London court orders NLNG to pay Swiss companies $380m for breaching contract

A London court has ordered Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), a liquefied natural gas producer, to pay $380 million in compensation to two commodity traders – Vitol and Glencore – for failing to deliver contracted cargoes.

Taleveras, a trading firm that instituted a legal battle against NLNG four years ago, had secured LNG supply deals with the Nigerian gas venture but did not receive the agreed 19 cargoes between 2020 and 2021.

NLNG, a major player in global LNG supply, is a joint venture involving Shell, TotalEnergies, Eni, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, which holds a 49 percent stake.

According to Reuters, court documents show that Taleveras had pre-sold some of the cargoes to the Switzerland-based companies, however, when deliveries failed, Vitol and Glencore took legal action against Taleveras, leading to a chain of litigation.

Last week, an appeal by NLNG was dismissed, affirming that the company is required to pay approximately $260 million to Vitol and $120 million to Glencore.

In response, the publication said NLNG stated that it is reviewing the court’s decision but declined further comment.

Shell, Eni, and TotalEnergies also declined to comment, while Vitol, Glencore, and Taleveras did not respond to requests for remarks.

The publication said the ruling comes amid broader disputes in the LNG sector, where some producers have been accused of withholding contracted supplies to sell at higher prices on the spot market.

Similar cases have been seen globally, including arbitration proceedings involving Shell and BP Plc, a British multinational oil and gas company against U.S. exporter Venture Global LNG.

Taleveras, founded in 2004 by Igho Sanomi, a Nigerian businessman, is based in Dubai.