of Eni’s conduct by referring to analyses carried out by unnamed partners whose competence or expertise is not substantiated in your letter,” Mandraffino wrote.

    “We can understand that your organisation, which is not engaged in business activities in the oil and gas sector, may not be best placed to assess the input, methodology and overall quality of such analyses and come to incorrect conclusions. In this respect, let us just note that the technical and contractual assumptions adopted as basis for the analysis appear to be partial and inaccurate, if not misleading.”

    The sale of the block, which is considered as one of the most lucrative in Africa, has been replete with allegations and lawsuits.

    Several former Shell executives and current and former Eni executives as well as the two companies, are on trial in Milan, Italy over the purchase of rights to the block.

    Two middlemen in the deal, a Nigerian, Emeka Obi and an Italian, Gianluca Di Nardo, were convicted of corruption in September and a judge ordered the seizure of more than £93.6m from the pair.

    On April 14, the Federal High Court in Abuja held that immediate-past Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), could not be held liable for his roles in transactions concerning the deal.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had charged Adoke with various offences involving his alleged roles in the transactions in which Nigeria was said to have been defrauded of about $1.8bn.

    Delivering the judgment in the suit filed by Adoke against the incumbent AGF, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), Justice Binta Nyako held that since Adoke only executed the lawful directives/approvals of the then President Goodluck Jonathan, the former minister was free of any liability for his roles in the deal.

  • Eni steps up activities

    Italian energy company Eni has increased its activities in lusophone Africa, with rising oil production in Angola and the acquisition of new exploration rights in Mozambique, while also furthering its business in north Africa.

    Eni has recently seen an increase of oil production in Angola, up to 50,000 barrels per day, as a result of its investment it has made in the 15/06 offshore block, with further exploration and development due in 2019. The progress was announced by Eni chief executive Claudio Descalzi during his recent meeting with Angolan President João Lourenço on  November 7. At the meeting, an agreement was signed increasing Eni’s offshore concession, to allow it to increase exploration.

    In Mozambique, the company signed a contract for the exclusive exploration and development rights for the 5,000 square kilometre A5-A offshore block, 1,500 kilometres north east of Maputo, in the Northern Zambezi Basin, following a licensing round.

    Eni the major stakeholder in a consortium to operate the block, which includes South Africa’s Sasol and state-owned Mozambican company Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos.

    Late last year, Mozambique secured an USD 8 billion investment in its Coral South floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project, for which Eni is the operator, having been active in Mozambique since 2006.

    Meanwhile, in Egypt, the company has sold a 20 percent stake in the Nour North Sinai Offshore concession in the Eastern Mediterranean to Abu Dhabi state-owned Mubadala Petroleum, subject to regulatory approval.

    Eni currently owns 85percent of the concession, in partnership with Egypt’s state-owned Tharwa Petroleum Company.

    Descalzi said in a statement that the transaction “confirms Mubadala Petroleum’s trust in Eni’s robustness as operator, both in projects development and exploration activities”, while Mubadala chairman Musabbeh Al Kaabi noted the deal “enables Mubadala Petroleum to further expand our position in Egypt while deepening our strategic partnership with Eni”.

    It follows the recent acquisition of a major share in the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Company, operator of the EMG Pipeline which connects Egypt and Israel, by United States-headquartered Noble Energy.

  • Eni, ADNOC seal $875m deal on two UAE fields

    Italian oil firm, Eni, has signed  two concession agreements with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) for the acquisition of five per cent stake in the Lower Zakum offshore oil field and 10 per cent stake in the oil, condensate and gas offshore fields of Umm Shaif and Nasr.The stake acquisition is for  for a participation fee of about $875 million for 40 years.

    Eni’s Nigerian subsidiary Nigerian Agip Oil Company said the signing  in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates(UAE) was attended by  Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, the Italian Prime Minister, Paolo Gentiloni, Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) Group Chief Executive Officer, and Eni’s Chief Executive Officer, Claudio Descalzi.

    The agreements represent a strategic move for Eni to gain access to a country with hydrocarbon reservest hat are among the largest in the world.

    Lower Zakum is about 65 kilometres off the coast of Abu Dhabi. The discovery dates back to 1963 and production began in 1967. It has a target production of 450,000 barrels of oil daily. Umm Shaif and Nasr are located about 135 kilometres from the coast of Abu Dhabi and have a target production of 460,000 barrels of oil daily.

    Eni’s CEO Claudio Descalzi said: “I’m very pleased about this agreement creating a larger presence for Eni in Middle East, in line with our expansion strategy, and creating a strong alliance with ADNOC and Abu Dhabi. The stakes in the two concessions give access to giant fields with huge potential and Eni is willing to contribute its best technology to maximise the future production.”

    Dr Al Jaber said: “These agreements underline the international market’s confidence in ADNOC’s long-term growth plans and the UAE’s stable and reliable investment environment. They also broaden and diversify our partnership base, while contributing experience, technology, capital and market access.

    “Our partnership with Eni, and other concession partners, will enable us to accelerate our growth, increase revenue and improve integration across the upstream value chain, as part of our ongoing transformation and build on the foundations that have been laid to deliver a more profitable upstream business. With these agreements ADNOC continues to leverage its 46-year legacy of successful energy partnerships, in support of its 2030 strategy.”

    In both concessions, ADNOC owns a 60 per cent stake while the operator is ADNOC Offshore.

  • Eni, ADNOC seal $875m deal on two UAE fields

    Italian oil firm, Eni, has signed, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE),  two concession agreements with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) for the acquisition of five per cent stake in the Lower Zakum offshore oil field and 10 per cent stake in the oil, condensate and gas offshore fields of Umm Shaif and Nasr, for a participation fee of about $875 million for 40 years.

    Eni’s Nigerian subsidiary Nigerian Agip Oil Company said the signing was attended by  Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, the Italian Prime Minister, Paolo Gentiloni, Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) Group Chief Executive Officer, and Eni’s Chief Executive Officer, Claudio Descalzi.

    The agreements represent a strategic move for Eni to gain access to a country with hydrocarbon reserves among the largest in the world.

    Lower Zakum is about 65 kilometres off the coast of Abu Dhabi. The discovery dates back to 1963 and production began in 1967. It has a target production of 450,000 barrels of oil daily. Umm Shaif and Nasr are located about 135 kilometres from the coast of Abu Dhabi and have a target production of 460,000 barrels of oil daily.

    Eni’s CEO Claudio Descalzi said: “I’m very pleased about this agreement creating a larger presence for Eni in Middle East, in line with our expansion strategy, and creating a strong alliance with ADNOC and Abu Dhabi. The stakes in the two concessions give access to giant fields with huge potential and Eni is willing to contribute its best technology to maximise the future production.”

    Dr Al Jaber said: “These agreements underline the international market’s confidence in ADNOC’s long-term growth plans and the UAE’s stable and reliable investment environment. They also broaden and diversify our partnership base, while contributing experience, technology, capital and market access.

    “Our partnership with Eni, and other concession partners, will enable us to accelerate our growth, increase revenue and improve integration across the upstream value chain, as part of our ongoing transformation and build on the foundations that have been laid to deliver a more profitable upstream business. With these agreements ADNOC continues to leverage its 46-year legacy of successful energy partnerships, in support of its 2030 strategy.”

    In both concessions, ADNOC owns a 60 per cent stake while the operator is ADNOC Offshore.

  • Eni, FAO seal deal on access to water

    Italian oil firm Eni and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) have signed an agreement to foster access to safe and clean water in Nigeria. The two organisations have started drilling boreholes for domestic use and irrigation.

    The project aims at assisting internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities suffering from the Northeast-Lake Chad crises, which have led to  displacements and prolonged disruption of agricultural activities, livestock and fishing.

    The deal is in response to the Federal Government’s request to oil and gas companies to support the alleviation of the sufferings of victims of insurgency in the Northeast through sustainable interventions in the affected communities.

    The project is aligned to the the “Buhari Plan – Rebuilding the Northeast” for socio-economic stabilisation of the region.

    The FAO Country Representative to Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African Sates (ECOWAS), Suffyan Koroma, praised the government’s initiative, saying the approach would support the efforts to rebuild livelihoods in the region.

    He said: “The Northeast is not strange to FAO. Our interventions in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, the three states most affected by the Boko Haram insurgency, have helped Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), in camps and those returning to liberated communities, including host communities, to return to their farms and pick up the bits and pieces of their lives again.”

    Eni’s Executive Vice President for Responsible and Sustainable Enterprise Alberto Piatti said: “Public-Private Partnerships allow institutions to leverage the skills of the private sector, and help companies to respond to development needs identified by institutions. They are an opportunity to enhance the role companies can play in sustainable development.”

    The project is the first in the FAO-Eni collaboration. FAO will provide support in identifying the areas of intervention for the wells as well as technical expertise and know-how in the targeted areas, whereas Eni will drill the boreholes and provide them with photovoltaic power systems, including training for their use and maintenance for long term sustainability.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Oil windfall will be invested on infrastructure – Buhari

    Oil windfall will be invested on infrastructure – Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari said on Friday the income accruing to the country from rising oil prices in the international market would be spent on infrastructural development.

    He made the promise while receiving a delegation from Eni, led by the Chief Upstream Officer, Mr. Antonio Vella.

    The President, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said extra funds outside the provision of year 2018 budget “would be deployed to infrastructure projects like roads, rail, and power, for the good of our people, and for the development of the country.”

    The 2018 Budget provisions had been predicated on $45 per barrel by the Federal Government and the Senate had adjusted it to $47 per barrel.

    However, oil prices increased to $70 per barrel this week.

    President Buhari also commended Eni for its upcoming investments in the oil industry, which included rehabilitation of Port Harcourt refinery and the building of a new one.

    “In my first coming, all our refineries were working. Port Harcourt used to refine 60,000 barrels per day and it was later upgraded to 100,000 barrels. Kaduna and Warri were also working optimally, and we used to satisfy the demand of the local market.

    “We equally exported 100,000 barrels of refined petrol. Now, no refinery is performing up to 50 per cent. It is a disgraceful thing,” the President said.

    Mr. Vella said his organization has presented a technical proposal to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to rehabilitate the Port Harcourt refinery and also done a feasibility study on a new refinery of up to 150,000 barrels per day capacity.

    “Site selection has been completed and 50 new graduates have already arrived in Italy for a training that will last seven months.

    “There are other upstream initiatives, and a deep water project, with estimated expenditure of $13 billion,” the Eni official disclosed.

     

  • $1.1b Malabu bribe: Shell, Eni for trial

    $1.1b Malabu bribe: Shell, Eni for trial

    Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Eni SpA senior executives will face trial for alleged  $1.1 billion bribery in Nigeria, an Italian judge ruled yesterday.

    The trial will start on March 5 in Milan, Justice Giusy Barbara ruled.

    The long-awaited decision, initially expected several months ago, will not only affect the two companies but 11 individuals, including Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi.

    The case is related to the acquisition of a deepwater oil-prospecting licence by Eni and Shell in the Gulf of Guinea in 2011. Prosecutors allege that the two companies’ payment of almost $1.1 billion into a Nigerian government escrow account was later distributed as payoffs.

    While energy producers have come under scrutiny for bribery and corruption in the past, a trial centered around the sitting CEO of an oil major is rare.

    “This is really quite a big precedent-setting case,” said Barnaby Pace, a campaigner at watchdog Global Witness, which first shone a light on the alleged transactions. “It’s unusual to see oil majors at the sharp end of the stick in this way,” Pace said before the decision was announced.

    Shell said that it is “disappointed” by the judge’s decision. “We believe the trial judges will conclude that there is no case against Shell or its former employees,” said Anna Haslam, a London-based spokeswoman.

    The Anglo-Dutch company, whose former upstream director Malcolm Brinded is among those facing trial, acknowledged in April that it was aware of the destination of part of the payments, but denied wrongdoing.

    Eni’s board released a statement expressing “full confidence in the correctness and integrity of both the company’s and chief executive’s actions,” and said it’s confident of Eni’s “non-involvement in the alleged illegal conducts.”

    Brinded said on yesterday he’s “disappointed” by the decision and insisted “there is absolutely no basis for the charges against me.”

    A final court ruling may take years, potentially bringing steep legal costs for the two companies. The average length of a civil trial in Italy was 460 days in 2016, according to the Ministry of Justice.

    Shell and Eni are also facing criminal charges in Nigeria over the same deal. In Europe, Dutch investigators visited Shell’s offices in The Hague in 2016 as part of a probe into the same matter.

  • Malabu: Italian court orders trial of Shell, Eni

    An Italian court has approved the prosecution of Royal Dutch Shell and Eni in the controversial sale of oil prospecting lease (OPL) 245 oil block.

    OPL 245 is located in an extremely rich oilfield in the Niger Delta, estimated to worth half a trillion dollars.

    The sale of the block has been replete with allegations of graft amid lawsuits.

    A judge in Milan ordered that Claudio Descalzi, an Eni executive, and his predecessor, Paolo Scaroni, should be tried on allegations of impropriety in the deal.

    The trial is expected to commence on March 5.

    But Eni has distanced its directors from any misdeed in the purchase of the lucrative oilfield.

    “Eni’s Board of Directors has reaffirmed its confidence that the company was not involved in alleged corrupt activities in relation to the transaction.

    “Eni expresses its full confidence in the judicial process and that the trial will ascertain and confirm the correctness and integrity of its conduct.