SPRINGFIELD EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION LTD vs. ENI GHANA EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION LIMITED, VITOL UPSTREAM GHANA LIMITED [2023]DLCA16016

SPRINGFIELD EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION LTD vs. ENI GHANA EXPLORATION AND PRODUC... [2023]DLCA16016

Date	2023-06-29
Suit No.	SUIT NO: H1/98/2022
Citation No.	[2023]DLCA16016

JUSTICE HENRY KWOFIE (MR.) J. A. (PRESIDING)

JUSTICE J. BARTELS-KODWO (MRS.) J.A.

JUSTICE KWEKU T. ACKAAH-BOAFO (MR.) J.A.

NOEL A. GABRIEL PORVI FOR PLAINTIFF/RESPONDENT/RESPONDENT LED BY NANA BOAKYE MENSAH BONSU

DAVID ADU-TUTU JNR. WITH JENNIFER TWENEBOAH-KODUAH FOR 2ND DEFENDANT/APPLICANT/APPELLANT

[2023]DLCA16016
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >SPRINGFIELD EXPLORATION AND
PRODUCTION LTD<o:p></o:p>(PLAINTIFF/RESPONDENT)<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>ENI GHANA EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION
LIMITED, VITOL UPSTREAM GHANA LIMITED<o:p></o:p>(DEFENDANTS/RESPONDENTS)<o:p></o:p>[COURT OF APPEAL, ACCRA]<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;<div style="border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; border-bottom-width: 1.5pt; border-bottom-color: windowtext; padding: 0in 0in 1pt;">

</div>COUNSEL<o:p></o:p><div style="border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; border-bottom-width: 1.5pt; border-bottom-color: windowtext; padding: 0in 0in 1pt;">

NOEL A. GABRIEL PORVI FOR
PLAINTIFF/RESPONDENT/RESPONDENT LED BY NANA BOAKYE MENSAH BONSU<o:p></o:p>

DAVID ADU-TUTU JNR. WITH JENNIFER
TWENEBOAH-KODUAH FOR 2ND DEFENDANT/APPLICANT/APPELLANT <o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM<o:p></o:p>JUSTICE HENRY KWOFIE (MR.) J. A. (PRESIDING),
JUSTICE J. BARTELS-KODWO (MRS.) J.A., JUSTICE KWEKU T. ACKAAH-BOAFO (MR.) J.A.<o:p></o:p><div style="border-top-width: 1.5pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-left: none; border-bottom-width: 1.5pt; border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-right: none; padding: 1pt 0in;">

<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;
text-align:center;border:none;mso-border-top-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
mso-border-bottom-alt:solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in">JUDGMENT<o:p></o:p>

</div>Ackaah-Boafo, JA<o:p></o:p>i.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Overview:<o:p></o:p>[1]&nbsp;&nbsp; This
appeal is from the ruling of the High Court, Accra, the Commercial Division
which declined to strike out the Statement of Claim and dismissing the suit
against the 2nd Defendant, (Vitol Upstream Ghana Limited) on the grounds that
the Plaintiff (Springfield Exploration and Production Limited) pleadings
disclose no reasonable cause of action and is otherwise an abuse of process of
the court. The basis of the appeal is that the judge below was wrong on all
counts. Before dealing with the arguments advanced for and against the appeal,
let us look at the background of the case.<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;[2]&nbsp;&nbsp; In the proceedings at the High Court, the
Plaintiff pleaded among other things that it acquired rights to explore,
develop and produce petroleum in accordance with terms of an agreement it
entered into with the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation [GNPC] sometime in
2016 over a contract area known as West Cape Three Points Block 2 (WCTP-2). It
also pleaded that the Defendants (Appellant herein and the 1st Defendant) were
granted rights of exploration, development and production over a contract area
known as Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) with a combined interest of 79.8%,
being 44.44% and 35.36%. The Plaintiff further pleaded that Defendants contract
area of the OCTP included the currently producing Sankofa East Oil Field and Sankofa
Main Gas Field generally referred to as “Sankofa Production Area”.<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;[3]&nbsp;&nbsp; The Plaintiff further pleaded that its
contract area of WCTP-2 and the Defendants’ OCTP share a common boundary. The
Plaintiff contended that sometime in the early part of 2018, it came to its
attention that the accumulation of petroleum in the Defendants’ Sankofa
Cenomanian Reservoir extends beyond its contract area into the Plaintiff’s
contract area of WCTP-2 where petroleum within the Plaintiff’s contract is accumulated.
According to the Plaintiff, as a result of the said accumulation, any
exploration and production activities carried out in Defendants’ Sankofa
production area automatically affected the petroleum accumulation in the
Plaintiff’s contract area of the WCTP-2 and vice versa.<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;[4]&nbsp;&nbsp; The Plaintiff further pleaded that to confirm
the said information, it engaged the services of an independent
expert to determine whether the Defendants’ Sankofa&nbsp; Cenomanian Reservoir indeed extended into its
contract area. According to the Plaintiff, the independent expert confirmed its
findings. The Plaintiff further pleaded that it is statutorily provided that
where an accumulation of petroleum extends beyond the boundaries of one
contract area into another contract area, the Minister responsible for
petroleum is required, in consultation with the Petroleum Commission, to direct
the relevant contractors (in this case, the Plaintiff and Defendants) to enter
into an agreement to develop and produce the accumulation of “petroleum
straddli</main>