NAFTA - Chapter 11 - Investment

Cases Filed Against the Government of Canada

Lone Pine Resources Inc. v. Government of Canada

Claimant

Lone Pine Resources Inc. (“LPRI”) is a company incorporated in the State of Delaware in the United States. LPRI owns Lone Pine Resources Canada Ltd. (“LPRC”), which is incorporated in Alberta. LPRC is an oil and gas resources development and production company operating in Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec and the Northwest Territories.

Articles

  • 1105 (Minimum Standard of Treatment)
  • 1110 (Expropriation)

Damages claimed

$118.9 million USD.

Arbitration rules

UNCITRAL

Summary

Procedural history

The claimant submitted a Notice of Intent to Submit a Claim to Arbitration on November 8, 2012, followed by a Notice of Arbitration on September 6, 2013. An arbitration tribunal was constituted in September 2014 and Canada filed a Response to the Notice of Arbitration on February 27, 2015. The claimant submitted a memorial and evidence in support of its claim on April 10, 2015. Canada filed a counter-memorial and evidence in support of its position on January 25, 2016.

Factual overview and nature of the claim

The claimant alleges that LPRC has contractual interests relating to five contiguous exploration licences for petroleum, natural gas and underground reservoirs (“exploration licences”) located near Trois-Rivires. These interests stem from a farmout agreement signed with the holder of these exploration licences, a Canadian company named Junex Inc. Four of the exploration licences are located on land and one is located in the St. Lawrence River