By Tsvetana Paraskova – Dec 20, 2017, 11:30 AM CST
An Italian judge ordered on Wednesday oil majors Eni and Shell, as well as Eni’s CEO Claudio Descalzi and other former and present managers at Eni and Shell, to stand trial over alleged $1.3-billion corruption in an acquisition of an oil block in Nigeria back in 2011.
Giusy Barbara, a preliminary hearing judge at a Milan court, set the trial to begin on March 5, 2018, in Milan.
In February this year, Italian prosecutors asked for Eni, Shell, Descalzi, and ten others to stand trial over charges of alleged international corruption over alleged payment of US$1.3 billion in bribes to the former Nigerian government in 2011, for which Eni and Shell allegedly secured exclusive rights to develop the oil block OPL-245 offshore Nigeria.