Savannah Energy PLC on Friday accused Chad president Mahamat Deby of directly breaching International Criminal Court conventions, following Thursday’s presidential decree to nationalise the company’s upstream production assets in Chad.

The AIM-listed, Africa-focused energy company, with projects in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, said it intends to pursue all of its legal rights regarding the assets owned by Savannah Chad Inc, as the conventions it claims were breached are subject to the jurisdiction of an ICC tribunal.

Savannah Chad was formerly known as Esso Exploration & Production Chad Inc, before it was acquired by Savannah Energy in December.

Savannah Energy said the presidential decree was issued despite Savannah Chad ‘immediately revers[ing]’ a historic production decline at the assets in the country, noting a 9% increase to an average of 29,349 barrels per day since December 9 compared to the equivalent period prior to the Savannah Energy acquisition.

Savannah Energy also had initiated plans to significantly increase production further through an active investment programme, it said.

Savannah Energy said it remains committed to delivering its strategy in Africa and expects to provide further updates ‘in due course’.

Savannah Energy shares are suspended from trading, last trading in early December.

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