Chad: Doba consortium fined $76bn

A court in N’djamena has fined the ExxonMobil-led consortium producing oil from the Doba Basin $76bn in a dispute about royalties. Exxon said it disagreed with the court’s ruling and was “evaluating next steps”. It said the dispute was over “commitments made by the government to the consortium, not the government’s ability to impose taxes”. The court awarded the finance ministry CFA483.6bn in damages, plus a penalty of CFA44,294bn. The consortium has lodged an appeal in N’djamena as well as a case at the International Court of Arbitration in Paris.