High court orders TotalEnergies to settle fuel dealer in Madina contract dispute
Presiding judge Justice Patrick Baayeh also directed TotalEnergies to issue Mr. Classpeter a release letter within 30 days to allow him to sever ties and continue his operations independently.
An Accra High Court has delivered judgment in favour of a fuel station operator, Mr. Thomas Kofi Classpeter, in his protracted contractual battle with TotalEnergies Marketing PLC, ruling that the company must render accounts on rent collected from a CalBank ATM sited on his land.
Presiding judge Justice Patrick Baayeh also directed TotalEnergies to issue Mr. Classpeter a release letter within 30 days to allow him to sever ties and continue his operations independently.
Background of the Dispute
The case dates back to August 2023, when TotalEnergies sued Mr. Classpeter, who operates the Powerland TotalEnergies Service Station at Madina, insisting that a 2014 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between them was binding for 15 years. The oil marketing giant sought to reclaim the service station and claim damages for alleged breach of contract.
Mr. Classpeter, however, countered that the MOU was a six-month stopgap arrangement, pending a formal agreement that never materialised. He accused the company of clinging to an expired document and further frustrating his efforts by refusing to provide the mandatory release letter required by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA).
Court’s Findings
Justice Baayeh agreed with Mr. Classpeter, ruling that the MOU expired after six months and could not be extended into a 15-year deal simply because the parties continued to conduct business under its framework for nearly nine years without formalizing a new contract.
On the disputed CalBank ATM, the court held that TotalEnergies had no authority to lease part of the land without the dealer’s consent or to conceal the rental proceeds. The company was ordered to file full accounts of rent received and pay 50% of the proceeds to Mr. Classpeter within 60 days.
Outcome
While the court rejected Mr. Classpeter’s claim for damages over the withheld release letter, it awarded GH¢50,000 in costs against TotalEnergies.
This judgment, legal observers say, underscores the limits of corporate dominance in dealer agreements, affirming that oil marketing firms cannot indefinitely impose expired MOUs on independent operators.
