Two prosecutors who handled the unsuccessful corruption trial against energy companies Eni and Shell over Nigeria’s controversial OPL 245 oil block have been acquitted by Italy’s highest court, drawing another chapter to a close in one of Africa’s most enduring oil scandals.
The Court of Cassation in Italy set aside the convictions of Milan prosecutors Fabio De Pasquale and Sergio Spadaro, finding that they had not committed any offence in allegations that they suppressed evidence during the case against Eni, Shell, and former executives linked to the 2011 OPL 245 acquisition.
The ruling represents another major turn in a legal battle that has spanned more than a decade across courts in Europe and Africa, involving accusations of bribery, political interference, and the struggle over one of Nigeria’s most valuable undeveloped oil reserves.
At the centre of the OPL 245 controversy is a 2011 agreement under which Eni and Shell paid approximately $1.3 billion to secure rights to the offshore oil field, estimated to hold about 9 billion barrels of crude reserves.
Italian prosecutors had alleged that a significant share of the funds was eventually channelled to politicians, public officials, and middlemen. However, Eni and Shell repeatedly denied any misconduct, maintaining that the payment was made directly to the Nigerian government.
A Milan court in 2021 acquitted Eni, Shell, and all other defendants in what had become one of the most high-profile corruption trials in the global energy industry.
The prosecutors later faced scrutiny after defence lawyers alleged that they had not revealed evidence that may have strengthened the companies’ defence.
In 2024, a lower court found De Pasquale and Spadaro guilty, a decision that was later confirmed by an appeals court the following year. However, Italy’s highest court has now annulled both rulings, bringing the criminal proceedings against them to an end.
The judgment also diminishes the broader legal impact of a case that was once regarded as a landmark examination of global anti-corruption efforts within the oil sector.
The importance of OPL 245 extends beyond legal proceedings in Nigeria. The offshore block, considered one of the nation’s largest untapped deepwater oil assets, has stayed largely inactive for years as court cases and ownership disputes have delayed investment and development.
The continued uncertainty has also limited Nigeria’s ability to fully develop a resource that could strengthen future oil output, at a time when Africa’s largest crude producer is grappling with declining production, oil theft, underinvestment, and rising competition from newer oil-producing countries across the continent.
New developments show that Nigeria is making efforts to resolve the long-standing controversy. Earlier this year, officials endorsed a plan that could see the disputed licence area broken into new assets for development by Eni and Shell, potentially paving the way for substantial future investment and production gains.
The development reflects a wider effort by President Bola Tinubu’s administration to draw new investment into Nigeria’s oil and gas industry following years of policy uncertainty and delayed projects.
Although the latest judgment does not resolve the broader controversy surrounding OPL 245, it clears another layer of legal uncertainty in a case that has influenced discussions on corruption, transparency, and resource management within Africa’s energy sector for over ten years.
