Italian oil major Eni confirmed on Thursday its Chief Executive Claudio Descalzi was under investigation by Milan prosecutors in a case relating to the acquisition of an oil field in Nigeria.
“Eni is cooperating with the Milan prosecutor’s office, and is confident that the correctness of its actions will emerge during the course of the investigation,” it said in a statement.
Milan prosecutors have placed Descalzi and Eni’s chief development, operations and technology officer under “preliminary investigation,” the Rome-based company said today in a statement distributed by the Italian stock exchange. Eni, which didn’t specify the nature of the probe, “continues to deny any illegal conduct,” it said.
Descalzi is suspected by prosecutors of playing a role in the corruption of Nigerian politicians and bureaucrats, Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera reported today. The oil-license deal, closed in 2011 when Descalzi was Eni’s head of exploration and production, previously came under scrutiny in the Nigerian Parliament.
Eni teamed with Royal Dutch Shell Plc in 2011 to buy Oil Prospecting License 245 for $1.1 billion. The deal was challenged last year by a Nigerian parliamentary committee, which recommended revoking the rights. The acquisition process was “highly flawed,” the committee said. Global Witness, a London-based corruption watchdog, has also criticized the deal and the involvement of Dan Etete, a former Nigerian oil minister.