BUMI Armada Bhd has been ordered to pay a hefty RM4.32 mil (A$1.57 mil) by the Supreme Court of Western Australia in relation to a contract for the provision of floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) services dated Sept 30, 2011.
According to a Jan 28 filing with Bursa Malaysia, Bumi Armada said it had been ordered to pay the amount to Woodside Energy Julimar Pty Ltd (WEJ).
This was after a dispute arose between Bumi Armada’s wholly-owned subsidiary Armada Balnaves Pte Ltd (ABPL) and WEJ over Bumi Armada’s FPSO vessel operating in the Balnaves Field, offshore north-western Australia since August 2014.
“The Supreme Court ruled in favour of Woodside Energy on Armada Balnaves Pte Ltd’s main claim of repudiation of the contract.
“Armada Balnaves was found to be entitled to a payment of US$2 mil for unpaid milestone claims and A$341.2 mil for unpaid invoices. Armada Balnaves was found to be required to pay Woodside Energy A$1.57 mil for reimbursement of miscellaneous charges,” Bumi Armada said.
WEJ, according to Bumi Armada, purportedly terminated its contract with Armada Balnaves by issuing a notice of termination, which was considered to amount to a repudiation of the contract, which entitled ABPL to damages.
On March 14, 2016, ABPL filed a writ of summons with the Supreme Court of Western Australia for a declaration that WEJ was in repudiatory breach of the contract and A$283.5 mil in damages for WEJ’s breach of contract.
Bumi Armada is reviewing the decision and may consider an appeal before the Feb 14 deadline.
Bumi Armada’s share price dropped 10.75% to 42 sen when the market opened for trading on Jan 28.
