Victoria Oil reports recent progress on settlement with RSM

Cameroon-focussed gas and condensate producer Victoria Oil & Gas updated the market on settlement discussions between RSM Production Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiary Gaz du Cameroun (GDC) on Wednesday.

The AIM-traded firm said RSM had filed a motion to partially vacate and partially confirm the arbitration award in a Federal Court in Houston on 20 October.

It said the motion was an attempt to “contest and overturn” the part of the addendum to the partial final award of the tribunal that reduced the original award by $4m.

The three-month deadline by which RSM was allowed to contest the addendum in the US courts, or lose the right, was due to expire, and so RSM filed the motion as a contingency against non-settlement with GDC.

“In communicating this to GDC, RSM confirmed that it may be withdrawn upon settlement,” the board explained in its statement.

It said the motion was seeking to contest and overturn the addendum based on Section 10 of the Federal Arbitration Act, on the grounds that the arbitrators exceeded their powers in reducing the amount of the original award for a computational or other similar error.

“This above motion has been filed despite material progress in settlement discussions.

“GDC and RSM remain in the process of finalising a term sheet for settlement of the ICC award.

“Although there can be no guarantee of concluding an agreement, Victoria expects to advance the term sheet this week and will make a further announcement in due course.”

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.