Columnist recalls the dispute over OPL 245 in Nigeria — Premium Times Nigeria
In a column for Premium Times Nigeria, Nigerian author Osmund Agbo examined the history of oil block OPL 245. According to him, in 1998 the government of General Sani Abacha transferred the block to the little-known company Malabu Oil & Gas Limited, and subsequent transactions became the subject of disputes, investigations and court proceedings in several countries.
Shareholders of Malabu Oil & Gas
According to the 1998 Corporate Affairs Commission registration documents cited by the author, Mohammed Sani, also known as Mohammed Abacha, held 10 million shares in Malabu Oil & Gas, or 50%. Kweku Amafegha, identified in the column as another name for Dan Etete, owned 6 million shares, or 30%, while Wabi Hassan, identified in the article as Alhaji Adamu Hassan, held 4 million shares, or 20%.
Agbo writes that the name Kweku Amafegha existed only in corporate documents. Mohammed Abacha, the son of Nigeria's former military ruler, long claimed that Dan Etete, acting under this name, allegedly fraudulently altered the registration documents and effectively took over his stake in Malabu Oil & Gas.
Value of the block and legal disputes
OPL 245 is located approximately 150 kilometres off the coast of the Niger Delta. According to 2006 estimates, the site may have contained about 1 billion barrels of recoverable oil. A 2018 forecast by Resources for Development Consulting projected potential revenues of between $9.8 billion and $15.6 billion for Nigeria's Federation Account over the life of the project.
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As the author notes, Malabu Oil & Gas obtained the block for approximately $2.2 million. Later, about $1.3 billion was paid in connection with the settlement of the dispute and the acquisition of rights to the block involving Shell, Eni and other parties.
According to Agbo, the dispute surrounding OPL 245 involved reversals of decisions, court proceedings and political manoeuvring under the administrations of Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari. Issues related to the case were considered by courts in Nigeria, Italy, the United Kingdom and other countries.
The column also criticises transparency in Nigeria's oil sector. The author notes that NNPC did not publish audited financial statements for 43 years, and that the first disclosed audited accounts concerned 2018 and were published in 2020. He also mentions years of spending on the rehabilitation of oil refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna.
