Oil & Gas
Nigeria’s court case alleging that international oil companies exported 57 million barrels of crude to the United States illegally has been dismissed for want of evidence
A NIGERIAN court on Wednesday dismissed government claims that subsidiaries of Eni and Petrobras illegally exported crude oil to the United States.
A judge at the Federal High Court in Lagos, on Wednesday said the government had failed to provide enough evidence to support its suit against the local Agip unit of Italy’s Eni and the Brasoil unit of Brazil’s state-run Petroleo Brasileiro SA, better known as Petrobras.
“The court did not agree with our position,” said Ituah Imhanze, a lawyer, who represented Nigeria’s government in court, adding that the government would file an appeal by the end of Thursday.
Nigeria alleged in a laws suit filed in 2016 that a number of companies exported a total of 57 million barrels of crude oil to the United States between 2011 and 2014 without declaring them to the federal government as required by law.
Eni and Petrobras officials could not be reached for their reaction as at press time.
Crude oil is the major source of revenue for Nigeria, accounting for about 90 percent of its foreign-exchange earnings.
– May 8, 2019 @ 19:09 GMT |
Tags: Nigeria to appeal Case against Eni Petrobras
