utmerket

It is funny how some on here wish to distract from the good news yesterday that we have secured the services of one of the world’s biggest law firms to represent us in the tribunals against Tunisia and ETAP with minor criticisms about the court dates for the SMP case in France and the production in the USA.

SMP COURT CASE

To deal with these points quickly. Regarding the court case in France, I agree with JobPeterson’s comments. The final hearing in this case has clearly not been held yet or the company would have announced that it had happened and would have announced the timescale in which the final judgement was expected. They are obliged by their regulatory requirements for both their UK and Oslo listings to announce any news that is market-sensitive as soon as it becomes known. A court case for an amount that is roughly the same as the company’s current market capitalisation would certainly be considered market-sensitive and so any material progress on the manner would require a formal announcement. The fact that there has not been an announcement simply means that there has been no progress – ie nothing has yet happened.

Is it Zenith’s fault that the court case is taking so long? No, clearly not. The fact that the last significant announcement that we had about this case on July 3rd 2023 (https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/ZEN/court-rejects-smp-s-request-and-awards-damages/16024745) clearly stated that the SMP had asked to stop the hearing in France and recommence it in the Republic of Congo and that this was rejected as, in the opinion of the judge, it had "all the characteristics of a dilatory request”. They even awarded Zenith €30,000 in damages because of this.

It is clear from these details that it was not Zenith who were trying to delay the court action but rather the SMP, and this is unarguable since it is not the opinion of Zenith but rather the judgement of the court. So it is only fair to assume that any subsequent delays are also the result of the SMP trying to continue these delaying tactics. Of course it is frustrating to us as shareholders, but it also has its plus points, because these delaying tactics also indicate that the SMP does not have confidence that it is going to eb able to win the case – hence the apparent tactic of delaying everything at all costs.

Of course, it would be nice to get an update on how things are proceeding from the company, but if nothing has happened then what information are they going to update us with? That they court case is ongoing? We already know that. That they now expect a judgement by the end of summer? If they don’t have a court date then how do they give us a timescale? They are damned if they do update us (see the comments today on them being untrustworthy because the expected date of March / summer for a conclusion in the court case was not met). And they are also damned if they don’t update (see the comment today that: “If they have not yet finished the trial by now, it shows that you cannot trust anything now either from what is said from the company.).

The simple fact is that the timescale for the completion of the SMP court case is not in Zenith’s control. It is in the control of the French legal system and the French courts. The time taken for the case to be heard will be the time taken for it to be heard and no amount of moaning on here or even by AC himself will change that. We just have to wait for a successful conclusion. If there are criticisms of the time it is taking then these should eb levelled at the French legal system and not the company.


US OIL PRODUCTION

Regarding the oil production in the USA. It is clear to me that the amount of oil production that they have acquired is incredibly small and anyone thinking otherwise is just deluding themselves. If there was any substantial amount of oil being produced then they would have had to announce the details because (as with the court case) it would be deemed market sensitive and they would be obliged to announce it for regulatory reasons. The fact that they have not announced details means that both the production, and the amount spent on it, are so small as to be insignificant. It would not surprise me if it is less than 1 barrel of oil per day.

This raises the question of why did Zenith bother acquiring this production at all? The answer is simple – they didn’t…

When you read the January 18th 2024 RNS about this acquisition (https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/ZEN/update-on-united-states-portfolio/16295255) the announcement clearly states that CYAP acquired this production through its subsidiary CYAP Oil LLC. Again this raises the question of why they would do this? I have a theory on this and I think that the answer is obvious.

When Zenith acquired CYAP it was a technology company whose only value was in its US listing. The listing was what Zenith paid for but, because it was essentially not trading, and the US regulators hate a listed company that is not trading, they have had to make an acquisition to show that the company is still alive. I also think that it is significant that the acquisition was made through a subsidiary labelled CYAP Oil LLC. as this also shows the US regulator the change of focus of the company from tech to oil.

So anyway, that’s my theory behind this tiny purchase of oil assets. It shows activity within the company and it paves the way for the technology company to become recategorized in its listing as an oil company in the US. The bad point of this is that there is no material production at the moment, but the good point is that we can clearly expect some soon. If what has been mentioned on here is right (that they are aiming for 100bod by the end of this month) then we can expect the acquisition to come soon and to be roughly around 100bopd. This will be significant to all of us as a starting point of the long talked-about US acquisitions process. I also think that it is worth remembering that Zenith acquired the listed company CYAP for a reason and the only reason for them to acquire a US listed company is to be able to raise US funds through CYAP and not Zenith – so it is clearly their aim that CYAP becomes a self-funding US venture that can raise money to acquire assets itself, with Zenith merely being the controlling shareholder. This is a very exciting prospect.

Blaming the company for the failure of the French courts to give a date for the hearing is a pretty desperate reach. You seem to have trouble understanding basic court procedure. If a case is not being heard by the courts the company cannot report on the result of the case in question.

When the case is heard then the company will report it. Until it is heard they will not. It really isn't that difficult to understand.

Helt klart, er jo veldig merkelig og annonsere oppkjøp og si vi har 5% royalties fra 7 brønner. Men 5 % av hva?? Er jo for oss aksjonærer en melding helt uten informasjon som er viktig for oss. For alt vi vet så produserer de 7 brønnene 0 fat til dagen..

Ja, det ble beskrevet i meldingene under oppkjøpene. Men vi har enda ikke fått sett dokumentasjon på om det har foregått noe produksjon - uansett om det er en 5liters bøtte, eller 50bod så burde vi fått litt informasjon.

Opprinnelig skulle domavsigelse vært innen 31 mars ifølge børsmelding, så sa Andrea at saken skulle være endelig innen sen vår/tidlig sommer. Hvis de da enda ikke har vært ferdige med rettsaken nå så viser det til at man kan ikke stole på noe nå heller av hva som blir sagt fra firmaet. Så kan du mene hva du vil om det, men fakta er at sålangt så har de ikke levert på tidsfrister de har satt i noe noensinne.

But that is my point. The last day of the trial clearly hasn't happened yet or it would have been announced that it had happened. Because it hasn't been announced it hasn't happened. Simple really.

I assume that what AC said in the interview you watched whenever it was, was correct at the time, but the date got delayed subsequently. Or that it is imminent but it still hasn't happened yet. Note that in your words he said that the verdict was EXPECTED in spring or early summer. It is clear that things have taken longer than expected.

Det er en mikroskopisk produksjon det er snakk om, de har nevnt at de håper og gjøre oppkjøp i US slik at vi oppnår en samlet produksjon på 100bod frem til sommeren og øke den til 200 ved utgangen av 2024.

Men det er ekstremt dårlig og ikke opplyse hva kjøpet genererer og hva det har kostet. Der er vi helt enige.

Ikke noe å krangle om. Etter en lang tørke i meldinger tolker jeg det som at det har vært sterkt fokus på det som er viktigst nå. Trygge verdier for selskapet. Er ganske trygg på at det kommer mer info på flere områder de neste 2 måneder

Er det noen som har informasjon om hva som foregår i US?
Latterlig av dem å melde om produksjon i meldingen - så er det ikke en eneste investor som vet hva den innebærer.

Er veldig klar over at det ofte er ett lengre tidsperspektiv i rettssaker, og det ofte går mye lenger enn forventet. Denne saken som de fleste andre har også gått lenger enn hva de først trodde. Men det er ikke dette jeg spurte om, mitt spørsmål er : Er det noen som VET når sist dato i retten var? Ifølge Andrea i sitt siste intervju så sa han rett ut at det er forventet domsavsigelse late spring/ early summer. Derfor jeg prøver og finne ut når siste dag i rettsak var.

Skal du svare så må du svare på spørsmålet istedenfor og bruke ett innlegg på og fortelle meg at jeg ikke har peiling på rettssystemet.

Any judgement coming down all depends on whether they have had the final hearing yet. We clearly haven't had that yet, probably because:

(a) the July 3rd 2023 RNS told us that SMP were criticised for deliberately delaying proceedings and that was why Zenith were awarded 30,000 euros in damages

(b) if there had been a final hearing the zenith would have had to announce it.

You clearly have little familiarity with court proceedings if you don't know that lengthy delays are the norm. Any time a stay of hearing is granted it is always months before the next date is announced.

I feel like now Its over before it has begun for all counterpart ´s in Zenith courts . We need just to settle one or maybe two of them, the rest will be begging for pree agreement . I don't think that they ar so naive and not taking reconsideration that : By risking greater losses in court expenses.
Well done AC and Co.
This is beauty in struggling. Now we wait for success.

Hei, nei på den tiden var det innen 31 mars de forventet å ha blitt fremlagt dom, men i ett intervju med Andrea i ettertid av denne børsmeldingen så ble det sagt at de forventet domsavsigelse iløpet av sen vår/ tidlig sommer. Så jeg antar innen denne måneden.

Men det jeg lurte på var om noen visste når siste dag i retten var. Det har ikke blitt nevnt datoer de har vært i retten. Normalt sett så mener jeg domsavsigelse skal fremlegges innen 3 uker etter siste rettsdag, derfor jeg lurer. Skal nevnes at jeg overhodet ikke er sikker på om denne tidsfristen stemmer i Frankrike.

Er bare slik jeg har forstått normal rettspraksis og er helt åpen for at jeg kan ta feil på dette punktet.

Det var vel 31 Mars Ref RNS 7543E:

On July 15, 2019, AIM quoted Anglo African Oil & Gas ("AAOG"), the previous owner of AAOGC prior to its acquisition by Zenith, announced that AAOGC had initiated a legal claim (the "Claim") in the Paris Commercial Court against SMP following a series of significant performance failures by the SMP 102 rig (the "Rig") during drilling activities in wells TLP-103 and TLP-103C, and the refusal of SMP to engage in negotiations to cover the significant cost overruns that had been incurred by AAOGC as a result.



On February 17, 2023, Zenith announced that it had increased the claimed amount for SMP's failures during drilling activities to US$9 million in consideration of the significant commercial damages suffered by AAOGC, specifically the impossibility to begin production activities from the Tilapia oilfield, as a direct result.



The Company believes that the Claim launched by AAOGC has merit, especially because of the significant evidence collected at the time to substantiate its position and has since intensified its legal activities in support of the Claim by commissioning third-party expert reports.



A final decision in respect of the Claim is expected prior to the close of Zenith's next financial year, March 31, 2024.

lukker aksjekursen over 0,3 vil det se veldig sterkt ut for en oppgang på listene

The announcement today by Zenith Energy that Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher are to represent them in the upcoming arbitration cases against the Republic of Tunisia is a major coup for the company and us shareholders.

I have spent the morning looking into Gibson Dunn and they are consistently ranked one of the 10 best law firms in the world. They have a revenue of $2 billion and they have 1,400 lawyers on their books. They represented Apple in their patent infringement case vs Samsung and Intel in billion dollar law suits vs AMD. They are also ranked no 1 in the world for cross-border corporate investigations. Make no mistake, this firm is a massive world level legal player and they would not waste their time getting involved in Zenith’s case against Tunisia unless they thought that they would win.

The individual lawyers that Zenith now have representing them are at the top of their game. Rahim Moloo, according to the Gibson Dunn website (https://www.gibsondunn.com/lawyer/moloo-rahim/) has huge experienced in international arbitrations and is described as “co-chair of the firm’s International Arbitration Group, which won “International Arbitration Group of the Year” from Law360 twice in the last four years”. He has also beeninvolved in multi-billion dollar investor vs state arbitrations as per his bio. Robert Spano is perhaps even more impressive having already been the youngest judge elected to the presidency of the European Court of Human Rights in its history and is in the top 500 lawyers in the world for International Arbitration and International Law (again see his bio: https://www.gibsondunn.com/lawyer/spano-robert/) .

The appointment of such big-time (and expensive) legal representation does raise the question of how Zenith are going to pay for the service, but as has been pointed out on other forums, litigation funding is a pretty standard way of doing this so I expect that they will look to go in this direction. After all, Rockhopper used exactly this method to fund their successful €190 million claim against the Italian government in 2022 about their refusal to grant permission to produce from the Ombrina Mare oil field. Rockhopper used a company called Harbour Litigation Funding to finance their claim (see: https://caneurope.org/outrage-as-italy-ordered-to-pay-out-millions-to-oil-investor-over-energy-charter-treaty-claim/) and the company had all its costs funded on a no win-no fee basis with the funder taking 20% of the total award (see their August 24th 2022 RNS: https://www.lse.co.uk/rns/RKH/successful-arbitration-outcome-ghfoaxbww0fd2dx.html)

Given that the perfect example of how to fund international arbitration funding has already been given by Rockhopper then it is only reasonable to assume that Zenith will follow the same route.

Imagine what a difference a $180 million award would make to Zenith Energy – even after paying out 20% of this to litigation funders. This could be massive for the company and this latest announcement makes our chances of success much much greater than they were yesterday.

The appointment of this legal team should give all of us shareholders and enormous boost to the success of our case against Tunisia. These sort of people do not like to lose and so they would have had to be convinced that Zenith had a big chance of success before they would have agreed to take the case. The fact that they have, alongside the fact that Zenith have already seized $6.5 million from ETAP and had a $120,000 award made to then for Tunisia’s misconduct in this case should demonstrate to us all that Zenith have a very high chance of winning.

It seems many are very confident for a big result from the arbitration. The price can multiply within one trading day with any positive result or deal before the court date.

LadyofAim på X sier følgende og siterer:

"Zenith Energy have one of the worlds top law firms representing them in their $180 million case vs the Tunisian govt.
Expensive? Not if you have litigation finance firms so convinced of success that they are lining up around the block to fund them.
@zenithenergyltd"

melding
https://newsweb.oslobors.no/message/620615

"Vi er glade for å utnevne Gibson Dunn, en av verdens ledende voldgiftsspesialister, som juridisk rådgiver i forhold til ICC 2 Arbitration og ICSID Arbitration.

Selskapet vil jobbe tett med Rahim Moloo og Robert Spano med mål om å rette opp de svært betydelige skadene forårsaket av handlingene til tunisiske myndigheter til skade for Zenith og dets aksjonærer

Så kan vi legge til at AC selv har store eierandeler kjøpt i Zenith og har et snitt på trolig over 1 kr per aksje. Han er ikke tjent med det noen skremmere her påstår og ta ut enormt med lønn etc.. Han er tjent med at verdien kommer inn i selskapet.

Robert Spano, the former president of the European Court of Human Rights is one of the legal representatives for zenith against Tunisia. We have a very strong case against Tunisia I expect a quite easy victory. How much we pay from the legal costs I expect 25% of the winnings in most cases and legal costs are paid by the opposition. But that is just a guess.

This is awesome news for Zenith! The arbitrations were already going great, and now they've brought in one of the world's top law firms and two superstar lawyers to lead the case. This really shows how confident both the company and their legal team are in winning.

When you bring in the best of the best, it's because you're serious, and Zenith is definitely serious. Big arbitration award on the way, in my opinion.

Man kan si hva man vil om Zenith i ulike fora. En ting kan man ikke ta fra dem - de gis full gass for å få tilbake ranede verdier som tilhører oss. Bedre skodd til å møte ETAP og evt tunisiske myndigheter er ikke mulig. Ja, det vil kreve mye tålmodighet og styrke å stå i dette for oss aksjonærer og det er enormt mye frustrasjon rundt det. Men jeg mener i denne saken at AC gjør det eneste riktige - angripe med full styrke. Dette er handling.

Ja, en oppdatering om hva som forgår i "sjappa" hadde vært fint snart.

Merkelig at de skriver produksjon i US, men markedet og investorer har ingen informasjon om hva som foregår der.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%B3bert_Ragnar_Span%C3%B3

https://www.gibsondunn.com/lawyer/moloo-rahim/

ZENITH ENERGY LTD.

("Zenith" or the "Company")

Update on Arbitrations against Republic of Tunisia
Zenith Energy Ltd. (LSE: ZEN; OSE: ZENA; OTCQB: ZENAF), the listed international energy production and development company, is pleased to provide an update regarding the ongoing ICC Arbitration for SLK against the Republic of Tunisia ("ICC 2 Arbitration") and the ICSID Arbitration against the Republic of Tunisia ("ICSID Arbitration").

Zenith Energy Africa Ltd. ("ZEAL"), Zenith Overseas Assets Ltd. ("ZOAL") and Compagnie du Désert Ltd. ("CDD") have appointed Rahim Moloo and Robert Spano of the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP ("Gibson Dunn") to act as counsel in their claims against the Republic of Tunisia brought under the bilateral investment treaty between the United Kingdom and Tunisia under the auspices of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes for the ICSID Arbitration.

Similarly, Canadian North Africa Oil and Gas Limited ("CNAOG") has also appointed Rahim Moloo and Robert Spano of Gibson Dunn to act as counsel in the parallel arbitration proceedings brought against Tunisia under the auspices of the ICC for the ICC 2 Arbitration.

Gibson Dunn has appeared in numerous high-stake arbitral proceedings before all major arbitral institutions. Gibson Dunn's international arbitration lawyers are regularly ranked by legal publications.

Rahim Moloo is a partner and co-chair of the firm's International Arbitration Group. He has been recognized by Who's Who Legal as "one of the most skilled advocates of his generation" and a "Global Elite Thought Leader".

Robert Spano is the former president of the European Court of Human Rights, the youngest judge ever to be elected to the presidency in the Court's history.

Andrea Cattaneo, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"We are delighted to appoint Gibson Dunn, one of the world's leading arbitration specialists, as legal counsel in relation to the ICC 2 Arbitration and ICSID Arbitration.

The Company will work closely with Rahim Moloo and Robert Spano with the objective of redressing the very significant damages caused by the actions of the Tunisian authorities to the detriment of Zenith and its shareholders."

June 4, 2024

ZENITH ENERGY LTD.

("Zenith" or the "Company")

Update on Arbitrations against Republic of Tunisia

Zenith Energy Ltd. (LSE: ZEN ; OSE: ZENA ; OTCQB: ZENAF), the listed international
energy production and development company, is pleased to provide an update
regarding the ongoing ICC Arbitration for SLK against the Republic of Tunisia
("ICC 2 Arbitration") and the ICSID Arbitration against the Republic of Tunisia
("ICSID Arbitration").

Zenith Energy Africa Ltd. ("ZEAL"), Zenith Overseas Assets Ltd. ("ZOAL") and
Compagnie du Désert Ltd. ("CDD") have appointed Rahim Moloo and Robert Spano of
the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP ("Gibson Dunn") to act as counsel in
their claims against the Republic of Tunisia brought under the bilateral
investment treaty between the United Kingdom and Tunisia under the auspices of
the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes for the ICSID
Arbitration.

Similarly, Canadian North Africa Oil and Gas Limited ("CNAOG") has also
appointed Rahim Moloo and Robert Spano of Gibson Dunn to act as counsel in the
parallel arbitration proceedings brought against Tunisia under the auspices of
the ICC for the ICC 2 Arbitration.

Gibson Dunn has appeared in numerous high-stake arbitral proceedings before all
major arbitral institutions. Gibson Dunn's international arbitration lawyers are
regularly ranked by legal publications.

Rahim Moloo is a partner and co-chair of the firm's International Arbitration
Group. He has been recognized by Who's Who Legal as "one of the most skilled
advocates of his generation" and a "Global Elite Thought Leader".

Robert Spano is the former president of the European Court of Human Rights, the
youngest judge ever to be elected to the presidency in the Court's history.

Andrea Cattaneo, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"We are delighted to appoint Gibson Dunn, one of the world's leading arbitration
specialists, as legal counsel in relation to the ICC 2 Arbitration and ICSID
Arbitration.

The Company will work closely with Rahim Moloo and Robert Spano with the
objective of redressing the very significant damages caused by the actions of
the Tunisian authorities to the detriment of Zenith and its shareholders."

Zenith might be talking to a big player about buying stuff in Italy. It could be anyone, but yeah, it might be Coro but Remember, they tried to buy them a few years ago, and Coro's in trouble right now. It feels like a smart move for Zenith if they're getting a good deal, but honestly, we're just guessing for now.

The last update on the court case against SMP was back in October 2023. They said the next hearing was supposed to be on October 27th, but we never heard anything. There could be a bunch of reasons for that, but most likely the hearing got postponed, and there was nothing new to report. What we do know for sure is the trial isn't over. If it was, as MG pointed out, they'd have to tell the market. Since they haven’t, it's still ongoing.