Integral Petroleum SA v SCU-Finanz AG
2014
COMMERCIAL COURT
United Kingdom
CORAM
- THE HON. MR JUSTICE POPPLEWELL
Areas of Law
- Civil Procedure
- Conflict of Laws
- Contract Law
2014
COMMERCIAL COURT
United Kingdom
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
This case involves SCU-Finanz failing to deliver oil products to Integral under a supply contract, leading Integral to secure a default judgment for $1,078,547. SCU-Finanz challenged the judgment citing improper claim service and unauthorized contract signatures under Swiss law. The court upheld the validity of email service under procedural rules and acknowledged SCU-Finanz's valid defense, opening the door for further litigation on contract enforceability.
Judgment
The Hon. Mr Justice Popplewell :
Introduction
This is an application by the Defendant ("SCU-Finanz") to set aside a judgment entered in default of service of defence in favour of the Claimant ("Integral") for US$ 1,078,547 plus costs to be assessed. SCU-Finanz contends that the judgment must be set aside as of right pursuant to CPR 13.2 ; alternatively that the Court ought to exercise its discretion to set aside the judgment pursuant to CPR 13.3 because it has defences with a real prospect of success. Integral contends that CPR 13.2 is not engaged, that SCU-Finanz does not have any defence with a real prospect of success, or alternatively if it has, that the Court ought not to exercise its discretion to set aside the judgment because the application was not brought promptly.
Integral's claim
Integral and SCU-Finanz are both limited liability Swiss companies engaged in oil trading. Integral's claim is as buyer under a supply contract dated 18 October 2011 ("the Supply Contract") under which SCU-Finanz agreed to sell and deliver a quantity identified in clause 4 as :
"INTENTION TO LOAD UP TO 400,000 METRIC TONS PER YEAR (UP TO 40,000 METRIC TONS PER MONTH) TO BE SPECIFIED AS PER SEPARATE ADDENDUM IN SELLER'S OPTION". The product to be supplied was identified in clause 3 as "GASOIL, FUEL OIL, NAPHTHA, GASOLINE, JET, KEROSENE (TO BE SPECIFIED IN THE SEPARATE ADDENDUMS) AS USUALLY PRODUCED BY TURKMENBASHI COMPLEX OF REFINERIES ("THE PRODUCT")". Delivery obligations were identified in Clause 5 as "FOB TURKMENBASHI PORT, FCA TURKMENBASHI, FCA SEIDI (TO BE SPECIFIED IN SEPARATE ADDENDUMS) WITHIN THE PERIOD 01.11.2011 – 31.10.2012 (EXACT PERIOD OF DELIVERY OF EACH LOT TO BE SPECIFIED IN SEPARATE ADDENDUMS) IN MULTIPLE CARGO LOTS IN BUYER'S OPTION". Clause 6 provided: "THE UNIT PRICE IN US DOLLARS PER METRIC TON SHALL BE EQUAL TO THE PURCHASE PRICE FROM TURKMENBASHI COMPLEX OF REFINERIES PLUS USD 17.00 PER METRIC TON (EXACT PURCHASE PRICE FROM TURKMENBASHI COMPLEX OF REFINERIES FOR EACH LOT/CONTRACT TO BE AGREED BY THE SELLER AND THE BUYER AND TO BE SPECIFIED IN THE SEPARATE ADDENDUMS)."
Clause 11 of the Supply Contract provided for English law and the exclusive jurisdiction of the English High Court.
Integral's claim is for failure on the part of SCU-Finanz to deliver any product pursuant to the Supply Contract. The evidence before me as to what happened during the currency of the contract was extremely sparse, but it appears that there was never a