Nigeria Urged to Give Up Fight With Eni and Shell Over Lucrative Oil Block
- Delays have negative economic consequences: justice minister
- Buhari advised to let majors develop controversial permit
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A senior Nigerian minister urged the country’s president to end a long-running dispute with Eni SpA and Shell Plc to allow the companies to finally develop a prized deepwater oil license.
Investigations and lawsuits relating to the energy giants’ acquisition of the permit 12 years ago should be halted so Africa’s largest crude producer can “take advantage of the fast-disappearing opportunities in the global oil exploration industry,” Attorney General Abubakar Malami wrote in a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari dated Feb. 6, 2023, and seen by Bloomberg. Delays to the development of the block have had “negative economic consequences” for Nigeria, he said.