An Italian judge has ordered oil majors Royal Dutch Shell and Eni to stand trial over alleged corruption, in a case involving the 2011 $1.3 billion purchase of an offshore oil block in Nigeria that is estimated to hold 9 billion barrels of crude.
The judge in Milan ordered Eni, Shell and key figures such as Eni chief Claudio Descalzi and his predecessor Paolo Scaroni to stand trial in proceedings to begin in March.
All the parties involved have previously denied any wrongdoing over the deal in which Nigeria’s former President Goodluck Jonathan and his oil minister were said to have received bribes.
Both companies have repeatedly maintained that they acquired the rights to the lucrative block in line with Nigerian law.
