By Ese Ufuoma
OPL 245, Oil Prospecting Licence 245, is one of Nigeria’s most valuable offshore oil assets, estimated to hold billions of barrels of crude beneath deep Atlantic waters. But its significance goes far beyond its reserves. Since its award in 1998, the block has been at the centre of one of the most contentious oil deals in modern history, marked by disputed ownership, billion-dollar transactions, and prolonged international litigation.
After more than two decades of litigation, scandal, and stalled opportunity, Nigeria’s most controversial oil asset is back on the table.
The federal government’s recent settlement over OPL 245 does more than resolve a long-running dispute; it reopens one of the largest untapped deepwater oil fields in Africa. But it also revives unresolved questions about transparency, accountability, and who truly benefits from Nigeria’s oil wealth.
Awarded in 1998 under controversial circumstances, the block was linked from the outset to political power and private interests. The original licence went to Malabu Oil & Gas, a company later tied to a sitting petroleum minister at the time.
What followed was a cycle of revocations, re-awards, court battles, and settlements stretching across continents. By 2011, the Nigerian government brokered a deal under which Shell and Eni paid more than $1 billion to resolve competing claims. Much of that payment would later become the subject of global corruption investigations, with allegations that large sums were diverted to middlemen and political figures.
The case was brought before courts in Italy, the UK, Nigeria, and beyond. Executives were tried. Governments were embarrassed. The oil block itself remained untouched.
For over a decade, OPL 245 became a stranded asset, too controversial to develop, too valuable to ignore. That stalemate has now been broken. In March 2026, the Nigerian government reached a fresh settlement with Eni and its partners, effectively clearing the legal obstacles that had frozen the block for years.
The agreement restructures the asset into multiple licences and restores a clear development framework. It also removes one of the most persistent legal risks hanging over Nigeria’s upstream sector.
For policymakers, the message is straightforward: Nigeria is trying to clean up legacy disputes and attract investment back into its oil industry. For investors, the signal is even clearer: one of the world’s most promising deepwater fields is finally open for business.
The prize beneath the controversy
The stakes are enormous. OPL 245 is estimated to hold up to 9 billion barrels of crude oil, placing it among the most commercially significant undeveloped offshore assets globally.
The planned Zabazaba–Etan project alone could deliver around 150,000 barrels per day at peak production. At a time when Nigeria’s oil output has declined, and foreign exchange pressures are rising, bringing OPL 245 into production could materially shift national revenue projections.
Furthermore, officials have framed the settlement as a turning point; they argue that resolving OPL 245 demonstrates a willingness to confront legacy problems, enforce contractual clarity, and align the sector with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
The government’s position is that certainty, not controversy, is what drives investment. And for years, OPL 245 represented the opposite. By ending the dispute, the administration is betting that capital will return.
But OPL 245 is not just about future revenue. It is also about past failure; the block has already cost Nigeria billions in lost income, delayed production, legal fees, and reputational damage. For over 15 years, one of the country’s most valuable assets generated no output. No jobs. No revenue. Only litigation, even more troubling is the fact that, despite global investigations and court cases, many of the core issues surrounding the original deal were never fully resolved within Nigeria itself.
However, the resurrection of OPL 245 raises critical questions that go beyond legal settlement:
Transparency: What exactly are the fiscal terms of the new agreement?
Value: Is Nigeria securing better returns than in the 2011 deal?
Accountability: Has the system addressed the governance failures that created the scandal in the first place?
Precedent: Will this become a model for resolving other disputed oil assets or a one-off fix?
These are not technical concerns. They go to the core of how Nigeria manages its natural resources. There is no doubt that the resolution of OPL 245 removes a major obstacle to investment.
It also offers Nigeria a rare second chance to extract value from an asset that has been trapped in controversy for nearly three decades.
But the significance of this moment will not be measured by agreements signed in Abuja. It will be measured by outcomes:
Ultimately, the story of OPL 245 has always been bigger than oil. It is a story about power, governance, and the cost of opaque decisions in a sector that defines Nigeria’s economy. Its resurrection marks the end of one chapter, but not the end of the story.
What happens next will determine whether OPL 245 becomes a symbol of reform or remains a reminder of how easily opportunity can be lost.
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