Al Maha Petroleum is weighing its legal options after the Court of Appeal upheld a challenge by Shell Oman Marketing to a decision made by the Primary Court on a fuel supply dispute, which could cost the petroleum products company RO2.1mn.
The lawsuit was sparked by a claim initially made by Shell in 2002 that it had signed a throughput agreement with Al Maha, which was operating a fuel depot in Raysut and failed to meet jet fuel supply requirements for Shell, which claims it incurred losses of up to RO2.09mn as a result.
The matter was taken to an arbitration tribunal set up by the Primary Court in March 2006, in which Shell failed to convince the arbitrators that a throughput agreement had been signed and was ordered to pay the costs and fees for the arbitration.
Shell subsequently launched a civil suit in the Primary Court in Muscat in October 2006 for RO2.10mn, which the court dismissed, again charging Shell with the expenses.
However, Shell challenged the decision and on June 27, 2011, the Court of Appeal made the decision that Al Maha is liable to pay the full RO2.1mn. Ibrahim al Dhaheri, general manager of Al Maha Petroleum, told Muscat Daily that the company has yet to receive the reasons for the reversal, but added that an appeal to the Supreme Court could be on the cards.
Dhaheri said, "We are yet to see a copy of the court order. We have just received the decision, but we still have the option of the Supreme Court."
In a statement to the Muscat Securities Market (MSM), Shell chief executive officer Adil al Raisi also that "The Court of Appeal on June 27, 2011 has passed the judgement in favour of Shell against Al Maha obliging them to pay the claim amount" as well as 'related expenses.'
© Muscat Daily 2011
