International Construction Law Review
AUSTRALIA CLOUGH ENGINEERING LTD v. OIL & NATURAL GAS CORPORATION LTD
ANDREW STEPHENSON
Partner, Clayton Utz, Melbourne
Introduction
The recent case of Clough Engineering Ltd v. Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd,1 is the last of a long line of Australian decisions relating to the circumstances in which injunctive relief may be available to prevent a call on a bank guarantee or standby letter of credit (banker’s undertaking), issued to the owner of a construction project. The case is also tangentially relevant to the effect of an international arbitration clause in circumstances where an interim preservation order is being sought.
This case is an appeal from a single judge of the Australian Federal Court to the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia. The presiding judges were French, Jacobson and Graham JJ. It is one of the last decisions delivered by French J before he assumed the position of Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia on 1 September 2008.
The case relates to a dispute which arose between Clough Engineering Ltd (Clough), an Australian company, and Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC), an Indian corporation. Pursuant to the relevant contract Clough undertook to construct infrastructure for an oil and gas field off the
[2009
The International Construction Law Review
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