‘Everybody wanted to be on that bus’: Baker Botts on its award-winning Saudi green hydrogen deal

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‘Everybody wanted to be on that bus’: Baker Botts on its award-winning Saudi green hydrogen deal

Baker Botts walked away from this year’s Legal Business Awards with the trophy for energy/infrastructure team of the year, in recognition of the firm’s work advising Air Products and Chemicals on Saudi Arabia’s landmark NEOM Green Hydrogen Project. LB spoke with two of the lead partners on the deal to discuss getting it over the line, the importance of sector expertise, and what it means for the future of green hydrogen.

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‘The investment opportunity of a lifetime’: could a booming infrastructure sector offer firms a route into high-value transactional work?

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‘The investment opportunity of a lifetime’: could a booming infrastructure sector offer firms a route into high-value transactional work?

According to Dealogic, 2023 saw the lowest Q1 global deal volume and value since 2012, with just 9,400 deals worth almost $591bn.

But the infrastructure, energy, and projects sector has remained resilient. Dealogic reports 1,953 utility and energy deals worth over $253m in 2022 – a drop in value of just over 16% on 2021, and still higher than all but one of the years 2013-19. Firms on both sides of the Atlantic have noted this, and have invested heavily in infrastructure in recent years, as evidenced by Clifford Chance (CC)’s recent Houston launch. UK-based firms argue that their full-service capabilities give them an edge in the sector. But opinion on this strategy remains split. Some question the importance of full-service capabilities – in the US market in particular. Continue reading “‘The investment opportunity of a lifetime’: could a booming infrastructure sector offer firms a route into high-value transactional work?”

Sponsored briefing: Angola – getting back in the game

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Sponsored briefing: Angola – getting back in the game

Morais Leitão’s Claudia Santos Cruz on recent legal developments and the future of the Angolan oil industry in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic

For a brief period in 2009, Angola was Africa’s largest oil producer with production reaching two million barrels per day. Current production is around 1.37 million barrels per day. This reduction is generally attributed to a general reduction in production; low oil prices and more recently Covid-19 pandemic effects. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Angola – getting back in the game”

Sponsored briefing: Disputes flare up in the oil and gas sector

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Sponsored briefing: Disputes flare up in the oil and gas sector

Navigant’s Mark Taylor on the pressures that oil prices exert on contracts in the sector

We all know how the price of fuel at the pump can affect how individuals feel about their own prosperity. For producers in the oil and gas sector, oil price uncertainty is a substantial risk, since it has a direct bearing on a project’s return on investment. Assumptions about future oil prices always weigh heavily on investment decisions, but in recent years severely fluctuating prices have added economic risks for producers, on top of the inherently complex engineering challenges of exploration and production. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Disputes flare up in the oil and gas sector”

Dentons advises Total on $5bn Iranian oil deal in first long post-sanction contract

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Dentons advises Total on $5bn Iranian oil deal in first long post-sanction contract

Dentons has taken the lead advising French oil and gas company Total in signing a £4bn ($5bn) contract with Iran’s national Oil company, the republic’s first energy deal with a foreign enterprise since sanctions eased 18 months ago.

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Client profile: Mark Cooper, Cadent Gas

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Client profile: Mark Cooper, Cadent Gas

The general counsel and company secretary of the newly-formed gas company on the importance of saying ‘yes’

Within a month of Mark Cooper joining National Grid (NG)’s in-house team in 2015, things became very busy very quickly. UK general counsel (GC) Rachael Davidson told him that one of the businesses he was looking after – NG’s gas distribution network – was going to be sold off.

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Sponsored briefing: Offshore construction risks

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Sponsored briefing: Offshore construction risks

Navigant’s Tony Farrow describes how the particular risks of offshore oil and gas extraction present unique challenges for parties involved in construction projects

Onshore and offshore basics

In oil and gas extraction, both onshore and offshore-based facilities are dealing with the same process – namely the collection, initial processing, storage, and transfer of oil and gas. However, there are significant differences in the technical demands and risk profile of each approach. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Offshore construction risks”

Magic Circle duo land £2.2bn energy deal as antitrust concerns surface

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Magic Circle duo land £2.2bn energy deal as antitrust concerns surface

Linklaters and Slaughter and May have taken lead roles as UK energy services giant Wood Group is to acquire its struggling rival Amec Foster Wheeler for £2.2bn amid market competition concerns.

The deal was announced in March and is expected to close in the second half of 2017. Under the terms, Scottish company Wood Group is offering £5.64 per Amec share, for 56% ownership of the combined group.

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