An independent arbitration panel has ordered Duke Energy to enter into discussions with ExxonMobil Corp. to buy out the major producer’s 40% ownership stake in Duke Energy Trading and Marketing (DETM), an ExxonMobil spokesman said.

Spokesman Bob Davis declined to say whether ExxonMobil had definite plans to sell its interest in the DETM joint venture, which was formed between Duke and Mobil in 1996, before the 1999 ExxonMobil merger. “We’re just evaluating our options…The parties are in discussions,” he told Daily GPI. A Duke Energy spokesman said that company also was “just considering our options.”

Davis took issue with Duke Energy’s claim on Thursday that the arbitration panel ruled in its favor in a dispute with ExxonMobil over the joint ownership of DETM (See Daily GPI, Jan. 3). Duke Energy said the panel granted its request for declaratory relief, which addressed its right to buy out ExxonMobil’s 40% share of DETM and the scope of the business activity covered by the partnership.

“I think Duke Energy’s release was a little one sided. We viewed the arbitration panel’s decision as more a split decision,” said Davis. Both companies made financial claims related to DETM, and the panel denied them all, he noted.

He said “one of the points of contention” was that ExxonMobil believed Charlotte, NC-based Duke Energy was booking profits and revenues to its other affiliates that should have gone to DETM.

In addition to claiming victory with the arbitration panel, Duke Energy last week said a federal judge in New York signed an order on Dec. 26 granting “in all respects” the company’s bid to dismiss a major class-action lawsuit that alleged it engaged in questionable “round-trip” trades to boost its revenues. The lawsuit combined 13 separate class-action complaints filed by shareholders, it noted.

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