President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced the resolution of the long-standing dispute surrounding Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245, a major deepwater oil block in Nigeria’s Niger Delta that had been tied up in legal battles for several years.
OPL 245, one of Nigeria’s most valuable offshore oil blocks, has been at the centre of international legal disputes and investigations for nearly three decades.
The oil block was originally awarded in 1998 to Malabu Oil and Gas, a firm linked to former petroleum minister Dan Etete.
Subsequent ownership claims and legal actions followed after the licence was revoked and reassigned, leading to prolonged disputes between Malabu, international oil companies, and the Nigerian government.
The transaction later involved Royal Dutch Shell and Eni, which acquired rights to the block in a deal valued at about $1.3 billion.
The controversy triggered investigations and court proceedings in several jurisdictions, including Nigeria and European courts. Over time, the matter became one of the most widely reported legal disputes in the global oil industry.
Announcing the development, the Federal Government said steps had been taken to resolve outstanding issues surrounding the OPL 245 oil block, allowing progress toward its development.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Heineken Lokpobiri explained that the government engaged relevant institutions and parties involved in the dispute as part of efforts to settle outstanding matters tied to the licence.
According to the minister, the directive involved key government institutions including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, and Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, alongside the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation.
Lokpobiri noted that many of the legal actions surrounding the oil block had lasted for years across several jurisdictions, adding that the government’s objective was to resolve the disputes and allow development of the asset.
The resolution is expected to remove legal barriers that previously delayed the development of the deepwater oil block. OPL 245 has been widely regarded as one of Nigeria’s largest untapped offshore oil assets.
Government officials stated that resolving the dispute could enable renewed investment in the oil sector and facilitate the development of the block after years of inactivity caused by legal challenges and ownership claims.
