A Madina fuel station dealer has won a court case against oil giant TotalEnergies Marketing PLC.
The High Court in Accra ruled in favour of a fuel station dealer after a long-standing contractual dispute.
Justice Patrick Baayeh presided over the case filed by TotalEnergies in August 2023 against Mr Thomas Kofi Classpeter.
Mr Thomas Kofi Classpeter is the operator of the Powerland Total Energies Service Station at Madina.
TotalEnergies was seeking declarations that a 2014 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two parties remained valid and binding for 15 years.
They also sought to compel Mr Thomas Kofi Classpeter to yield up the service station and pay damages for alleged breach of contract; however, he counterclaimed, arguing that the MOU was only intended as a temporary arrangement for six months after a formal agreement was to be signed.
According to Mr Classpeter, no such agreement was executed, and so TotalEnergies could not rely on the MOU to bind him for 15 years.
He also accused TotalEnergies of refusing to issue a letter required by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) for him to sever ties and operate independently.
Justice Patrick Baayeh, in his judgment, noted the MOU was just provisional and stopped to have legal effect after six months.
He added that the company could not unilaterally extend its terms because the parties continued to operate under the arrangement for nine years without a formal contract being signed.
On the CalBank ATM, the judge ruled that TotalEnergies had no right to lease part of the defendant’s land without his consent.
The judge ordered TotalEnergies to account for all rent payments received from CalBank since installation.
Ordering that 50 per cent of the total proceeds be paid to Mr Classpeter within 60 days after the accounts were filed in court.
The court, however, dismissed the Madina fuel station dealer’s claim for damages over the refusal to issue a release letter.
Justice Baayeh awarded costs of GH¢50,000 against TotalEnergies in favour of the defendant, the Madina fuel station dealer.
The court further ordered TotalEnergies to issue a release letter to the defendant within 30 days, starting from the day the judgment was delivered.