Korea National Oil Corporation, KNOC Nigerian West Oil Company Limited, and KNOC Nigerian East Oil Company Limited v. Federal Republic of Nigeria

Case summary

At a glance

Parties: Korea National Oil Corporation, KNOC Nigerian West Oil Company Limited and KNOC Nigerian East Oil Company Limited v. the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Case no.: ICSID Case No. ARB/23/19
Forum and rules: ICSID Convention arbitration; ICSID Arbitration Rules in force as of 1 July 2022; place of proceeding Washington DC
Treaty: Korea–Nigeria BIT
Tribunal: Prof. Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler (President), Ms. Loretta Malintoppi, Prof. Dr. Klaus Sachs
Sector: Oil; licensing rounds
Outcome: The published texts are procedural only. They do not show the outcome of the case.

The dispute

Korea National Oil Corporation and two KNOC Nigerian companies brought an ICSID claim against Nigeria under the Korea–Nigeria Bilateral Investment Treaty. The published texts do not set out the facts of the dispute or the claims. Procedural Order No. 2 shows that the 2005, 2006 and 2007 Licensing Rounds are relevant to the evidence. Nigeria said in document production that it intended to raise objections to jurisdiction. The published texts consist of two procedural orders: one sets the rules and timetable, and one rules on document production.

Key holdings

The proceeding is governed by the ICSID Arbitration Rules in force as of 1 July 2022. The Tribunal may seek guidance from, but is not bound by, the 2020 IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence and the 2013 IBA Guidelines on Party Representation. Washington DC is the place of the proceeding and English is the procedural language. PO1 §§ 1.1–1.4, 11.1, 12.1
The timetable sets out three scenarios, depending on whether bifurcation of preliminary objections is requested and, if so, whether it is granted. In the two scenarios without bifurcation, a hearing on jurisdiction and merits is fixed for 17–21 November 2025. PO1 Annex B
Each of the Claimants' requests sought "all Documents" and then listed "included" categories, which breaches PO1 ¶ 16.4.1. The Tribunal did not deny the requests on that ground, because Nigeria had generally agreed to search for documents and had not objected on grounds of breadth or burden. PO2 ¶¶ 16–18
Nigeria said it had already searched extensively for documents on the 2005–2007 Licensing Rounds while preparing its defence. The Tribunal held that those earlier searches do not discharge its production obligations, which call for targeted searches. Nigeria must run new searches for every request it did not oppose or that the Tribunal granted. PO2 ¶ 19
The Claimants objected that Nigeria had not shown it lacked certain requested documents. The Tribunal rejected that objection. Documents prepared by the Claimants are no more likely to be in Nigeria's possession than in theirs. For documents exchanged with Nigerian officials, the Tribunal accepted Nigeria's statement that extensive searches had not located them. PO2 ¶¶ 26–28
The ordered documents were to be produced by 25 October 2024, with any privilege claims recorded in a privilege log. Objections to privilege claims were due by 1 November 2024 and replies by 8 November 2024. Complaints of non-compliance were due by 4 November 2024 and answers by 11 November 2024. PO2 ¶ 29

Procedural history

28 June 2023After registration of the Request for Arbitration, ICSID asked the Claimants for an advance of USD150,000.
8 September 2023Tribunal constituted.
6 November 2023First session held by video conference.
7 November 2023Procedural Order No. 1 sets the procedural rules and the timetable.
23 August 2024The Parties exchanged document production requests in Redfern Schedules.
14 October 2024Procedural Order No. 2 decides the document production requests.
17 September 2025Procedural Order No. 3 issued (text not included here).
1 December 2025Procedural Order No. 4 issued (text not included here).