COP29: Climate agenda clashes with trade demands
At the COP29 Climate Summit, trade tensions are escalating. According to U.N. documents, and negotiators, China, Brazil, and a number of other developing countries have complained that perceived barriers, like the European Union’s carbon border levy will undermine climate efforts. Nearly 200 nations are fighting over the climate talks about a deal that would provide hundreds of millions of dollars per year to help poorer states cope with climate changes. The countries who would receive the money claim that the new climate-related policies of the richest economies in the world are limiting their ability to invest.
Arbitration awards Kosmos Energy Senegal LNG project to BP, as the sole purchaser
Kosmos Energy announced on Tuesday that a Paris arbitrator ruled in favor of BP, preventing Kosmos to sell liquefied gas from the Greater Tortue project off Senegal and Mauritania. LNG is a key part of BP's energy transition strategy. Energy major BP has established a significant LNG pipeline across the globe, including Sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria, Angola Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea are already shipping significant volumes. The International Chamber of Commerce was asked to arbitrate a dispute between Kosmos Energy (a U.S. listed oil and gas exploration firm) and BP Gas Marketing (a BP subsidiary) over the planned LNG sales of Phase 1 of GTA.
Conoco Gets $345 mln from Venezuela's PDVSA
U.S. oil producer ConocoPhillips on Thursday said it received $345 million in cash and commodities last quarter from Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA under a settlement that came after Conoco seized some of PDVSA's assets in the Caribbean.The proceeds were part of a first installment under a deal to satisfy a $2 billion arbitration award Conoco won earlier this year over broken oil contracts in the South American country.The payment, disclosed with the company's third-quarter earnings, came months after Conoco went to local courts and obtained the right to seize most of Petroleos de Venezuela's Caribbean inventories…
ConocoPhillips Signs $2 Bln Settlement with PDVSA
U.S. oil producer ConocoPhillips said on Monday it has settled with Venezuela's state-run oil company, PDVSA, to recover about $2 billion in arbitration payment.The International Chamber of Commerce awarded ConocoPhillips that amount in April after PDVSA failed to uphold various contractual commitments.ConocoPhillips began seizing PDVSA's overseas assets in May.(Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
Venezuela Dodges Oil Asset Seizures with Export Transfers at Sea
Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA has limited the damage from an unprecedented slump in crude exports by transferring oil between tankers at sea and loading vessels in neighboring Cuba to avoid asset seizures.But the OPEC member nation is still fulfilling less than 60 percent of its obligations under supply deals with customers.Venezuela has been pumping oil this year at the lowest rate in three decades after years of underinvestment and a mass exodus of workers. The state-run firm's collapse has left the country…
Tullow to Pay Seadrill $254 mln Over Ghana Dispute
A London judge ordered Tullow Oil to pay rig owner Seadrill around $254 million saying Tullow was wrong to end a rig contract in Ghana on grounds of force majeure over a maritime dispute, Tullow said on Tuesday.Tullow cancelled the contract for Seadrill's West Leo rig in December 2016 after Ghana set a drilling moratorium on its TEN offshore oil and gas field which is located in waters then claimed by both Ghana and Ivory Coast.An international tribunal last year ruled in favour of Ghana, allowing Tullow, the lead operator of the project, to resume drilling.
PDVSA Retrenches in Caribbean
Venezuela's PDVSA will let the 335,000 barrel-per-day refinery it leases in Curacao halt operations once crude inventories are exhausted as no new shipments are planned to the Caribbean following ConocoPhillips's legal actions, according to two sources.PDVSA is also changing its trade arrangements to start delivering all its oil for exports in Venezuelan waters, including the ship-to-ship transfers that have to be made for sending cargoes to Asian destinations.Conoco last week started several legal actions to satisfy a $2 billion arbitration award issued by the International Chamber of Commerce over the 2007 nationalization of its projects in Vene
Conoco Moves to Seize PDVSA's Caribbean Assets
U.S. oil firm ConocoPhillips has moved to take Caribbean assets of Venezuela's state-run PDVSA to enforce a $2 billion arbitration award over a decade-oil nationalization of its projects in the South American country, according to three sources familiar with its actions. The U.S. firm targeted facilities on the islands of Curacao, Bonaire and St. Eustatius that accounted for about a quarter of Venezuela's oil exports last year. The three play key roles in processing, storing and blending PDVSA's oil for export. The company received court attachments freezing assets at least two of the facilities…
Cobalt Threatens Arbitration over Angolan Assets
U.S. oil firm Cobalt said it would seek arbitration if Angola's state-run Sonangol failed to extend licence deadlines on two deepwater blocks, a move the U.S. company said was needed to help it sell the assets. Cobalt said its efforts to find a buyer for its 40 percent stakes in Blocks 20 and 21 offshore Angola were "negatively impacted by the uncertainty surrounding the extension". Cobalt has been trying to sell the blocks for several years. A deal to sell the licences to Sonangol in a $1.75 billion deal collapsed in 2016 because required approvals from the Angolan government did not come in time.
TVO Gets Favorable Decision in Nuclear Power Plant Dispute
Finland's Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) said on Thursday it had received a favourable partial decision from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in its long-running dispute with French nuclear power engineering company Areva. The two companies are claiming billions of euros from each other at the ICC's arbitration court due to delays and cost overruns on the Olkiluoto 3 reactor project. Originally expected to start operations in 2009, the Olkiluoto 3 plant is now expected to open in 2018. TVO said the partial award did not take a position on monetary claims but said it resolved many issues in its favour.
Pemex Loses US Appeal of $406 Mln Arbitration Award
A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld a decision confirming a $406 million arbitration award won by a unit of KBR Inc in a contract dispute with Mexico's national oil company, Pemex. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York let stand a decision confirming an award of $300 million even though a Mexican court had nullified it, and upheld a lower court ruling that added $106 million to the judgment. Representatives of Pemex and KBR, a U.S. engineering and construction company, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Colombia's Ecopetrol Seeks $2 bln from CB&I
Colombia's state oil company Ecopetrol will seek $2 billion in damages from contractor Chicago Bridge & Iron Company for additional costs during the renovation of Colombia's Reficar refinery, Ecopetrol said late on Monday. Ecopetrol has said bad management at CB&I increased spending on the project by $4 billion, double the original $3.99 billion price tag. Ecopetrol said it filed the suit against CB&I before the International Chamber of Commerce. CB&I was not immediately available for comment by telephone. The Reficar refinery…
Israelis Chase Egypt Gas Contracts
Egypt important to Israeli gas export plans; arbitration linked to Egyptian gas exports. Israeli firms Delek Group, Ratio Oil, and Isramco Negev said on Monday they would push ahead with talks to export natural gas to Egypt despite an arbitration ruling in a separate deal that has caused anger in Cairo. Egypt's state-owned oil and gas companies said on Sunday they would appeal more than $2 billion in penalties which arbitrators at the International Chamber of Commerce ordered them to pay after a deal involving gas exports to Israel collapsed in 2012.
Turkey Takes Russia to Arbitration on Gas Dispute
Turkish state gas importer Botas has appealed to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to resolve a row over the price of gas from Russia after the two countries failed to sign a deal, the company said on Tuesday. Turkey said in February it had obtained a 10.25 percent price discount on the 28-30 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas it buys from Russia each year but the two sides have been at loggerheads over the deal for months. Botas, which is also Turkey's state pipeline operator, said in a statement it notified Russia's…
Arbitrator Reinstates Suspension of Award to Exxon by Venezuela
A World Bank arbitration tribunal has reinstated a suspension of an order for Venezuela to pay $1.6 billion to Exxon Mobil Corp in compensation for nationalization of oil facilities, pending a decision on the country's request to annul the award. The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) said on its web site that "following several communications from the parties, the ad hoc Committee issues a decision on the stay of enforcement of the award," without giving further details. The suspension measure appears to hand the socialist-ruled OPEC nation a breather on the award.
Petrobras Gets Reprieve from Whale Park Windfall
Brazil's state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA said on Friday it won a reprieve from quarterly payments of 350 million reais ($110 million) to the government while an oil-royalty dispute continues. The decision to suspend the payments was made by the same panel of the International Court of Arbitration, part of the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce, that first ordered the payments be made on July 6. Petrobras is challenging a decision by Brazil's petroleum regulator ANP to levy an extra royalty, known in Brazil as the special participation, on seven offshore oilfields northeast of Rio de Janeiro.
Tribunal Denies Venezuela Review Request of $1.6 bln Exxon Award
A World Bank arbitration tribunal has rejected Venezuela's request to review an order to pay Exxon Mobil Corp $1.6 billion in compensation for nationalizations. "The Application for Revision is dismissed as inadmissible," the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes said on its web site in announcing its June 12 decision. The measure appears to stymie the socialist-ruled OPEC nation's attempt to delay payment of the award. Venezuela has been arguing that a previous decision by the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce awarding $908 million to Exxon should be deducted from the ICSID award.
San Leon : Arbitration Award, Appeal
San Leon Energy plc., the AIM listed company focused on oil and gas exploration in Europe and North Africa, provides an update on the proceedings in the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce, regarding the assets of Energia Zachód Sp. z o.o.("EZ"). As announced on 11 April 2013, the Company received notice from the Secretariat of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce ('ICC') confirming the submission of a Request for Arbitration ("Request") by Avobone N.V. and Avobone Poland B.V.
Turkey and Iran Gas Spat to be Concluded by May
A price dispute between Turkey and Iran for gas imports taken to the international arbitration court is likely to be finalised by May, Turkey's energy minister said on Monday. Turkey has taken Iran, from which it imports 10 billion cubic meters of gas annually, to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Switzerland in January 2012 after Tehran rejected Ankara's complaint that the price was too high. Reporting by Orhan Coskun
SE Asia Tanker Hijacks Up
Attacks against small tankers off South East Asia’s coasts caused a rise in global ship hijackings, up to 21 in 2014 from 12 in 2013, despite piracy at sea falling to its lowest level in eight years, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has revealed. Pirates took 442 crewmembers hostage, compared with 304 in 2013. IMB’s annual piracy report shows 245 incidents were recorded worldwide in 2014 – a 44% drop since Somali piracy peaked in 2011. Somali pirates were responsible for 11 attacks, all of which were thwarted.
