Lord Justice Tuckey:

1. Can part of a New York Convention arbitration award be enforced? How should sequential applications for enforcement of such an award be approached? Tomlinson J. gave permission to appeal to enable these questions to be considered by this court after giving judgment for the claimant (IPCO) for over U.S. $85m. against the defendant (NNPC) on IPCO’s adjourned application to enforce a convention award here.

2. IPCO is a Nigerian subsidiary of a Hong Kong registered company. In March 1994 it entered into a turnkey contract with NNPC, the state oil company of Nigeria, to design and construct a petroleum export terminal near Port Harcourt. The progress of the project was delayed by 22 months because, as IPCO contended, NNPC required substantial variations to the contract works. IPCO’s disputed claims to be paid substantially more than the contract price were referred to arbitration in Lagos in accordance with Nigerian law as the contract provided. On 28 October 2004 the arbitrators issued their award in favour of IPCO in a net amount (taking account of NNPC’s relatively small counter claim) of U.S. $152,195,971.55.

3. In November 2004 NNPC applied to the Federal High court in Nigeria to set aside the award and IPCO applied to our High Court to enforce it. NNPC’s application has not yet been determined. IPCO’s without notice application was successful but on NNPC’s application on 12 April 2005 Gross J. adjourned enforcement on terms that NNPC pay IPCO approximately $13m., which it admitted was owing, and provide security to IPCO of $50m. NNPC complied with these conditions.