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Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance

Expertise & Experience

In this section

Our global Oil & Gas group is made up of acknowledged legal experts in the oil and gas industry, offering depth of resource, local expertise and commitment to the key oil and gas markets across the globe.

We advise on the complex legal, commercial and technical issues associated with upstream, midstream and downstream developments worldwide.

Whether you are contemplating an upstream investment in Asia Pacific, a downstream project in the Middle East or simply need help navigating your way through the complexity or diversity of handling a deal or dispute in Africa or Europe - we have the team and experience to assist you. Our expertise in M&A, finance, dispute resolution, construction and environmental regulation is widely acknowledged in the oil and gas industry and this is reflected in our current "Tier One" ranking as an oil & gas firm by global legal directories. 

Understanding key legal issues

We have experience of all contractual and fiscal aspects of the oil & gas industry including production sharing contracts (PSCs), concession joint venture agreements (JVAs), joint operating agreements (JOAs), asset sale and purchase, financings, farm-ins, farm-outs, unitisations and drilling and development contracts. We also have market leading corporate, commodity and project finance experience of the full range of oil and gas transactions. 

Working across all parts of the industry

We have worked on some of the most innovative project developments, as well as acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures and asset swaps of the downstream operations of IOCs and NOCs. Crucially, our experience spans upstream, midstream and downstream projects. Our team has experience of energy related infrastructure development as well as 'pure' oil & gas transactions. We have the capacity to manage the largest integrated projects, to implement complex joint ventures and to negotiate and assist our clients to close multi-source financing and cross border developments.

From construction to decommissioning

We have extensive experience not just of one-off transactions, but also negotiating and drafting operational contracts and dealing with the full range of issues arising through the life cycle of an asset from construction through to commercialisation, operation and maintenance and ultimate decommissioning.

Our Oil & Gas sector group brings together lawyers from our international network with detailed experience of operational contracts and related financings (including reserve base lending). This includes knowledge of vessel and rig charters, short and long term oil, gas and LNG sales contracts and dealing with third party access and transportation issues for major pipelines.  

Client experience

  • Chrysaor on its all share merger with Premier Oil plc through a reverse takeover, creating the largest listed independent oil and gas producer in the UK North Sea
  • Edison on the sale of its Exploration and Production division to Energean Oil & Gas
  • Pharos Energy (previously SOCO International) on its Class 1 acquisition of Merlon Petroleum El Fayum Company from Merlon International
  • Shell on its US$6.7 billion acquisition of a portfolio of LNG assets from Repsol
  • ENI on the sale of their entire oil and gas interest in Ecuador to PlusPetrol, an Argentinian oil and gas company
  • Iberdrola on the sale of a portfolio of LNG assets to Pavilion Energy
  • ENGIE on the sale of its global upstream and midstream LNG business to Total
  • Adani Group on its joint venture with Total to create one of India's largest downstream energy partnerships
  • Partners Group on the acquisition of CapeOmega AS, the Norway-based oil and gas company engaged in providing infrastructure for transporting natural gas
  • IIF on their acquisition of a 43.1% interest in North Sea Midstream Partners, the largest independent midstream business
  • Africa Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) on their investment into Savannah Petroleum (acquirer of Seven Energy’s assets)
  • The financiers to Global Infrastructure Partners on their acquisition of a stake in the infrastructure assets of the Queensland Curtis LNG (QCLNG) complex from Shell for A$3.3 billion
  • Keppel Infrastructure Trust and Metro Pacific Investments Corporation on the acquisition of Philippine Tank Storage International Holdings, Inc., which owns the largest petroleum products import storage facility in the Philippines, the Philippine Coastal Storage & Pipeline Corp