Feb 14 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell said itreceived notice on Tuesday of a request for indictment relatedto a 2011 settlement of long-standing disputes over an offshoreblock in Nigeria (OPL 245) .
The tribunal of Milan has fixed the preliminary hearing for20 April 2017, the company said in a statement.
"We don't believe a request for indictment is justified andwe are confident that this will be determined in the next stagesof the proceedings. We continue to take this matter seriouslyand co-operate with the authorities," Shell added.
Shell and Eni on Tuesday said they have asked a Nigeriancourt to lift a temporary forfeiture of assets and the transferof operations of the OPL 245 field owned by Shell and Italy'sEni, among others, to the federal government.
(Reporting by Vijaykumar Vedala and Apeksha Nair in Bengaluru;Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
