Canadian energy group wins in Colombian pipeline arbitration
A Canadian energy company has won an award in a Bogotá arbitration against a local gas distributor over the expansion of a pipeline on Colombia‘s Caribbean coast. As reported by Colombian media, a tribunal at the Arbitration and Conciliation Centre of the Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá (CCA-CCB) issued an award on 21 August ordering local gas transporter Promigas to pay US$14 million to a subsidiary of Toronto-listed Canacol Energy. The tribunal ordered Promigas to reimburse 36.7 billion Colombian pesos (US$8.9 million) in additional fees that Canacol had paid under the contract. It also granted 21.7 billion pesos (US$5.3 million) in interest. The award is available here. The all-Colombian tribunal was chaired by academic Roberto Aguilar Díaz and included practitioners Carlos Darío Barrera Tapia and Santiago Talero Rueda. Canacol was represented by Philippi Prietocarrizosa Ferrero DU & Uría in Bogotá while Promigas used Colombian firms Vall de Rutén & Jubiz and X100Legal. In 2015, a Colombian subsidiary of Canacol signed a “ship or pay” gas transportation contract, which included provisions for investment in the expansion of the Promigas pipeline to be paid for with an additional premium. Canacol says on its website it currently provides more than 50% of the gas supply on the country’s northern coastline, which includes the cities of Cartagena and Barranquilla. Canacol’s subsidiary filed the CCA-CCB claim, seeking the return of additional fees paid to Promigas for expansion investments. It said the fees were improperly charged because they were not related to the contract. Promigas argued that the fees were part of the transport services agreed under the contract. Promigas is reportedly evaluating possible legal action in response to the award. In 2020, Canada’s Frontera Energy settled a pair of arbitrations with Colombian state-owned oil company Ecopetrol over terminated contracts for two the country’s key oil pipelines. An Ecopetrol subsidiary also filed for arbitration against Canacol over termination of its contract as co-carrier on one of the pipelines. That dispute settled in 2021. Counsel to Canacol Energy Philippi Prietocarrizosa Ferrero DU & Uría (Colombia) Partners Héctor Hernández, Sandra Manrique and Juan Sebastián Arias, and associates Santiago Romero and Alejandro Zapata in Bogotá
Luis Luna
Member of the Dispute Resolution team. His professional practice focuses on the defense in judicial and arbitration proceedings. He has experience in the sponsorship of civil, commercial and contentious-administrative judicial proceedings, as well as in commercial and construction arbitration and in assisting arbitral tribunals.
Manuel Triviño
Member of the Dispute Resolution team. His professional practice focuses on litigation, arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution methods. Particularly, he has experience handling extraordinary appeals before the high courts of Colombia and in both national and international arbitration proceedings.
Gonzalo Palao
Member of the Dispute Resolution team. His professional practice focuses on the design and execution of dispute prevention and resolution strategies within the framework of judicial and arbitration proceedings. He has experience in highly complex litigation in constitutional, regulatory, civil and commercial law. He also provides consulting services in constitutional matters to various public institutions and national and foreign companies.
Carlos Weston
Member of the Corporate/M&A and Dispute Resolution team. His professional practice focuses on contract law and arbitration, with experience in structuring, drafting and negotiating all types of contracts, having acted as legal advisor and negotiator for owners, contractors, subcontractors and lenders. On an individual level, his experience includes drafting financing agreements and corporate transactions, mainly involving infrastructure agreements and the field of construction law.
Eduardo Villagra
Member of the Dispute Resolution team. His practice focuses on criminal litigation and the criminal liability of legal entities, with a particular emphasis on economic crimes, crimes against property, and heritage. He also has experience in designing and implementing crime prevention models in accordance with Law No. 20,393.
Pablo Villachica
Member of the Dispute Resolution team.
Jessica Morales
Member of the Corporate/M&A team. His professional practice focuses on a range of complex and diverse matters, primarily advising companies in the automotive, industrial, and financial sectors on contractual issues, civil liability, dispute resolution, and insolvency procedures. He leads a specialized team dedicated to the execution of extrajudicial and judicial actions aimed at the recovery of credits, assets, and the enforcement of real and/or personal guarantees. With over 20 years of professional experience in civil, commercial, real estate, and judicial matters.
Omar Mestanza
Member of the Dispute Resolution team. Her professional practice focuses on civil law, civil procedure, commercial law, and arbitration. Additionally, she has published works on arbitration in various specialized journals and legal portals in the country.
Santiago Mendoza
Member of the Dispute Resolution team. Her professional practice focuses on providing advice on private law matters (contracts, civil liability, and inheritance), as well as handling judicial and arbitration proceedings primarily related to civil, commercial, and public and private construction disputes. She also advises on the design of strategies for conflict prevention or resolution.
