Italy’s Top Court Clears Prosecutors in OPL 245 Case, Marking New Twist in Nigeria’s Biggest Oil Scandal
Italy’s highest court has acquitted two prosecutors who led the failed corruption case against energy giants Eni and Shell over Nigeria’s controversial OPL 245 oil block, bringing another chapter of one of Africa’s largest and most protracted oil scandals to a close.
The Court of Cassation overturned the convictions of Milan prosecutors Fabio De Pasquale and Sergio Spadaro, ruling that they had committed no offence in connection with allegations that they withheld evidence during the prosecution of Eni, Shell and several former executives over the 2011 acquisition of OPL 245.
The ruling is the latest development in a legal saga that has spanned more than a decade, crossing courtrooms in Europe and Africa and involving allegations of corruption, political influence and the control of one of Nigeria’s most valuable undeveloped oil assets.
At the centre of the dispute is a 2011 agreement in which Eni and Shell paid approximately $1.3 billion to acquire rights to OPL 245, an offshore oil block believed to contain an estimated nine billion barrels of crude oil.
Italian prosecutors argued that a significant portion of the funds was ultimately diverted to politicians, government officials and intermediaries through a complex payment structure.
Eni and Shell consistently denied any wrongdoing, maintaining that all payments were made directly to the Nigerian government.
In 2021, a Milan court acquitted Eni, Shell and all other defendants, delivering a major setback to what had become one of the most closely watched international corruption cases in the global energy sector.
The prosecutors themselves later came under investigation after defence lawyers alleged that evidence favourable to the companies had not been disclosed during the trial.
A lower court convicted De Pasquale and Spadaro in 2024, and the verdict was subsequently upheld by an appeals court.
However, Italy’s Court of Cassation has now overturned those rulings, effectively ending the criminal proceedings against the two prosecutors.
The decision further diminishes the legal legacy of a case once regarded as a landmark test of international anti-corruption enforcement in the oil and gas industry.
For Nigeria, the significance of OPL 245 extends far beyond the courtroom. The block remains one of the country’s largest undeveloped deepwater oil assets and has been largely dormant for years due to prolonged legal disputes and ownership challenges that discouraged investment and delayed development.
The uncertainty surrounding the asset has prevented Nigeria from fully benefiting from a resource that could help sustain future oil production.
This comes at a time when Africa’s largest crude producer is grappling with declining output, oil theft, underinvestment and increasing competition from emerging oil-producing regions across the continent.
Recent developments indicate that Nigeria is seeking to move beyond the controversy. Earlier this year, authorities approved a framework that could allow the disputed licence area to be restructured into new development assets for Eni and Shell, potentially unlocking billions of dollars in future investment and production.
The initiative aligns with the broader efforts of President Bola Tinubu’s administration to attract fresh investment into Nigeria’s oil and gas sector after years of regulatory uncertainty and delayed projects.
While the latest ruling does not erase the controversy that has long surrounded OPL 245, it removes another legal obstacle from a case that has shaped discussions on corruption, transparency and resource governance in Africa’s energy industry for more than a decade.
