Summary

ARBITRATION - International Arbitration Act 1974 - Application to stay court proceedings - Significance of Kompetenz Kompetenz doctrine - UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration - Commercial Arbitration Act 2010 (NSW) - Commercial Arbitration Act 2011 (Vic).

The applicants and BHP Group Limited ('the Producers') are obliged to make royalty payments to OBL under a Royalty Agreement made over 60 years ago. Under the Royalty Agreement, OBL acquired the right to receive an overriding royalty of two and a half per cent of the gross value of all hydrocarbons produced and recovered within a designated area in Bass Strait. Related contractual arrangements changed over time with the result that today the royalty to which OBL is entitled is payable by the Producers....