Opinion ID: 186237
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Agips' Purchase of the Royalty Oil

Text: 14 Gulf's complaint alleges that Congo directed Agip to begin delivering royalty oil to Occidental and Gulf in August 1994. Id. ¶ 38, at 13, J.A. 37. It also alleges that before the first delivery was made, Occidental entered into an agreement on behalf of itself and Gulf pursuant to which Agip agreed to buy all of Occidental's and Gulf's shares of the Congo royalty oil at the monthly per barrel official price (`prix fixe') for Congo oil.... Id. ¶ 26, at 10, J.A. 34; see also Congo Crude Oil Sales Agreement ¶ 5 (Aug. 18, 1994) (Agip Purchase Agreement), reprinted in J.A. 180-84. Pursuant to the Agip Purchase Agreement, Agip made payments for the oil to a bank specified by Occidental. Id. ¶ 6, at 3, J.A. 182. According to the complaint, Agip was aware of Gulf's interest in the royalty oil that Agip was purchasing and purposely paid Occidental for Gulf's share of the oil. Complaint ¶¶ 27, 36, J.A. 34, 36; see also Memo from Pietro Cavanna, Senior Vice Pres., Agip (Nov. 22, 1994), reprinted in J.A. 185-86. The royalty oil owed to Occidental and Gulf was never physically separated from the rest of the oil produced by Agip. See Agip Purchase Agreement ¶ 1, at 1, J.A. 180. Thus, disposition of this royalty oil was accomplished entirely as a bookkeeping matter. See Complaint ¶ 11, at 4-5, J.A. 29-30. 15 Some 15 months after the Agip Purchase Agreement was signed, Occidental and Gulf entered into an agreement regarding the disbursement of the proceeds from Agip's purchase of Gulf's royalty oil. Agreement and Direction Regarding Sales of Congo Royalty Oil and Disbursement of Proceeds (Dec. 1, 1995) (Disbursement Agreement), reprinted in J.A. 188-94; see also Complaint ¶ 36, at 12, J.A. 36. The Disbursement Agreement, which formalized the collection and disbursement arrangement between Occidental and Gulf, was necessitated by the fact that a Gulf subsidiary was merging with Clark USA, Inc. (Clark), a U.S. company. See Declaration of William C.F. Arnold, Pres., Gulf Resources Corporation, ¶ 27, at 11-12 (June 2, 1999), reprinted in J.A. 75-99. Before entering into the merger agreement with Clark, Gulf transferred to its subsidiary its interest in the outstanding proceeds from the sale of the royalty oil to Agip. Id. ¶ 23, at 9-10, J.A. 83-84. In exchange, Clark was to give to Gulf Clark stock. Id. In keeping with these arrangements, Gulf, through the Disbursement Agreement, directed Occidental to pay Gulf's share of the Agip royalty oil proceeds to Clark. Complaint ¶ 37, at 13, J.A. 37; Disbursement Agreement ¶ 2, at 2-3, J.A. 189-90. According to the complaint, Gulf representatives discussed the Gulf-Clark merger with the then-President of the Congo, who supported the merger. Id. ¶ 33, at 11, J.A. 35. 16