The Energy Act 2023 (the “Act”) (in force as from 26 October 2023) amends model clauses contained in exploration and production licences to introduce requirements for consent to be obtained from the North Sea Transition...more
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took a strong, uncompromising pro-Hamas stance in the latter’s military conflict with Israel last week. In so doing, he torpedoed any potential in the near future for possible joint...more
The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) is the strongest market in the U.S. when it comes to using energy storage for renewable integration, grid optimization, and electrification and decentralization, with a 43.7...more
The United States Department of the Interior published the final well control rule on Aug. 22 from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). The rule clarifies blowout preventer (BOP) system regulations and...more
In a recent decision, the Federal Court has rejected an attempt by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to set aside ministerial approval of a significant offshore oil and gas project. The NGOs argued that the Minister...more
The Opportune 2023 Study has been conducted to independently calculate the OCS plugging and abandonment (P&A) liability, assess the risk such liability poses to the U.S. taxpayer, and perform a cost-benefit analysis of how...more
The Australian government has announced proposed reforms to Australia's offshore oil & gas regulation, which are aimed at achieving appropriate stewardship of assets by increasing government scrutiny over oil & gas...more
This is a brief report on new environmental law decisions, regulations and legislation. THE U.S. SUPREME COURT - Massachusetts Lobsterman’s Association v. Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce - On March 22, 2021, the Supreme...more
Everyone noticed when President Trump issued an order earlier this month banning offshore oil and gas drilling in certain areas until 2032. It was obvious to everyone that this was a campaign stunt, intended to improve his...more
El pasado 23 de julio, el Ministerio de Minas y Energía (MinMinas o MME) publicó el Proyecto de Resolución por la cual se establecen los criterios técnicos para proyectos de exploración y explotación de hidrocarburos costa...more
COVID-19 presents the oil and gas sector with several novel safety considerations. Drilling rigs and production platforms are self-contained vessels in which workers routinely live and work in close contact...more
One breakout political star of the Coronavirus crisis has been New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo. His daily briefings have been direct and succinct. Cuomo often says that numbers will drive the policy. Unfortunately, in...more
The real estate investment trust (REIT) has been a preferred vehicle for investment in income producing real estate portfolios. The REIT provides investors with many federal income tax benefits associated with C-corporations,...more
Rekindling the Flame: Oil & Gas Securitizations - A number of recent structurings of investment-grade rated securitizations of oil and gas wells are sparking conversations in the U.S. upstream oil and gas industry about...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently held that its two-question Doiron test for determining whether oilfield services contracts are maritime contracts also applies when evaluating the maritime-contract...more
The IMO and the Price of Gas or The Impact of the International Maritime Organisation’s Sulphur 2020 Limit for Marine Fuel Oil on the Price of Gas - The main bunker fuel for ships is High Sulphur Fuel Oil (HSFO, with...more
Two of the legal worlds that I straddle – energy and aviation – collided last week in the Mediterranean Sea. The implications for these two disciplines, as well as world security, could be enormous. Originally published on...more
Reports issued in the past week state that Pemex, Mexico's national oil company, seeks operational control of Talos Energy's Block 7 oil and gas exploration area, located in shallow waters off the coast of the State of...more
In 2014, we wrote about efforts by the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) to require less traditional parties to fund the decommissioning of idle oil and gas wells and related...more
On May 2, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) issued the 2019 Well Control Rule (Rule), a long-awaited, revised (and final) well control and blowout preventer rule governing Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)...more
The looming decommissioning liabilities of offshore energy producers have been a focus of the federal government in recent years. One recent case out of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, Taylor Energy v. United States,...more
The U.S. oil and gas industry has witnessed significant transformations over the last year, and 2019 should see even more transformative changes....more
In the first part of this three part series we considered the impact of President Trump’s decision to re-impose sanctions on Iran’s energy sector with effect from 5 November 2018. However, Iran is not unique. Other nations...more
The November 6 election will include environmental ballot initiatives as well as issues dividing candidates and the results should provide an interesting aspect of the election. ...more
With the eddies still spinning in the wheelwash of its landmark en banc opinion in In Re Larry Doiron, Inc., the Fifth Circuit in In re Crescent Energy Servs., L.L.C., 2018 WL 3420665 (5th Cir. July 13, 2018), — F.3d —, has...more