Singapore: ExxonMobil Asia Pacific secures court order for USD 2.9 million bunker claim from Impex Marine

The High Court of the Republic of Singapore on 14 December 2023 issued a court order for the repayment of a USD 2.93 million (exact: USD 2,934,624.17) debt from Impex Marine (S) Pte Ltd (Impex) to ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte Ltd (ExxonMobil), according to documents obtained by Manifold Times.

In June 2020, Impex entered a marine fuel term sales contract with ExxonMobil for between 5,000 to 8,000 metric tonnes (mt) of DMA grade product; spot contracts were further recorded by both parties in the similar month.

Impex carried out five bunker deliveries and seven marine refuelling operations for the oil major respectively under the term and spot contracts; the total value of all contracts was worth USD 2.95 million (exact: USD 2,954,624.17).

The invoices went unpaid until 2 February 2021 when Impex remunerated USD 20,000 to ExxonMobil and offered to settle the outstanding balances through the provision of barging services.

This development led ExxonMobil to commence arbitration proceedings against Impex on 20 March 2023 at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).

However, SIAC could not begin the arbitration process as Impex did not pay for its share of the first tranche of deposits for proceedings to start despite sending eight payment reminders to Impex.

ExxonMobil started proceedings at the Singapore High Court in July 2023 and consequently obtained the court order from the institution in December for the repayment of its bunker claim.

Photo credit: Manifold Times
Published: 2 February 2024