Todd Pohokura Limited v. Shell Exploration NZ Limited and OMV NZ Limited Litigation

Compass Lexecon was retained by solicitor David Goddard of Thorndon Chambers and Tim Stephens of Simpson Grierson in New Zealand on behalf of their client OMV NZ Limited. OMV and the other two parties are joint venture partners in a gas field off the coast of New Zealand. Todd Pohokura claimed that a contract between the parties was a violation of New Zealand competition law and asked for damages of approximately $320 million (NZ). Compass Lexecon expert Gustavo Bamberger of our Chicago office prepared a report and testified on behalf of OMV in the High Court of New Zealand. The judge agreed with our client that the contract did not violate New Zealand competition law and rejected Todd Pohokura’s damages claim. Lynette Neumann in the Chicago office assisted Dr. Bamberger.