BaII Banking Corp. v. Atlantic Richfield Co.

Facts

Plaintiff BAII is a banking corporation engaged in the business of financing petroleum product transactions. Will Petroleum is a petroleum trading concern which used the plaintiff to finance petroleum transactions. Defendant ARCO is a corporation engaged in the business of buying and selling petroleum products. This suit arises out of a transaction between the plaintiff, Will, and the defendant. In November of 1985, the defendant agreed to purchase approximately 30,000 metric tons of unleaded blending gasoline from Will. Will planned to purchase the gasoline from Move Oil Trading AG, of Zug, Switzerland, then have it loaded onto a ship, the Jo Lonn, to be transported to New York. At the same time Will was involved in a separate but similar transaction for which it sought financing from the plaintiff. Between December 17 and December 20, the cargo of the Jo Lonn was unloaded and placed into storage at Stolt Outerbrigde Terminal in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. The parties agree that between December 20 and January 17 the plaintiff permitted a portion of the cargo of the Jo Lonn to be distributed to customers other than the defendant. Defendant points to the release of a large portion of the Jo Lonn cargo as an indication that the parties had terminated whatever agreement they had entered into before the defendant’s performance was due.