Libya's National Oil Company (NOC) won a case against its Emirati ex-partner Trasta Energy, a subsidiary of Al Ghurair group, before the Paris Court of Appeals, Africa Intelligence website has reported.
The website said the two companies were part of the consortium Libyan Emirates Oil Refining Co (LERCO), founded in 2008 to operate the Ras Lanuf refinery. However, the refinery suffered after the 2011 revolution and was shut down two years later.
"The court also denied Trasta Energy's application for annulment. The company's counsel, French firm Guizard & Associés, filed the application after the 21 February ruling by the Paris International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), sentencing Trasta to pay $115m in unpaid fees to NOC. NOC is represented by Viguié, Schmidt & Associés." The website said.
It added that the NOC can thus move forward again with evaluating Tasta's shares, a process it had started in February 2022, before its ex- partner objected.
"Indeed, with the ICC's authorisation, the NOC intended to take over Trasta's shares in LERCO and had called in an expert to do so. However, the NOC's position on taking over its shares in this legal battle, which began in 2019, could change as a result of the positions taken by the Libyan oil company's boss, Farhat Bengdara, who is close to Abu Dhabi." The website remarked.
