Dolphin Drilling pursues US$105M payment following arbitration case win

Federal High Court of Lagos, Nigeria has granted leave to Dolphin Drilling to enforce an arbitration award of about US$105M against General Hydrocarbon Ltd (GHL).

The Euronext-listed drilling contractor is initiating collection efforts to recover the award from Lagos-based GHL.

The arbitration award stems from a drilling campaign offshore Nigeria in 2024 undertaken for GHL by Dolphin Drilling’s 5th-generation semi-submersible rig Blackford Dolphin.

Dolphin Drilling explained that due to repeated failures by the client to adhere to the payment terms of the contract, it terminated the deal and commenced arbitration proceedings.

“Following the termination of the GHL contract and departure from Nigeria, Blackford Dolphin mobilised to India to commence a contract with Oil India for three wells, for an initial expected 14-month period. The semi-submersible commenced drilling for Oil India in November.

As of the end of Q4 2024, Dolphin Drilling reported a backlog of US$340M, with options that could add another US$409M to its orderbook.