Crescent Petroleum Company International Limited and Crescent Gas Corporation Limited v National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) - United States District Court for the District of Columbia Case No 1-22-cv-01361 - Memorandum Opinion - 30 April 2024
Country
Year
2024
Summary
In 2001, Petitioner Crescent Petroleum Company International Limited (Crescent Petroleum) entered a Gas Sales and Purchase Contract (GSPC) with Respondent National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). 1 Shortly thereafter, Crescent Petroleum assigned its rights under the contract to Petitioner Crescent Gas Corporation Limited (CGC), its wholly owned subsidiary. Under the GSPC, NIOC was supposed to supply Petitioners with large quantities of natural gas to process and resell over a period of at least 25 years. Petitioners spent hundreds of millions of dollars in preparation for this arrangement, but NIOC never delivered any gas to them. Following NIOC's breach, Petitioners began arbitration proceedings. After almost thirteen years of protracted arbitration, in 2021, the arbitral tribunal issued a Final Award, ordering NIOC to pay Petitioners $2,429,970,000 for their damages plus post-award interest. But NIOC never paid Petitioners. Petitioners thus filed an action to confirm their award so that they can obtain a judgment to enforce against NIOC. See ECF 1. NIOC failed to appear after being served, so Petitioners moved for default judgment. See ECF 18. For the reasons explained below, the Court GRANTS Petitioners' motion for default judgment and, accordingly, their petition to confirm arbitration award.