Summary

Introduction

The Claimants, in three separate but related proceedings, are various insurers who seek to continue, on the return date, anti-suit injunctions which were granted on a without notice basis in August 2021. The injunctions relate to proceedings commenced by the Second Defendant against the Claimants in February 2021 in the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta.

The policies issued by the Claimant insurers comprise a programme of excess liability insurance placed in the London market. The Defendants potentially require resort to that cover in relation to underlying proceedings which have been commenced, also in the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta, by Nexen Energy ULC ("Nexen") in relation to the failure of a pipeline which resulted in the leak of 5,000 cubic metres of bitumen into the environment. Nexen claims against a number of contractors, including a company called Sunstone Projects Ltd ("Sunstone") which is alleged to be the predecessor in interest of the Second Defendant. Sunstone is alleged to have been negligent in the engineering, procurement, design and construction supervision work it performed for Nexen in relation to a pipeline system in Alberta.