Source: Nigeria divides OPL 245 oilfield OPL into four blocks as part of deal with Eni and Shell

Sources say that Nigeria has divided the 'OPL 245 oil block into four assets, which will be operated by Eni or Shell. This could determine the future of a field that is at the heart of one of oil industry history's largest?corruption cases.

The agreement opens the door to the development of OPL 245, Nigeria's largest deepwater reserve, which has been untapped for nearly?three decades due to overlapping lawsuits from multiple countries.

Sources familiar with the matter said that the final contracts will be signed starting on Monday. The Nigerian government has been indicating for years that they are eager to find a way to bring this block into production. The source wanted to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to comment on the government's policy until an official announcement.

The licence, originally awarded to Malabu in 1998, a Nigerian company with ties to the former oil minister Dan Etete was later sold to Shell and Eni.

Italian prosecutors claimed that the majority of the $1.3 billion price tag for OPL 245 licence was diverted to politicians and middlemen. Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi and other former and current executives of the two European energy giants, as well as some of their Italian prosecutors, were all acquitted after denying any wrongdoing in 2021.

Eni and Shell declined comment. Shell and Nigerian state-owned oil firm NNPC did not immediately comment.

(source: Reuters)