BusinessDay 11 Apr 2018

Wednesday 11 April 2018
06 BUSINESS DAY
C002D5556
WEST AFRICA
ENERGY intelligence
Brief
Eni offices searched in Congo
Republic corruption probe
Offices of Italian
oil major Eni
were searched
and documents
seized in an investigation
by Milan prosecutors
into alleged corruption in
Congo Republic, the company
said.
Prosecutors asked the
company to hand over
documents relating to
operations in Congo between
2009 and 2014, an
Eni spokesman said adding
that Eni had met the
request.
The state-controlled
major, under investigation
in a separate case
over alleged corruption
in Nigeria, said the offices
of two employees
at the company had
been raided, but gave no
names.
Eni said last year it was
being investigated by Milan
prosecutors for international
corruption in the
Congo Republic.
The case revolves
around agreements
signed by Eni’s Congo
subsidiary with the country’s
Ministry of Hydrocarbons
between 2013
and 2015 covering exploration
and production
permits and the choice
of partners in the African
country.
The sources said prosecutors
were investigating
whether certain contracts
hid bribes to Congo
public officials.
“Eni has absolutely
nothing to do with alleged
wrongdoing regarding
operations that
are the object of investigation,”
the Eni spokesman
said.
Eni has worked in the
Congo Republic since
1968. In 2016 it produced
98,000 barrels of oil
equivalent per day in the
country.
finance people
appointments
Ibe Kachukwu to deliver keynote address at
Brandzone’s ‘Light Up Nigeria Energy Conference’
The Honourable
Minister of State
for Petroleum
Resources, Emmanuel
Ibe
Kachikwu, will be delivering
the keynote address at
this year’s Brand Innovation
Light Up Nigeria Energy
conference with the
theme; “Repositioning the
energy sector for growth”
which would hold on Tuesday
May 15th, 2018 at the
Oriental Hotel, Lagos. The
annual Brand Innovation
Conference is organized
by Brandzone Consulting
LLC.
The Light Up Nigeria
conference advisory
board and conference
chairperson is Tonye Cole,
Executive Director & Co-
Founder Sahara Energy
Group. Other key industry
thought leaders confirmed
as Speakers at the upcoming
conference include Gabriel
Ogbechie, Managing
Director CEO, Rainoil Nigeria
Limited, Nkechi Obi,
Vice Chairperson, Techno
Oil, Joe Ezigbo Founder
and CEO, Falcon Corporation,
Dada Thomas, President
Nigeria Gas Association
and Founder/CEO,
Frontier oil Limited, Yomi
Awobokun, CEO, Enyo Re-
tail Oil and Gas, and others.
The Brand Innovation
Conference in its 5th year,
is an annual multi-sector
Thought Leadership Series
created by Brandzone
Consulting LLC. The conference
gathers industry
thought leaders, global
leaders, technocrats, government
policy makers,
economic experts, investors,
regulators and experts
from diverse sectors
and industries annually.
So far, the yearly event has
become a platform for the
dissemination of accurate
and beneficial narrative
around the Conference
focus area. This year’s
conference is primarily
focused on the Nigerian
Energy sector.
The Light Up Nigeria
conference is designed
to draw industry experts
across the various subsectors
to share insights
and knowledge on industry
growth topics, collaborate
and deliberate on timely
relevant issues that would
help to unlock opportunities
for growth in power
generation, transmission
and distribution. It is
structured to stimulate the
downstream sector growth,
drive energy availability
through increased natural
gas optimization, and the
provision of power to enterprises.
It would also explore
the opportunities in building
strong Energy brands
as a lever for overall sector
growth and national development.
As Nigeria’s most
influential industry conference,
the annual Brand
Innovation Conference is
a transformation platform
that leverages its extensive
network of experienced
and accomplished speakers
for knowledge sharing,
proffer solution to issues of
national and economic development
while building
a networking platform that
fosters collaboration and
growth.
Speaking on the conference,
Chizor Malize, Managing
Partner and Chief
Executive Officer of, Brandzone
and Convener of the
Light Up Nigeria Energy
Conference said “Energy
plays a crucial role in the
economic growth, progress,
and development, as
well as poverty eradication
and security of any nation.
Uninterrupted energy supply
is a vital issue for all
countries today. Future
economic growth depends
largely on the long-term
availability of energy from
sources that are affordable,
accessible, and environmentally
friendly.
JP Morgan says it knew ex-minister linked to firm in Nigeria oilfield deal
JP Morgan Chase has
acknowledged it knew
a former Nigerian oil
minister convicted of
money laundering would
benefit when it transferred
over $800 million
of government funds to a
company he controlled,
according to a court document
seen by Reuters.
JP Morgan made the acknowledgement
in its legal
response to a lawsuit filed
by Nigeria over transactions
made by the US bank
when Royal Dutch Shell
and Eni bought offshore
oilfield OPL 245 from Malabu
Oil and Gas in 2011.
The $1.3 billion deal has
spawned legal cases spanning
several countries and
involving Nigerian government
officials and senior
ENI and Shell executives,
a number of whom face
trial in Italy on corruption
charges next month.
Malabu is controlled by
Dan Etete, who was Nigeria’s
oil minister at the time
of the deal and was convicted
of money laundering
in France in 2007.
The lawsuit against JP
Morgan accuses the bank
of negligence over the
transfer of funds from a Nigerian
government escrow
account into which Shell
and Eni had deposited
money to secure OPL 245.
It claims $875 million from
the bank.
In its written defense,
filed in a British court last
week, JP Morgan said Britain’s
Serious Organised
Crime Agency (SOCA),
now renamed the National
Crime Agency, had
approved the transfers to
Malabu. It denied negligence.
The bank had previously
said only that it “considers
the allegations made in
the claim to be unsubstantiated
and without merit”.
It was not immediately
clear whether JP Morgan’s
acknowledgement that it
knew of Etete’s links with
Malabu will have any impact
on the trial starting in
Milan in May.
Eni’s chief executive is
among those going on trial
in Milan on charges of paying
bribes to Etete and others,
including sums that
went to Malabu. Shell and
Eni deny wrongdoing in
relation to OPL 245.
Shell said in April last
year that it “always knew”
the Nigerian government
would compensate Malabu
and that Etete was involved.
It had previously
told Reuters only that payments
went to the Nigerian
government.
The lawsuit against JP
Morgan said that although
it received a request from
Nigeria’s finance ministry
to transfer funds to accounts
controlled by Malabu,
the bank showed gross
negligence by not making
further checks before allowing
the transaction.