Newspaper Dagens Næringsliv writes that Dr. John Abebe, former oil consultant of Statoil (OSE: STL, NYSE:STO) in Nigeria, who was previously known as ”Mr Statoil” has won a lawsuit against the company in the Court of Appeals of Lagos. The court awards him a claim to 1.5% of the profit accrued from its stake in the Agbami oil field of the Niger Delta.
Abebe was involved in helping the company secure blocks three oil blocks in Nigeria some 20 years ago through arrangements with British Petroleum (LSE: BP, NYSE: BP), which has since exited the country. According to the ruling, Statoil inherited the agreements between BP and Abebe. The Agbami field was discovered in 1998 and it began production in 2010. Statoil holds just over 20% stake in the field that was producing near its estimated peak production of 250 000 barrels per day last year. It has estimated reserves of 900 million boe.
Statoil maintains that it believes the case has no merit and plans to appeal to the High Court. Its earnings from Nigerian operations have been frozen in an escrow account until the case is solved. Abebe said he is in no hurry to get the money and does not mind his profits growing in an account for another 3-4 years. Analysts’ have calculated that the compensation in question should be above 1 billion NOK, while Abebe himself thinks it could be ten times that much.
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