Nigerian Oil Company Brittania-U Prepares for May 18 Hearing in Ongoing Oil Lease Dispute
LAGOS, Nigeria, March 31, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Nigeria's Supreme Court has set a May 18 hearing date in the 15-month-old dispute between Brittania-U Limited of Nigeria and Chevron Nigeria and Chevron USA over the sale of three oil leases in the Niger Delta.
In a hearing on March 24 in Abuja, the high court refused to hear an appeal filed in the case by Brittania-U, holding that Chevron Nigeria and its partners had not appropriately responded to the lawsuit Brittania-U filed in federal court in December 2013. The suit alleges breach of bid arrangement against the oil giant and some of its partners. The suit was filed by Brittania-U Chairman Catherine Uju Ifejika and others to coerce Chevron officials to finalize a deal the smaller company said was negotiated in 2013 for its purchase of the Chevron oil mining leases.
In February, Chevron announced that it had sold its 40 percent interest in two of the contested leases to the Seplat Consortium of Nigeria, a co-defendant in the lawsuit. The sale was announced with an injunction pending forbidding a sale. Brittania-U has filed several appeals in the case, most recently when an appellate court overturned an injunction barring Chevron from selling the leases while the lawsuit continues.
In the recent hearing, Brittania-U filed a motion for an order to reverse an attempt by Chevron to gain approval from Nigerian petroleum resources minister Diezani Alison-Madueke for the sale. Brittania-U attorney Rickey Tarfa told the judge that Chevron planned to turn over the leases to Seplat in mid-April. Attorneys for Seplat and Chevron denied the claim.
The judge warned the parties to refrain from violating the court's order or face consequences.
"Parties know better than to do anything to affect the res (subject matter)," Supreme Court Justice Datijo Muhammad said, according to The Guardian Nigeria. "It is trite law that when a matter is pending, nothing should be done by any party…This case is even stronger now that you have an application for mandatory injunction before us. Any party that does anything to a res know[s] what will be visited upon him."
Brittania-U officials submitted the highest bid for oil mining leases 52, 53 and 55 – $1.015 billion – in November 2013. Instead of finalizing the sale, company officials said Chevron negotiated with and opted to sell to Seplat, whose bid was lower.
SOURCE Brittania-U Limited
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