Abstract
In January 2016, an international arbitral tribunal seated in Switzerland and comprised of three members from Switzerland, France, and the United States rendered its final award in the case of PetroTrans Company Ltd. v. Ministry of Mines of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. PetroTrans commenced the arbitration in late 2012 under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) after the Ministry terminated five petroleum production sharing agreements (PSAs) that had been awarded in 2011 to explore and develop petroleum resources in southeastern Ethiopia. PetroTrans accepted several time-sensitive obligations under the PSAs, including an obligation to provide or arrange a loan for the Ethiopian government to be repaid from the government’s share of proceeds under the PSAs. After PetroTrans failed to obtain the loan and to fulfill other obligations, the Ministry terminated all five PSAs.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Bekele (2016).
- 3.
Abebe (2013).
- 4.
Abebe (2013).
- 5.
Maasho (2015).
- 6.
Abebe (2013).
- 7.
Solomon (2016).
- 8.
Jones (2016).
- 9.
Ibid.
- 10.
Ibid.
- 11.
Ibid.
- 12.
Ibid.
- 13.
Ibid.
- 14.
Jones (2016).
- 15.
Award in the Matter of an Arbitration between Baruch-Foster Corporation and the Imperial Ethiopian Government, dated 15 February 1974.
- 16.
In a notable historical irony, Ethiopia was represented by Lalive & Budin of Geneva, including personal representation by Jean-Flavien Lalive. This firm, now known only as Lalive, would later represent PetroTrans Company Limited. Baruch Foster Corporation was represented by the then-firm Davies, Richberg, Tydings, Landa & Duff of Washington.
- 17.
Award in the Matter of an Arbitration between Baruch-Foster Corporation and the Imperial Ethiopian Government, dated 15 February 1974.
- 18.
Ibid. Force majeure is established in Ethiopian law at Article 1792 of the Civil Code of 1960 (“(1) Force majeure results from an occurrence which the debtor could normally not foresee and which prevents him absolutely from performing his obligations. (2) Force majeure shall not exist where the occurrence could normally have been foreseen by the debtor or where it renders more onerous the performance by the debtor of his obligations”).
- 19.
Ibid.
- 20.
Ibid.
References
Abebe B (2013) Ministry of Mines signs agreement with Chinese firm for Ogaden gas reserves. Fortune
Bekele K (2016) PetroTrans’ claims for compensation turns out dry. The Ethiopian Reporter
Jones T (2016) Ethiopia defeats claim by Chinese energy investor. Global Arbitration Review
Maasho A (2015) Ethiopia eyes gas production, exports by 2017 – PM. Reuters
Solomon T (2016) International court rules in favour of Ethiopia in exploration suit. The Africa Report
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Snider, T.R., Kern, J.S. (2018). Case Note on PetroTrans Company Ltd. v. Ministry of Mines of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. In: Yihdego, Z., Desta, M., Hailu, M., Merso, F. (eds) Ethiopian Yearbook of International Law 2017. Ethiopian Yearbook of International Law, vol 2017. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90887-8_9
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