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BP has won a high stakes arbitration case against Venture Global in which it accused the US liquefied natural gas producer of breaching contracts to profit from higher prices at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The case was one of several pursued by Venture Global’s customers alleging it failed to deliver shipments under long-term supply contracts and instead sold them for higher prices on the spot market when gas prices soared in early 2022.
BP’s victory is a major blow to one of the largest US LNG exporters, which now faces a separate hearing to determine damages in the case. The UK oil group is seeking damages in excess of $1bn, as well as interest, costs and attorneys’ fees.
Venture Global on Thursday said it was disappointed by the arbitration award, which found the company had “breached its obligations to declare commencement of commercial operations at its Calcasieu Project in a timely manner”.
BP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The arbitration panel’s ruling against Venture Global was unexpected following the company’s victory in an earlier case involving Shell.
Venture Global in August defeated Shell in the first of these cases, which are being heard by the International Chamber of Commerce. The LNG supplier faces cases from China’s Sinopec and several European customers, which lodged damages claims for between $6.7bn to $7.4bn against the company.
Additional reporting by George Steer
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