CARMEL RICKARD: Tullow’s spectre of voldemort
A case in the London courts between an oil company and a rig firm revolves around when a business can justifiably axe a contract
Lord Voldemort appeared without warning, in the most unlikely of settings. As judge Nigel Teare reached paragraph 52 of his lengthy court decision, the Dark Lord of Harry Potter’s world arrived. Teare was hearing a dispute in the UK commercial court between companies involved in drilling for oil off the coast of Ghana. Tullow Ghana led the venture that was drilling in two major areas. Tullow had a five-year contract which cost $600,000 a day to hire an ultra-deepwater semisubmersible rig from the Ghanaian arm of a London company called Seadrill. The contract included a "force majeure" clause — a provision that allows a contract to be suspended if circumstances beyond anyone’s control arise that make it impossible for a party to perform. Tullow ended the contract prematurely, arguing that a force majeure had taken place that made it impossible to continue. The court’s task was to decide whether this was true. A number of events had complicated the operation. First, Ghana and Ivory Co...
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