London Court Orders NLNG to Pay $380 Million in Compensation to Vitol and Glencore
A London court has ordered Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), a leading liquefied natural gas producer, to pay $380 million in compensation to two commodity trading giants, Vitol and Glencore, following NLNG’s failure to deliver agreed-upon LNG cargoes.
The legal dispute dates back to 2020-2021, when Taleveras, a trading firm, secured LNG supply deals with NLNG but did not receive the contracted 19 cargoes. Taleveras, which had pre-sold some of these cargoes to Vitol and Glencore, found itself at the center of a legal battle after the deliveries failed.
As a result of this failure, Vitol and Glencore took legal action against Taleveras, which ultimately led to litigation against NLNG. The court ruled that NLNG must compensate Vitol with $260 million and Glencore with $120 million.
NLNG, a major player in global LNG supply, is a joint venture between Shell, TotalEnergies, Eni, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), which holds a 49 percent stake in the company.
An appeal by NLNG against the ruling was dismissed last week, confirming the compensation order. In response to the ruling, NLNG stated that it is currently reviewing the court’s decision but declined to comment further. Similarly, Shell, Eni, and TotalEnergies refrained from commenting, and Vitol, Glencore, and Taleveras did not respond to requests for remarks.
This case is part of a broader trend in the LNG sector, where producers have been accused of withholding contracted supplies in favor of selling on the spot market at higher prices. There have been similar legal cases, including ongoing arbitration proceedings involving Shell and BP Plc against Venture Global LNG, a U.S. exporter.
Taleveras, founded by Igho Sanomi in 2004, is based in Dubai and has been active in the energy sector for several years.
