A London court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Nigerian oil company Aiteo Eastern E&P Company against Shell over a debt allegedly owed by Aiteo.
The case has been ongoing for several years and concerns two agreements made in 2014 in which Aiteo borrowed $2bn from Shell and other lenders to purchase an interest in Nigerian oil fields and facilities.
Aiteo had argued that there was no default on the loan due to force majeure events, but the court ruled that the commencement of proceedings by Aiteo seeking declarations of non-liability was a breach of the arbitration agreement in the loan agreement and the continuation of those proceedings was a breach of the arbitration agreement in the offshore facility agreement.