Rivers State High Court Orders Belemaoil to Pay N10.81billion and $21.858million to BGP/CNPC
A Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt has delivered a verdict ordering Belemaoil Producing Limited (Belemaoil) to pay the sum of N10.81 billion and $21.858 million to BGP/CNPC International Nigeria Limited as an unpaid balance of services rendered for an executed contract.
BGP/CNPC, a Nigerian limited liability company, had filed a suit against Belemaoil in 2022, claiming that it was contracted to provide onshore and swamp seismic acquisition services in respect of OML 55 for a period of three years, effective April 24, 2018. The company claimed that it had issued several invoices to Belemaoil, which were received without objection, and that Belemaoil had given its bankers letters of irrevocable payment instructions in favour of BGP/CNPC and its co-contractor for payment of 90 percent of its anticipated cash call inflow from its senior partner, NAPIMS.
However, Belemaoil admitted that BGP/CNPC was engaged to execute the contract and issued some invoices, but disputed the amount owed due to discrepancies in the invoices. The company claimed that it had made payments of $7.578 million and N1.768 billion out of the total amount invoiced by BGP/CNPC, leaving an outstanding balance of $22.358 million and N5.053 billion.
In his judgment, Justice G. Ollor held that the summary judgment procedure was apt in this case, as Belemaoil had no good defence to the claim. The judge noted that there was no bona fide evidence that the debt owed to BGP/CNPC was disputed by Belemaoil.
The court ordered Belemaoil to pay the outstanding balance of N10.81 billion and $21.858 million to BGP/CNPC, as well as post-judgment interest at the rate of 10 percent per annum from the date of judgment until final liquidation of the judgment. The court also set down the claims with regard to cost of action and pre-judgment interest for full trial.
The verdict has been hailed as a significant win for BGP/CNPC, which has been engaged in a long-standing dispute with Belemaoil over the payment of outstanding debts. The judgment is seen as a major boost for the company’s financial recovery efforts, which have been impacted by the non-payment of its invoices by Belemaoil.
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