Noreco loses Siri platform insurance case. Appeal imminent

Oslo-listed company Noreco has lost its case against insurers related to the financial claim sought due to the damage to the Siri platform in the Danish North Sea, discovered in 2009.

Noreco was in 2016, with its partners, awarded damages of $470 million, including interest, of which Noreco itself was entitled to around $270 million.

However, the company, which has, as part of the agreement with creditors,  been working to exit the oil and gas business and monetize its assets, was dealt a heavy blow on Friday.

Namely, the insurers on February 27, 2017, lodged an appeal with the Eastern High Court in Copenhagen in relation to the Siri insurance claim court case.

The Eastern High Court on Friday gave its ruling in which it awarded Noreco some $12.5 million with the addition of interest which brings the amount up to around $20 million.

In a statement on Friday, the Danish court said, it would absolve the insurers from Noreco claims related to the damage found on the Siri platform, on the grounds that “the insurance event is not considered to have occurred during the insurance period for the insurance covered by the case.”

Noreco said it believed that the ruling was made on the wrong premises. The company said it would make an appeal to the Supreme Court, and that the work on the preparation of the appeal had already begun.