News International review

Nigeria may lose $ 6 billion due to a “corruption” deal to sell the Deposit

Источник фото: bbc.com

The deal between Nigeria and the international oil giants Shell and Eni could result in the West African country losing $ 6 billion in lost profits.

This conclusion was reached by the experts of the organization for combating corruption Global Witness. Experts say that the analysis data suggests that Nigeria may lose up to $ 6 billion in revenue due to the scandalous deal with the oil giants Shell and Eni. This figure was obtained in the framework of expert analysis commissioned by Global Witness to clarify the details of the purchase transaction in 2011 by Shell (Royal Dutch Shell) and Eni oil field OPL 245 in Nigeria (Oil Mining Lease (OML) 42), one of the most valuable oil blocks in Africa with reserves of 9.3 billion barrels of oil and gas. This Deposit appears in the ongoing criminal case of corruption in Italy, writes the BBC.

Prosecutors in Italy argue that most of the payments of more than $ 1 billion in 2011 eventually became a bribe to Nigerian officials. Both the Italian Eni and the British-Dutch Shell are accused of consciously participating in bribery. Both companies deny any charges.

Now, a new Global Witness report found that the deal itself ended with Nigeria receiving a much lower percentage of the profits from the deal than the country should have received by international standards.

“The $ 6 billion in revenues that the companies intend to take away from the Nigerian people is equivalent to a two – time annual budget for health and education in the country, or enough to train six million teachers,” Global Witness said. “Instead, we saw that money increases profits for European oil giants.”

Despite the huge oil deposits, Nigeria has the largest number of people on earth living in extreme poverty.

Last year, Global Witness published emails that they claim prove Shell knew that most of the money originally paid for the field was transferred to Nigeria’s ex-oil Minister Dan Etete, convicted of money laundering, and used to bribe Nigerian officials.

However, Shell remained unwavering in its public denials: “We claim that the settlement of the matter was a completely legitimate deal, and we believe that judges in Italy will conclude that there is no fault of Shell or former employees of the company in this case,” Shell said in a statement in a BBC statement .

Recall, the ex-Minister of oil of Nigeria Dan Etete was found guilty in a French court for money laundering, and it turned out that he used illegal funds to buy a speedboat and a castle. It is also alleged that he had so much cash in $ 100 banknotes that he weighed five tons.