Introduction:

This highly interactive Oil & Gas Contracts training course will provide its participants with valuable insight into the operations of the Oil and Gas Industry in a modern context. Oil and Gas contracts are the life blood of the industry and form the basis and foundation upon which the industry operates.  This Oil & Gas Contracts training course will give participants a frame work within which to understand the rights and obligations of both host country and operators and how they are determined and set out in the oil and gas contracts. The legal principles involved in licencing, production sharing contracts, service contracts will be highlighted and discussed in order to provide a solid understanding of the legal basis for these contracts.  Further, the course will also cover sale and purchase and transportation contracts in use in the industry. Risk management in the oil and gas industry is essential and needs to be encapsulated in the contract clauses and this course will provide the fundamental knowledge of the essential risk management features that are in these contracts. Participants will get to understand investor protection in the oil and gas industry and how this can be achieved.

Objectives:

Master and comprehensively understand the legal principles of oil and gas contracts

Understanding in depth licensing, production sharing and service contracts

Identifying the risk factors and managing those risks through effective contractual clauses

Know the relevant legal and regulatory frameworks that are in the oil and gas industry

Learn how to use appropriate contractual clauses in oil and gas contracts

Appreciate the best dispute resolution methods and how it will apply it in different scenarios.

Course Outline

Day 1

Introduction to Oil and Gas Contracts, Licencing and Production Rights

Principal Licensing and Contractual Arrangements

Upstream and Downstream Contracting

Financing in the International Oil & Gas Industry

Specific Risks in Upstream & Downstream Contracts

Sale and Purchase and Transportation Agreements

Contractual Claims and Resultant Disputes

The Role of Negotiation Strategies in Dispute Avoidance under Oil & Gas Contracts

Day 2

Emergence of New Contractual Arrangements

The Modern Concession Contracts

The Production Sharing Contracts

Participation Agreements and Joint Operation Agreements (JOA)

Service Contracts, Pure Service Contracts, Risk Service Contracts

Environmental Impacts in the Context of Protection Policies and Requirements

Regulatory Framework, Institutional Factors and Infrastructure

Comparative Analysis of the Different Contract Forms

Day 3

Stabilisation Clauses and International Petroleum Agreements

Stabilisation Clauses Defined

Typology of Stabilisation Clauses

Validity and Efficacy of the Stabilisation Clause

Stabilisation Clauses and the National and International Law

The Re-negotiability of International Petroleum Agreements: Stability vs. Flexibility

The Triggering Events for Renegotiation

Day 4

Key Contractual Issues & Risk Allocation in Oil and Gas Contracts

Liabilities & Exclusion and Limitation

Indemnity and Exclusion Clauses: Why the need?

Distinctions and Definitions: Indemnity vs. Exclusion vs. Limitation

Mutual Hold Harmless – The ‘knock for knock’ regime

Forms of Exclusion Clauses (and why it matters) Common Carve-outs

Performance & Penalties

Termination Clauses and Right to Terminate

Force Majuere, Change in Law and other Disputes

Day 5

Methods of Dispute Resolution under Cross Border / International Agreements

Arbitration & Mediation – Important Differences

Mediation and Conciliation, Adjudication, Dispute Boards - save time and costs

Enforcement of International Arbitration Awards under the New York Convention

Contemporary Developments in Case Law and Legislation