suncor索赔6亿加元,同时被起诉的还有SNC等等大工程公司。
on Jan 8, 6:54 PM
By Judy Monchuk
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CALGARY (CP) - SNC Lavalin Group Inc., one of the engineering companies named in Suncor Energy's (TSX:SU) $630M-lawsuit over a 2005 oilsands fire, says it was caught off guard by the unexpected legal action.
"This was news to us, particularly because we were not involved in any way in the engineering-construction of the operator," Gillian MacCormack, vice-president of Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin (TSX:SNC) said Monday from Montreal.
"We understand Suncor probably wishing to protect its rights, but we're really not concerned since we had nothing to do with the engineering-construction of the operator."
In legal documents filed Dec. 28, Calgary-based Suncor says at least one of the engineering companies that designed and implemented its Millennium oilsands expansion in northern Alberta should have realized that substandard piping created a substantial risk of fire.
As well as SNC Lavalin, Suncor is suing a number of other engineering firms over the fire, including Calgary-based Bantrel Co., the largest engineering construction contractor in the oilsands, and Nevada-based Bechtel Group Inc., one of the world's largest construction companies.
Suncor alleges that the cause of the fire was the failure of a nozzle that didn't meet specifications outlined in a 1999 agreement.
The company says the nozzle, used in the fractionation process that separates the oilsands substance into various oils, was to have been built with a stainless steel cladding. It became severely corroded because it had not been clad and lined with stainless steel.
"The design contemplated that Nozzle N19 would operate for a period of at least 15 years; however Nozzle N19 catastrophically failed approximately 3.25 years after it was put into service," say the documents, filed in Calgary Court of Queen's Bench.
Suncor alleges that "the release of hydrocarbons and subsequent fore would not have occurred, had the stainless steel cladding, lining or overlay been properly applied to Nozzle N19."
None of the statements have been proved in court.
Although no one was hurt in the blaze at Suncor's oilsands operations north of Fort McMurray, Alta., repairing the equipment drastically reduced output for months just as the price of oil surged past US$50 a barrel.
Suncor has already collected C$979 million in business interruption payments from its insurance companies for the lost profits. It is suing the engineering companies on behalf of its insurers, which is a common practice in such cases.
The documents also allege that Bantrel failed to put in place "adequate or any systems of design review, common in the petroleum processing industy, to ensure design compatibility between materials being handled and the piping within which such materials were to be transported."
Bantrel said Monday it had not been served with the documents.
"We haven't had a chance to evaluate the claim at all," said Bantrel spokesman Ken Baron.
Suncor spokesman Brad Bellows said the company is required by its insurance policy to file the lawsuit. Should the action be successful, any money obtained from the suit would go to the insurance companies.
Lawyer Nicole Byers, a partner in Vancouver law firm Clark Wilson, said the case could take a long time to settle.
"This could be a very complex and very lengthy proceeding," Byers said in an interview with ROBTv, a specialty business cable channel based in Toronto.
"First of all, the issues are complicated. Suncor is alleging a defect and they will have to prove the cause of the fire and they will also have to prove the parties that are responsible for it.
"It is very likely that there are multiple insurers involved from Suncor's point of view who have paid out so they will all have an interest in dealing with it. And then all of the parties, besides an allocation of risk, there will be defences such as limitations of contract liability . .
"There are a number of issues and a large number of parties potentially to this litigation so I would expect it to be lengthy and quite complicated and therefore take a long time to have it resolved."
Suncor shares closed at $85.87, up 78 cents Monday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.