Court orders ENI, Vitol to pay 30 per cent oil revenue to Court registrar

An Accra High Court (Commercial Division) has ordered the Operator of Ghana’s Sankofa oil field, ENI Ghana Limited and its partner Vitol Upstream Ghana Limited to pay 30 per cent of revenue from the sale of crude oil to the Court Registrar.

The payment, which is estimated to be about US$40million monthly, commences from June 25, 2021, the date of the original ruling and continues every month afterwards until the substantive matter is determined.

Upon receipt of the payment, the Registrar will then pay the same into an escrow account and furnish the Court and the parties with records of payment.

The Court presided over by Justice Mariama Sammo made the order Monday, January 24, 2022, following an application by Springfield Exploration and Production Limited, Operators of the West Cape Three Points (WCTP) Block 2 for the Court’s clear interpretation of its earlier ruling.

Springfield’s application was precipitated by ENI and Vitol’s failure to comply with the Court’s ruling of June 25, 2021.

On June 25, 2021, the Court ruled in favour of Springfield Exploration and Production Limited’s application to freeze revenues received by Eni and Vitol from the sale of crude oil from the Sankofa field pending determination of their substantive case filed in July 2020.

The companies have been in dispute since an April 2020 directive was issued by the Ministry of Energy to unitize the Afina and Sankofa fields to ensure optimal recovery of the resources in the common reservoir in the interest of all the parties involved, including the State.