Mallon Oil loses bid to force Costa Rica to sign oil exploration contract
July 4th, 2013 (InsideCostaRica.com) The Constitutional Court (Sala IV) rejected yesterday a motion filed by the transnational Mallon Oil Company that would force Costa Rica to sign a contract allowing the company to explore and extract oil and natural gas.
The Constitutional Court and its interim president, Judge Gilbert Armijo Sancho, rejected by majority the motion filed by the oil company.
In 2011, the Costa Rican government enacted a three-year moratorium on oil exploration in the country, thus suspending the concessions that were previously granted for the activity, such as that held by Mallon.
During yesterday’s hearing, the Court found that here was “no contradiction or non-observance of the resolutions of the Constitutional Court,” and as such the moratorium would remain binding.
In April, U.S. Ambassador Anne Andrew had called for more “certainty” for U.S. investors in Costa Rica and pointed specifically to the case of Mallon Oil.
“Our position is, has been, and remains that Costa Rica should provide some certainty for companies like Mallon Oil in their investments,” the ambassador tol the local newspaper, La Nacion, at the time.
In March, The judges of the Constitutional Court rejected a seperate appeal brought by the Association of Geologists of Costa Rica against the moratorium.
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