Oil & Gas - Watson, Farley & Williams

• Advising a UK plc on joint venture arrangements relating to a production sharing
agreement with SOCAR (state oil company), Amoco and Monument Oil for the
exploration of the Inam Block offshore Azerbaijan
• Advising an international energy trader on the structuring and documentation of a
joint venture with a local chain of petrol stations in Brazil
• Advising an energy trader in relation to a joint venture for the storage and
transportation of hydrocarbons in Congo.
DISPUTE RESOLUTION
• Advising clients on a claim under an all risks cargo policy of insurance following
damage sustained to a jack-up rig whilst being transported from Galveston Texas
to Luwut Malaysia. Addressing, in particular, issues of fortuity and inherent vice
• Acting for PGS Offshore Technology in relation to a claim for a £2m “sailaway”
bonus under an EPC contract for the design, engineering, procurement and
construction of an FPSO. The case turned upon whether the head construction
contractor, Aker Oil & Gas (UK) Limited, had earned the performance bonus by
substantially completing its scope of work on the date of sailaway, and required an
assessment of the scope of carry-over work to be performed offshore
• Acting for SANA the Italian owner of the semi-submersible oil production platform
known as P36 in long-running High Court proceedings against Petrobas
(represented by Linklaters in London) concerning upgrade works to the rig which
capsized and sank off Brazil in 2001. The case involved complicated technical
issues relating to the construction and financing of the rig and was worth in excess
of US$350m
• Acting for Aban Loyd Chiles in a dispute with ITC of Holland over the failure of
ITC's semi-submersible barge to dock Aban’s rig, the Aban II. Claim centred on
which party was responsible for the failure, and required an investigation into the
technical reasons for failure of the docking operation
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