OIL and GAS 2 Oil and Gas
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OIL AND GAS 2 Oil and Gas Contents 04 Our Firm 05 Our Footprint in Africa 06 Our Oil and Gas Sector 07 Our Experience Highlights 12 Our Oil and Gas Team 3 BOWMANS Our Firm Bowmans is a leading Pan-African law firm. Our track record of providing specialist legal services, both domestic and cross-border, in the fields of corporate law, banking and finance law and dispute resolution, spans many decades and is widely acknowledged. ith six offices in four African countries Our expertise is frequently recognised by Wand over 400 specialised lawyers, we are independent research organisations. We have able to provide independent, high quality legal been named Africa Legal Adviser by DealMakers services across many parts of Africa. for the last two consecutive years (2014 and 2015) and South African Law Firm of the Year for 2016 We draw on our knowledge of the African by the Who’s Who Legal. Most recently we won business environment and in-depth the Banking, Finance and Restructuring Team of understanding of the socio-political climate to the Year, the Employment Team of the Year, and advise clients on a wide range of legal issues. the Property Team of the Year awards at Our aim is to assist our clients in achieving their the prestigious African Legal Awards hosted objectives as smoothly and efficiently as possible by Legal Week and the Corporate Counsel while minimising the legal and regulatory risks. Association of South Africa in 2016. Our clients include corporates, multinationals and state-owned enterprises across a range of industry sectors, as well as financial institutions and governments. CONTENTS PAGE 4 Oil and Gas Our Footprint in Africa e provide integrated legal services Wthroughout Africa from six offices (Antananarivo, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Kampala and Nairobi) in four countries (Kenya, Madagascar, South Africa and Uganda). We work closely with leading Nigerian firm, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie, which has offices in Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt, and have strong relationships with other leading law firms across the rest of Africa. We provide coverage of francophone OHADA jurisdictions across the continent (including Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal and Togo). We are representatives of Lex Mundi, a global association, with more than 160 independent law firms in all the major centres across the globe. This association gives us access to the best firms in each jurisdiction represented. Bowmans offices Relationship firm Francophone Africa coverage Significant transaction or advisory experience CONTENTS PAGE 5 BOWMANS Our Oil and Gas Sector Through our offices in Africa, we bring together Our advisory experience covers upstream, lawyers with a wealth of experience from across midstream and downstream. We also have emerging and mature hydrocarbon provinces in significant experience dealing with the oil Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone Africa. and gas legislative environment across Africa, including exploration and production rights and all aspects of local regulatory frameworks. We provide commercially We can work in key jurisdictional languages, focussed legal advice that including French, Portuguese and Spanish, adding to our ability to facilitate cross-border compares favourably at all and inter-governmental negotiations. levels with legal services Our oil and gas specialists are supported by a available in London, wider sector group comprised of internationally Paris and New York: in recognised lawyers in the areas of tax, forensics, corporate, M&A, project finance, infrastructure, execution, delivery, technical projects, and ports and shipping law. We can excellence and on price. therefore advise on complex major oil and gas related projects, as well as environmental and other disciplines associated with oil and gas exploration and production. We recognise that there are many inter- connected challenges for investors in the Our clients include NOCs and IOCs operating hydrocarbons industry in Africa, not least the throughout the oil and gas value chain as well various licensing and regulatory frameworks, as government agencies and regulators. but also the challenges of local content, environmental regulation and fiscal and financial regimes. What differentiates us is that we are an African law firm with credible and experienced oil and gas lawyers on-the-ground in Africa. We operate a single key point of contact model, which not only ensures a seamless service for our clients and assists in developing long-term relationships, but also allows costs to be controlled and output to be delivered in the most commercially sensible way. Prompt response and communication with clients is critical to our approach. David Forfar, our head of oil and gas, is our single point of contact. CONTENTS PAGE 6 Oil and Gas Our Experience Highlights* We have advised: • Chicago Bridge & Iron, a multinational EPC contractor, on various legislative • Africa Energy on its acquisition of a developments affecting a proposed LNG participating interest in Block 2B South Africa. project in Mozambique. • Afren plc with regard to its farm-in into an • China National Offshore Oil Corporation exploration block in Madagascar. on the farm-in of one third of Tullow Oil’s interest in three oil exploration blocks in • Anadarko Petroleum Corporation regarding Western Uganda. various South African regulatory applications and approvals, and have provided general • Compañía Española de Petróleos on its advice on constitutional and administrative farm-in into two onshore blocks in Kenya, law, as well as fiscal stability agreements. providing regulatory, corporate and competition law advice and helping to • A.P. Möller-Maersk Oil, acting as local establish a local presence. counsel in its acquisition of half of Africa Oil Corporation's participation in three blocks • DL Toll, an Australian support services in northern Kenya. provider, on the regulatory regime governing Uganda’s oil sector. • BHP Billiton (GB) on the acquisition of a 90% participating interest in the technical • Dragon Oil (International) Ltd, a UAE-based cooperation permit over South African E&P company, on particular aspects of a deepwater Block 3B/4B, as well as the Kenyan production sharing contract. subsequent conversion thereof to an exploration right. • Eiffage Consortium on its BOOT bid submission for the Kenya (Eldoret) to • BP in relation to its South African black Uganda (Kampala) oil pipeline. economic empowerment transaction in terms of which Kapela Investments and • Elephant Oil on the negotiation, drafting BPSA Education Foundation acquired and execution of a PSC in Benin. shareholdings in BP South Africa. • Eni on licensing requirements in respect of • Bundu Gas and Oil Exploration on its the import and trade of petroleum products application for an exploration right to under South African law. explore for shale gas in the Karoo Basin of South Africa. • ExxonMobil in the negotiation and drafting of a farm-in agreement in South Africa, • Cairn India Group on its farm-in agreement together with advice on regulatory approval offshore Block 1 South Africa, including processes and fiscal stability agreements. drafting relevant applications for approvals by the Minister of Mineral Resources. • Falcon Oil and Gas on its application for an exploration right to explore for shale • Chevron in relation to the acquisition of an gas in the Karoo Basin of South Africa. exploration right in South Africa. CONTENTS PAGE 7 BOWMANS • Halliburton in relation to the advent of a included engaging with Uganda’s Petroleum shale gas industry in South Africa, including Exploration and Production Department providing analyses of existing and proposed (PEPD) on a wide variety of midstream- regulatory frameworks; formal submissions related matters, and the preparation of on the proposed laws to the Department detailed analyses of the existing and of Mineral Resources (DMR) and the proposed legislative and regulatory Petroleum Agency of South Africa (PASA); frameworks governing Uganda’s upstream, and, appearing before PASA, as well as midstream and downstream sectors. the Parliament of South Africa’s Portfolio Committee on Energy, regarding the • Molopo South Africa Exploration and proposed regulatory developments. Production on applications for the renewal of onshore exploration rights and an • Halliburton in relation to competition application for an onshore production right, approvals in various African jurisdictions, as well as negotiations with black economic including Cameroon, DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, empowerment partners. Kenya, Libya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda, where approvals were required to implement • Murphy Oil Corporation in its dealings with the USD 34.6 billion acquisition by Halliburton the Government of Congo-Brazzaville in of shares in Baker Hughes. relation to a PSC. • Hosken Consolidated Investments, a • National Oilwell Varco on aspects of its black empowerment investment company, local content-related proposed operations in relation to the acquisition of a 20% in Uganda. Similar advice was provided stake in Impact Oil and Gas, which included to Halliburton vis-à-vis its South an analysis of various transactional African operations. documents relating to the acquisition of acreage in Gabon, Namibia, South Africa • New African Global Energy on its application and the Senegal/Guinea Bissau Joint for an offshore exploration right