• Sign up for the Daily Digest E-mail
  • Facebook
  • X
  • LinkedIn

BOE Report

Sign up
  • Home
  • StackDX Intel
  • Headlines
    • Latest Headlines
    • Featured Companies
    • Columns
    • Discussions
  • Well Activity
    • Well Licences
    • Well Activity Map
  • Property Listings
  • Land Sales
  • M&A Activity
    • M&A Database
    • AER Transfers
  • Markets
  • Rig Counts/Data
    • CAOEC Rig Count
    • Baker Hughes Rig Count
    • USA Rig Count
    • Data
      • Canada Oil Market Data
      • Canada NG Market Data
      • USA Market Data
      • Data Downloads
  • Jobs

Exxon, Shell may pursue part of $1.8 bln Nigerian award

July 8, 20229:22 AM Reuters0 Comments

A U.S. appeals court on Friday said Exxon Mobil Corp and Royal Dutch Shell Plc affiliates may try to enforce part of a $1.8 billion arbitration award against Nigeria’s state-run oil company, in a dispute concerning oil extraction near the African country’s coastline.

In a 3-0 decision, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said a lower court judge erred in rejecting the entire October 2011 award, which by 2018 had grown to $2.67 billion including interest, against Nigerian National Petroleum Corp.

It said the judge should have determined which parts of the award had been deemed enforceable by a Nigerian appeals court.

Lawyers for the companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The dispute arose from a 1993 contract for Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Co to invest billions of dollars to develop the Erha oil field on the Gulf of Guinea, and share profits with NNPC.

Extraction began in 2006. But disagreements soon arose, and Exxon and Shell said that by late 2007 NNPC was at the government’s behest “lifting” more oil than the contract allowed, depriving them of billions of dollars.

Following the arbitration ruling, Exxon and Shell sought to enforce their award in Manhattan while NNPC sought to set it aside in Nigeria.

In Friday’s decision, Circuit Judge Susan Carney said Exxon and Shell did not prove that setting aside part of the award violated public policy, and said U.S. courts should not second-guess Nigerian courts’ substantive views on Nigerian law.

But she said the Nigerian judgments were “ambiguous” as to how much of the award was set aside, and more fact-finding was needed.

Friday’s decision partially reversed a Sept. 2019 ruling by U.S. District Judge William Pauley in Manhattan.

Pauley died last July, and another judge will take over the case.

The case is Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd et al v Nigerian National Petroleum Corp, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Nos. 19-3159, 19-3361.

Exxon Mobil Shell

Follow BOE Report
  • Facebook
  • X
  • LinkedIn

Sign up for the BOE Report Daily Digest E-mail

Successfully subscribed

Latest Headlines
  • New oil and gas jobs from BOE Report Jobs
  • Hemisphere Energy Announces Normal Course Issuer Bid Renewal
  • Trump says US to impose 50% tariff on copper imports, copper futures jump
  • Canada maps out widening strait to LNG riches
  • Discount on Western Canada Select narrows

Return to Home
Alberta GasMonthly Avg.
CAD/GJ
Market Data by TradingView

    Report Error







    Note: The page you are currently on will be sent with your report. If this report is about a different page, please specify.

    About
    • About BOEReport.com
    • In the News
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Editorial Policy
    Resources
    • Widgets
    • Notifications
    • Daily Digest E-mail
    Get In Touch
    • Advertise
    • Post a Job
    • Contact
    • Report Error
    BOE Network
    © 2025 Stack Technologies Ltd.