Nigeria sues JP Morgan for a controversial oil deal

Last updated on February 24th, 2022 at 08:39 am

Nigeria is stepping up its game in the oil business and one of the major reasons behind it is catering to its economy and massive population. Hence, the country is very caring towards the investment it is putting in in the field.

But due to some discrepancies, the African nation had to register a lawsuit against U.S. bank JP Morgan Chase which had claimed over $1.7 billion for its participation in the controversial 2011 deal of the oilfield in the African nation.

On Wednesday, a court in London started with the hearing procedure of the lawsuit which was filed in 2017. The civil suit was in relation to the big players in the field Shell and Eni of the offshore OPL 245 based in the OPL 245 oilfield in Nigeria.

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It is the same place which has become the main ground for the ongoing legal action in Milan. Nigeria has alleged that the US company has been extremely negligent towards the decision to transfer the funds which were paid by the energy majors to the account of the country’s former oil minister Dan Etete rather than the government’s coffers.

There are huge damages incurred by the oil companies. The number includes the cash which was sent to Etete’s company Malabu Oil and Gas which sums up to around $875 million and has been paid in three installments.

While the deal was in place, the Nigerian government had asked JP Morgan to make transfers as a part of oilfield sale and not on an individual basis. The same has been stressed in the documents submitted in the court. While a spokesperson from the bank said that they are sure that the company took appropriate measures required at the moment. We will robustly defend against this claim,” a spokesman for the bank said.