The tribunal of Milan has fixed the preliminary hearing for 20 April 2017, the company said in a statement.

“We don’t believe a request for indictment is justified and we are confident that this will be determined in the next stages of the proceedings. We continue to take this matter seriously and co-operate with the authorities,” Shell added.

Shell and Eni on Tuesday said they have asked a Nigerian court to lift a temporary forfeiture of assets and the transfer of operations of the OPL 245 field owned by Shell and Italy’s Eni, among others, to the federal government.