Taurus Petroleum Ltd v State Oil Company of the Ministry of Oil, Republic of Iraq - Court of Appeal (Moore-Bick, Sullivan and Briggs LJJ) [2015] EWCA Civ 835 - 28 July 2015

Conflictof laws - Third Party Debt Order - Situs of debt due under letter of credit - State immunity - Whether debt created by letter of credit became property of Iraqi state bank - Whether court entitled to make receivership order in respect of debt

By an arbitration award dated 13 February 2013 the claimant (Taurus) was awarded against the defendant (SOMO) US$8,716,477 in respect of demurrage, war risk premiums, a performance bond, interest and costs. The claims that led to the award arose out of a number of contracts under which Taurus was the purchaser and SOMO the seller of crude oil and LPG.