Trafigura and IOC downplay arbitration
Two executives at two oil companies.
Both send emails to each other over a recent delivery of Nigerian Bonny Light crude to a refinery in India. The executive from Indian Oil says the contract should be dated at February prices.
But the Dutch-based company that brokered the cargo, Trafigura Beheeer B.V.
, says it is actually a March delivery because of a â€کforce majeure’ related to unrest in Nigeria and hence March prices. Indian Oil ignores the content of each such email and asks for a February-dated invoice.
Then exasperation sets in – and with it came arbitration in June in London. But an Indian Oil senior director says all is OK.
“The dispute does not stop us from dealing with the company,†he says. Trafigura also seems to want peace with India’s largest crude oil buyer.
“We are very happy with IOC and things are fine.†No details of the money at stake were in the emails seen by PETROWATCH.
But what’s a few dollars between friends