Italian court acquits Eni and Shell in Nigerian corruption case

FILE PHOTO: A Shell logo is seen reflected in a car's side mirror at a petrol station in west London, Britain, January 29, 2015. REUTERS/Toby Melville

MILAN (Reuters) - A Milan court acquitted energy company Eni, its chief executive and Royal Dutch Shell on Wednesday in the oil industry's biggest corruption case revolving around the $1.3 billion acquisition of a Nigerian oilfield a decade ago.

The sentence, read out in court by judge Marco Tremolada, came more than three years after the trial first began and after 74 hearings. Tremolada said the companies and defendants had been acquitted as there was no case to answer.