Rockhopper Exploration wins £210m following oil drilling ban

Rockhopper Exploration, which is registered to Warner House in Salisbury, sued the Italian government using the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), forcing it to pay €190m in compensation plus four per cent interest compounded annually from 29 January 2016 until the time of payment.

This combined to a total over £210m, or €250m, six times more than Rockhopper's actual investment in the Ombrina Mare project, which is understood to be around £33m.

The ECT allowed Rockhopper to sue the Italian government based on lost profits in a private, closed-door tribunal outside of the national legal system, formally known as an investor state dispute settlement.

The Salisbury-based company bought a license to explore off the Adriatic Coast in 2014, a controversial decision in Italy during this time as tens of thousands protested against it, according to The Guardian.

Protestors outside Rockhopper's office on Castle Street

In 2016 the Italian parliament imposed a ban on oil and gas projects within 12 nautical miles of the Italian coast, thus ceasing Rockhopper's Ombrina Mare project.

Samuel Moody, CEO of Rockhopper exploration, anticipates the result will have "very positive financial implications for Rockhopper".

He said: "We are delighted to have won our case. A huge amount of work has been involved since we acquired Mediterranean Oil & Gas Plc in 2014 and commenced the Arbitration in 2017.

"This positive milestone builds on our recent transaction with Navitas and while work still needs to be done on Sea Lion, we believe after collection of the award, it will make a material contribution towards our share of the development costs."

In April this year a protest was held by Extinction Rebellion and Global Justice Now in Salisbury which raised awareness for Rockhopper's actions.

Read more: Rockhopper protestors expose 'Salisbury's shameful secret'

XR Salisbury and GJN protestors in Salisbury

A spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion Salisbury said: “This payout is a perfect example of why the anachronistic Energy Charter Treaty must be scrapped. It is just a money-grab for corporations at the expense of the public around the world.

"Rockhopper’s payout bears no relation to the money they have spent on this project. And their claims that their work in the South Atlantic will be on an ‘environmentally sensitive basis’ is just cynical greenwash.

"There is nothing climate-friendly about the 1.7 billion barrels that will be burned as a result. They are climate-wreckers and it is an embarrassment to have them in Salisbury.”

Cleodie Rickard, trade campaigner at Global Justice Now, said: "Fossil fuel companies are making obscene profits in the cost of living crisis and now they also want to make more money when governments actually take action to limit something like offshore oil drilling.

"We need to get rid of this shadowy legal system that poses a threat to the climate – not in ten years time as governments are proposing at the moment, but right now. Our world is burning and we need to be cancelling climate-bomb fossil fuel projects without delay."

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