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Romania wins arbitration with Chevron; company is to pay damages to Romania
Chevron oil company will pay 73,450,000 USD to the National Agency for Mineral Resources (ANRM), following the termination of three oil concession agreements without complying with the financial obligations under the Oil Law, the Government informs in a statement released on Saturday.
According to the cited source, the ruling belongs to the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris (ICC Paris), the most important international commercial arbitration institution, which was asked to rule in the dispute between Chevron and ANRM.
"According to the decision, Chevron is obliged to pay ANRM the sum of 73,450,000 USD, plus the legal interest rate set at the BNR [National Bank of Romania] reference rate + 8%, calculated from 23.10.2014 until the date of full payment, as well as the arbitration expenses incurred by ANRM," the press release said.
The Government points out that ANRM was represented by the Law Office Zamfirescu Racoti & Partners in the process of solving the dispute with Chevron.
According to the Executive, ANRM and Chevron Romania Holdings concluded on March 3, 2011, three concession agreements for exploitation - development - exploration in the EX-17 Costinesti, EX-18 Vama Veche and EX-19 Adamclisi perimeters, approved by Government Decisions, which stipulated minimum exploration obligations assumed by Chevron.
In November 2014, Chevron informed ANRM that it was giving up its concession agreements. However, ANRM refused to issue the decision to terminate the concession for failure by the oil company to comply with Article 40 of the Oil Law. Chevron did not make available to the relevant authority "the sum representing the value of the works provided in the minimum exploration programme established by the Oil Agreement and the Exploitation and Development Agreement, due on the date of the notification of the waiver and not executed for reasons attributable to the oil trustee," the release reads.
The US company appealed to the Court of Arbitration in June 2015, claiming that it had fulfilled its obligations under the Petroleum Agreements with ANRM to terminate the contracts.
By the end of 2015, ANRM submitted to the Court of Arbitration in Paris both the answer to the arbitration request and a counter-claim requesting the financial claims resulting from the concession contracts. Between June 19 and 23, 2017, the final hearings in the Chevron vs. ANRM (21138 / MHM) Arbitration file were held in Paris, and the decision of the Court of Arbitration was pronounced in favour of ANRM, informs the Government press release.