U.K. court blocks Enron move in contract tiff

The High Court of England and Wales has blocked a move by Enron Europe Ltd. to take a dispute over a North Sea gas contract before a court in Harris County, Tex. Last year Enron decided against taking gas from Judy field, operated by Phillips Petroleum Co U.K. Ltd., forcing Phillips to delay development of the field (OGJ, Sept. 25, 1995, p. 38).

July 8, 1996

2 min read

The High Court of England and Wales has blocked a move by Enron Europe Ltd. to take a dispute over a North Sea gas contract before a court in Harris County, Tex.

Last year Enron decided against taking gas from Judy field, operated by Phillips Petroleum Co U.K. Ltd., forcing Phillips to delay development of the field (OGJ, Sept. 25, 1995, p. 38).

In April Enron decided to pursue claims against Phillips over its plans to reinject Judy associated gas and against the Central Area Transmission System (CATS) pipeline group, led by Amoco (U.K.) Ltd., over alleged failure of CATS to meet specification (OGJ, Apr. 15, p. 31).

Phillips said the U.K. court has ruled Enron's U.S. suit was "vexatious and oppressive," and that "there is no juridical advantage to which any of the Enron parties are legitimately entitled" as a result of the U.S. suit.

The court said Enron's U.S. action raised issues that should have been raised in London or were essentially the same as issues already in litigation and set for trial in October, according to Phillips.

Amoco, Enron responses

Amoco said the U.K. court had granted it a permanent injunction prohibiting Enron from pursuing its capacity reservation and transportation agreement case against CATS partners in the Texas courts.

Terry Hughes, Amoco's CATS manager, said, "This injunction represents a very favorable ruling for the CATS owners. It allows us to proceed with our own legal actions in the U.K. against Teesside Gas Transportation Ltd., owned by Enron, without any further distractions."

Enron issued a statement saying the decision of the U.K. court is a procedural ruling that has no bearing or effects on the merits of its disputes with Judy and CATS parties.

Geoffrey D. Roberts, president of Enron Europe, said, "As we believe it is our right to litigate our claims against the CATS and J-Block parties in the U.S. courts, we are considering appealing the English court's ruling.

"Notwithstanding, we are moving forward immediately to prosecute our claims against the CATS and J-Block parties in the English courts."