Justice Butcher of the High Court of England and Wales ruled on February 17 that receivers should take control of oil revenues owed to Eroton Exploration and Production Company Limited, acting on an application brought by fellow Nigerian firm Brightwaters Energy Limited.
The dispute traces back to goods and services Brightwaters supplied to Eroton in Nigeria. In June 2022, a Lagos High Court entered a consent judgment ordering Eroton and Energy Link Infrastructure Ltd to jointly pay $25.15 million. Although $3.5 million was eventually paid, the bulk of the debt went unsettled. By the time the Lagos judgment was registered in England’s King’s Bench Division in November 2025, $16.65 million remained outstanding, with interest climbing at eight percent per year.
Eroton mounted five objections, none of which held up. It argued that Guaranty Trust Bank already held security over its assets, making any receivership pointless. The court rejected this, finding that Eroton still retained an equity of redemption that could be subject to the order. The company also claimed that Brightwaters’ simultaneous pursuit of winding-up proceedings in Nigeria should bar enforcement in England — a position the judge bluntly dismissed as “unattractive,” noting that Eroton itself had been dragging out those insolvency proceedings. Arguments over insufficient connection to England and procedural objections regarding GTBank’s notification were similarly thrown out.
