Petrobras is appealing its $622m US federal court loss in the four-year legal fight with Vantage Drilling featuring Taiwanese shipowner Nobu Su.
The Brazilian state oil company filed notice it was appealing the judgement that the 2017 arbitration process before the International Centre for Dispute Resolution was fair 21 June. The appeal will be heard before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
In a July 2018 lawsuit, Petrobras argued Vantage's appointee to the arbitration tribunal was biased against Petrobras from the start and that he even advocated on behalf of Vantage during hearings.
Houston district judge Alfred Bennett rejected the claims in a ruling published 22 May.
In 2015 — amidst the Brazilian corruption probe known as Operation Car Wash — Petrobras canceled a $1.82bn contract with Vantage to use its 67,800-gt Titanium Explorer (built 2012) to drill for oil.
Then, Petrobras alleged Vantage was only awarded the contract because Su, then Vantage's majority shareholder, paid $31m in bribes.
Su has denied he paid anyone to secure the contracts.
