OPL 245 / Malabu oil block deal ($1.3bn Shell–Eni settlement)
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What happened
In 1998, one of Nigeria's most valuable deep-water oil blocks was awarded to Malabu Oil & Gas — a company formed just nine days before the licence was issued, with the then-petroleum minister Dan Etete as its second-largest shareholder, according to EFCC records cited by newsroomnigeria. After years of disputes, Shell and Eni paid $1.3bn in 2011 for the block, of which Italian prosecutors and activists alleged about $1.1bn was channelled through middlemen to politicians and officials. A Milan court acquitted all defendants in 2021; Nigeria withdrew remaining civil actions in 2023, and former AGF Mohammed Adoke was discharged in an Abuja court in March 2024. The government is now restructuring the block into four licences to monetise it.
Red flags
Analytical observations against standard procurement-integrity patterns — not accusations.
Analytical observation: EFCC records cited by newsroomnigeria state the block was awarded to Malabu, formed nine days before the licence, with the overseeing petroleum minister as a major shareholder — a textbook beneficial-ownership conflict red flag.
Analytical observation: Malabu's original signature bonus was reportedly $20m (sundiatapost / Wikipedia); in the 2011 deal, the Federation reportedly retained $207m of $1.3bn while $1.092bn went to Malabu (newsroomnigeria, citing EFCC). Analytical observation only, not an accusation of wrongdoing by the 2011 buyers, who were acquitted in Italy.
Analytical observation: funds moved through a London escrow account and intermediaries across the UK, BVI and Nigeria, creating layering opacity that complicates audit (centrefornigeriaprogress, 2026).
Sources
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