Representing ExxonMobil and Shell subsidiaries in a Nigeria-seat arbitration arising under a deep-water production sharing contract (PSC). The dispute resulted from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation taking more oil than it was entitled to under the PSC due to disputes over the application of a tax credit, royalty and cost recovery. The dispute also related to a change in tax policy that engaged rights under a contractual stabilization clause. In addition to an award of $2 billion in damages for historic losses, the tribunal awarded our clients’ request for a revision to the PSC itself to incorporate a new tranche of production going forward for any future tax assessments that applied the change in tax policy. The award is currently before the courts in Nigeria and New York, in post-award proceedings that implicate the enforcement of a locally-annulled award in the Second Circuit.
10 August 2020