A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has ordered that a hearing notice be served on Conoco Philips Petroleum Nigeria Limited in the ongoing legal tussle between Arco Group Plc and Nigerian Agip Oil Company, NOAC.

This came as Justice Muhammed Liman, who gave the order, fixed June 14 for the hearing of arguments on originating summons, contempt of court and preliminary objections canvassed by parties before the court. Justice Liman said: “I also order that the third defendant be served with hearing notice.

I observed that they were not represented in court today. “ Arco Group, an indigenous oil servicing company, had dragged Agip, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Conoco Philips Petroleum Nigeria Limited, and the National Petroleum Investment Management Services to court, praying it to determine whether under the Nigerian Content Act, Agip was under obligation to award maintenance contract of OB/OB, Ebocha and Kwale gas plants to it or not.

Arco had, in the suit, submitted that the alleged refusal of NOAC to comply with the provisions of Section 3 Sub-Sections 2 and 3 of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Content Development, NOGICD Act, 2010, was illegal. The law encourages the involvement of more indigenous participation in the nation’s oil and gas operations.

It stated that having successfully maintained the OB/OB, Ebocha and Kwale gas facilities for many years, it had the prescribed equipment, machines and skilled manpower to execute the contract and further prayed the court to grant it several other declarative and injunctive reliefs. At the resumed hearing of the case, Friday, Justice Liman said he was new to the matter, hence he should be allowed to familiarise himself with all the files and details of the case.

He also suggested to counsel in the suit that to save time, the court should take arguments on originating summons, contempt of court and preliminary proceedings on the matter on the same day which they all conceded to. Earlier, Mr Akpomudje Albert,  SAN, who led other counsel for the plaintiff, Arco Group Plc said they had commenced contempt proceedings against the defendant for allegedly disobeying  two orders of the court.

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