Michael Crane QC, Tamara Oppenheimer and Richard Power are acting for Texas Keystone in what has been described by The Lawyer as “one of the biggest trials of the year”.
Following the widely publicised jurisdiction battle before Gloster J ([2011] EWHC 1624 (Comm.)) the Commercial Court is hearing Excalibur’s $1.6 billion claim for an interest in rights to exploit and develop petroleum fields in Iraqi Kurdistan granted to Texas Keystone and Gulf Keystone by the Kurdistan Regional Government.
Excalibur alleges that, pursuant to a Collaboration Agreement between Excalibur and Texas Keystone and (on Excalibur’s case) the Gulf Defendants, it is entitled to a third share of the rights held by the Defendants and claims that its failure to acquire these rights was the result of breaches of duty by the Defendants. The Defendants deny the claims in their entirety.
The trial commenced on 8 October 2012 and is due to last 12 weeks.
