A London court has ordered Nigeria LNG to pay $380 million in compensation to trading firms Vitol and Glencore.
This ruling follows a legal battle initiated by Taleveras, a trading company that had agreements to receive liquefied natural gas cargoes from NLNG.
According to a Reuters report citing court documents, a London court ordered NLNG to compensate Vitol and Glencore for failing to deliver contracted LNG cargoes.
It was reported that the supply contract was between NLNG and Taleveras, under which Taleveras was to receive 19 LNG cargoes from NLNG between 2020 and 2021.
Taleveras had reportedly pre-sold some of these shipments to Vitol and Glencore. However, when NLNG failed to deliver, the two companies sued Taleveras, triggering a series of legal battles.
The case was heard in London’s High Court and Court of Appeal. Last week, the court rejected NLNG’s appeal, upholding the ruling that it must pay around $260 million to Vitol and $120 million to Glencore.
NLNG, a joint venture in which Nigeria’s state-owned oil company holds 49% while Shell, TotalEnergies, and Eni are minority stakeholders, declined to comment on the ruling, stating it was still reviewing the judgment.
Shell and Eni also refused to comment, while TotalEnergies did not respond to inquiries.
Taleveras, established in 2004 by Nigerian businessman Igho Sanomi and now headquartered in Dubai, also declined to comment on the ruling.
It remains unclear how much Taleveras will receive beyond the $380 million awarded to Vitol and Glencore. A full written judgment is expected in the coming weeks.
Reuters noted that this lawsuit is part of a broader trend in the energy market, where buyers are suing producers for failing to honor contracts.
Gas prices, which dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic, soared after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
