Totsa Total Oil Trading SA v Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd

This High Court judgment by Mr Justice Christopher Clarke concerns a summary judgment application arising from a FOB crude oil sale from Forcados, Nigeria, between Totsa Total Oil Trading SA and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited. The parties’ contract incorporated Elf 90 FOB terms and special payment provisions requiring payment 30 days after the bill of lading against invoice and shipping documents, and prohibiting any discount, deduction, set-off, withholding or counterclaim. Bills of lading recorded 949,092 barrels; Stewart Intersea SA initially found clean tanks but later observed 4,307 barrels of free water after loading. Bharat paid short, arguing that part of the shipment was water. Construing the restrictive conditions and the buyers’ payment undertaking, the court held the buyers must pay the full invoiced amount based on shore tank measurements, and pursue any water/shortage claim separately. Relying on authorities about exclusion of set-off and abatement, the court entered summary judgment for the sellers.