A $274 million claim has been dismissed by Justice Dobson - Read the decision
The High Court has dismissed a claim that Shell colluded with Austrian oil company OMV by restricting the gas and oil they allowed to be produced from the Pohokura gas field and so disadvantaged third partner Todd.
Todd Pohokura Ltd went to the High Court at Wellington seeking damages of $274 million from Shell Exploration NZ Ltd and OMV NZ Ltd, its international partners in Taranaki's offshore Pohokura gasfield.
Todd alleged that since 2006, Shell and OMV had constrained Pohokura production to 70 petajoules of gas, when it could produce 86PJ, breaching the joint venture agreement and the Commerce Act.
Shell holds 48 per cent of Pohokura, with Todd and OMV each holding 26 per cent.
Justice Andrew Dobson, assisted by specialist Professor Martin Richardson, found that Shell and OMV did not behave anti-competitively. He also ruled that there was no breach of contract, and said that Todd had the ability to increase access to gas by striking a gas balancing agreement.
Justice Dobson said that even if Todd had a case, it could not have made the losses of over $600 million it claimed for breaches of the Commerce Act and up to $320 million for breach of contract.
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