Business In Cameroon6 May 2021 00:13
ENERGY page 30
In a notice published yesterday,
April 19, Victoria Oil & Gas (VOG),
announces that a settlement agreement was reached with electric
utility ENEO concerning its longstanding case with Gaz du Cameroun
S.A. («GDC»). «On 16 April 2021, GDC
signed a settlement agreement with
Eneo which will result in the payment
of the gross amount to GDC, within 30
days of the signing, of approximately
2.74 billion FCFA (Central African
CFA franc: circa US$5 million). This
settlement relates to the Take-orPay invoices for October, November,
and December 2019 plus associated
interest (…) The payment to GDC will
represent full and final settlement for
all amounts invoiced to Eneo,» VOG
writes.
«We are very pleased to have settled
another legacy issue without recourse
to time-consuming and expensive
litigation or arbitration, as such legal
costs have been crippling the company
in recent years. Arbitration would be
under Cameroonian law and could
take several years,» commented Roy
Kelly, VOG CEO.
Recently, during an interview with
Business in Cameroon, ENEO CEO
Eric Mansuy indicated that his
company’s dispute with GDC was
being settled amicably. However, he
provided no additional details.
The dispute came to public attention with a note published on July
3, 2020, by VOG. In the note, VOG
announced the termination of its
gas supply contract [ for operations
at the 50MW Logbaba power plant]
with electric utility Eneo. The British
oil and gas operator also threatened
to take legal action if the electricity
producer did not pay the XAF9.3 billion in unpaid bills it was still owing
by end of June 2020. Meanwhile, for
most of the stated period, GDC never
supplied ENEO.
«It should first be noted that this dispute is not about invoices, but about
the conditions for gas supply resumption and electricity production at the
Logbaba site. This is what the dispute
is all about,» Eric Mansuy explained
during an interview at the time.
«Let me tell you, generally, in the
electricity sector, disputes are settled
amicably, with public authorities’
assistance usually. Gaz du Cameroun’s
approach, in this case, is in stark
contrast with the usual practices because we must all ensure that the sector is developed,» said Eric Mansuy.
The April 16, 2021, agreement shows
that Eric Mansuy succeeded in
bringing GDC management to the
negotiating table.