As certain oil and gas provinces near the end of their production lives, companies, governments and other stakeholders are turning their attention to decommissioning. The price of disposing of oil and gas installations is enormous. Yet the costs of getting it wrong can be even greater.

Part A of this fully updated second edition looks at decommissioning and the oil and gas life cycle. Part B contains chapters on decommissioning and international law. Part C focuses on decommissioning in the North Sea and contains chapters on government policy, environment law, offshore contracting, health and safety, financial and technical issues, further examined using a case study from a completed North Sea decommissioning project. Part D provides an international comparative analysis, with new chapters on Denmark, Namibia, Netherlands and New Zealand.

As well as decommissioning professionals, this title will be of interest to oil and gas executives, lawyers, environmental consultants, tax advisers, accountants, insurers, investment bankers, academics and other professionals connected to the oil and gas industry.

Oluwadare Agbelese
Associate, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie
[email protected]

Dare Agbelese is a member of Udo Udoma & Belo- Osagie’s oil and gas and corporate advisory teams. His specialisations include oil and gas advice, corporate advice (including mergers and acquisitions) and power. He has been actively involved in oil and gas transactions (including financing) and has significant experience in joint venture structuring and farm-in/out transactions. He also provides extensive advice on the provisions of the Petroleum Act and its subsidiary legislation, the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act and the Petroleum Industry Bill.
Dare is a contributor to the International Law Office’s Nigerian Energy and Natural Resources’ newsletter and is a member of the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum’s finance, insurance and legal services working group. He was previously content moderator and contributor at petroleumindustrybill.com.

Irina Akentjeva
Senior associate, Herbert Smith Freehills
[email protected]

Irina Akentjeva is a senior associate in the corporate energy team at Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) in Singapore, where she specialises in transactional and advisory work in the mining, oil and gas and power sectors across South-East Asia.
Irina was a key member of the HSF team that advised PT Pertamina (Persero), the Indonesian state-owned oil and gas company, on the proposed naphtha-based petrochemical joint venture with PTT Global Chemical and has advised many other clients on upstream and downstream transactions in Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar. In particular, Irina has, together with lawyers from Hiswara, Bunjamin & Tandjung, advised a number of clients in the oil and gas sector on decommissioning and environmental obligations in Indonesia. She has also been heavily involved in a number of power and mining projects in Indonesia.

Judith Aldersey-Williams
Partner, CMS Cameron McKenna
[email protected]

Judith Aldersey-Williams is a partner in the Energy team of CMS, with 25 years’ experience as a commercial solicitor in London and, since 2000, in Aberdeen. She advises energy industry clients on commercial and regulatory matters with a particular emphasis on commercial contracts, including joint operating agreements, major infrastructure projects, gas sales agreements and supply and service contracts. She advised Oil & Gas UK on the development of the industry standard decommissioning security agreement and on its negotiations with HM Treasury and HMRC over the development of the Decommissioning Relief Deed. She also advises the industry on competition law issues.

Iván Aleksei Alemán Loza
Founding partner, Alemán y Asociados, S.C. Energy & Financial Legal Strategies
[email protected]

Iván Aleksei Alemán Loza is an attorney and master in public administration. Since 1998 he has held various positions in the public administration. In the Ministry of Finance he was deputy general of budget legislation and consultation, as well as general director of legislation and consultation, parastatal entities and trusts, both in the Fiscal Prosecutor of the Nation.
In Petróleos Mexicanos he was technical secretary to the general director and was in charge of the General Attorney’s Office. In the Ministry of Energy, he was head of legal affairs and secretary on the board of directors of Petróleos Mexicanos and Comisión Federal de Electricidad.
He held the post of vice president of supervision and preventive processes at the National Banking and Securities Commission and is a founding partner of Alemán y Asociados.

Nicholas Antonas
Associate, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
[email protected]

Nicholas Antonas is an energy and resources associate at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. Nicholas advises international energy companies, hedge funds, bondholders and lenders, primarily in cross border mergers and acquisitions, project developments and restructurings. Nicholas has extensive experience advising on decommissioning matters, including co-authoring a chapter on the topic and advising energy companies, decommissioning contractors and lenders. Nicholas holds an LLB and BEng (Mechanical) from the University of Melbourne, and an LLM with specialisations in environmental, energy and clean-tech law from the University of California (Berkeley).

Erlend B Bakken
Founder, Michelet & Co
[email protected]

Erlend Bakken is one of the founders of Michelet & Co, a law firm with fully integrated offices in Oslo and London. Michelet & Co provides legal and strategic advice to a range of clients within the oil and energy sector.
Erlend has more than 15 years’ experience advising oil and gas companies, investors, suppliers, financiers and investment banks on strategic matters, projects and operational issues as well as corporate and corporate finance transactions. He has a law degree from the University of Oslo and an LLM from the University of California.

Clara Greve Brett
Associate, Accura
[email protected]

Clara Greve Brett is an associate at Accura Law Firm. Clara has considerable experience in the upstream energy field from private practice as well as through a recent secondment to a large international oil company. Clara’s experience covers all aspects of Danish energy law including its commercial aspects. Clara has frequently published on various energy law topics.

Eduardo Canales
Associate, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
[email protected]

Eduardo Canales is an associate at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld focusing on international energy transactions in the upstream and midstream sectors. He has helped clients in Asia, Europe and the Americas design, negotiate, finance and execute cross-border energy and infrastructure projects and asset acquisitions and divestitures. He is licensed in Texas and is a native Spanish speaker.

Laurits Schmidt Christensen
Associate partner, Accura
[email protected]

Laurits Schmidt Christensen is an associate partner at the law firm Accura in Copenhagen, Denmark. Laurits advises a number of the licensees active in the Danish North Sea in relation to regulatory matters as well as in relation to the negotiation and drafting of commercial agreements among these parties. In addition, Laurits advises on all aspects of EU regulatory law and EU competition law as well as procurement issues. Laurits has considerable experience in reviewing, drafting and negotiating commercial contracts as well as contracts with government institutions, including defence and transport.

Michael Davar
Associate, Squire Patton Boggs
[email protected]

Michael Davar is a UK-qualified lawyer specialising in international dispute resolution and litigation. Michael advises on a range of complex multijurisdictional commercial disputes for various clients including offshore contractors, oil and gas operators, shipowners, charterers, cargo owners, brokers, shipbuilders, banks, private equity, information technology companies and high-net worth individuals in arbitration, litigation and mediation in London, Singapore and Australia. Prior to entering the legal industry, Michael worked as a forex and fixed income trading analyst at the hedge fund, Nau Capital LLP. He holds degrees in law and economic history and speaks several languages including Russian and Georgian.

Folake Elias-Adebowale
Partner, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie
[email protected]

Folake Elias-Adebowale co-heads Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie’s corporate advisory, private equity and oil and gas teams. Her specialisations include equity and asset acquisitions, restructuring, private equity, regulatory compliance and the financing of industrial and energy projects. She also advises several domestic and foreign participants in the petroleum industry on restructurings, acquisitions and disposals of interests, and compliance issues.
She contributes articles for the International Law Office’s Energy and Natural Resources Newsletter, represents the firm on the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association’s legal and regulatory council, and headed the legal and regulatory sub-committee of the Federal Ministry of Industry Trade and Investment’s private equity and venture capital development committee. She is currently chairman of the African Capital Venture and Private Equity Association and heads the legal sub-committee of the committee inaugurated by the Federal Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment for private equity and venture capital in Nigeria.

Mira Fadhya
Managing partner, Hiswara Bunjamin & Tandjung
[email protected]

Mira Fadhya is a founding partner of Hiswara Bunjamin & Tandjung (HBT), Herbert Smith Freehill’s associated Indonesian law firm. She was a senior associate in another major Indonesian law firm before she established HBT with four other leading commercial lawyers. She leads the energy practice at HBT and has worked as a commercial lawyer and handled many international energy and M&A transactions in Indonesia over the last 15 years. Mira has extensive experience in mining, oil and gas and power-related matters. Her practice area covers the full range of Indonesian oil and gas topics, including regulatory issues, joint operation structuring, contractual arrangements and M&A. Examples include the first downstream LNG project in Indonesia, various acquisitions of upstream interests in Indonesian oil and gas PSCs, a long-term charter contract for a floating production unit to operate in gas fields in Indonesia, and the localisation of a PSC interest held by a foreign entity.

Callum Falconer
Commercial manager, Marathon Oil Decommissioning Services LLC
[email protected]

Callum Falconer is a graduate chemist and has been in the oil and gas industry since 1984. He has worked for Marathon Oil for the last 28 years. During his career at Marathon he worked initially offshore in a variety of operational roles including platform manager.
Since moving onshore in 2004, his focus changed to project management and commercial negotiations until leading Marathon’s decommissioning planning in 2009. Callum has been on the board of directors of Decom North Sea for the last three years and was elected Chairman in 2014. He also sits on the Society for Underwater Technology and the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers decommissioning committees.

Alexandra Gordon
Associate, Reed Smith LLP
[email protected]

Alexandra Gordon qualified as an associate in the energy and natural resources group of Reed Smith’s London office in February 2013. She has experience in a broad variety of environmental, transactional and litigious matters in the energy, natural resources, international trade and commodities sector. Her work has included advising on a number of site decommissioning and remediation projects. Alexandra also advises clients in the sector in connection with the regulatory and legal impact of EU sanctions regimes.

Marc Hammerson
Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
[email protected]

Marc Hammerson is a solicitor and partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP in London. He is an experienced upstream energy lawyer specialising in both M&A and project development. He has worked in private practice and in-house, and was based in the Far East in the early 2000s. Mr Hammerson has degrees in law from Manchester University and the London School of Economics, and is a member of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators.

Alan Harvie
Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
[email protected]

Alan Harvie is a partner in the energy and infrastructure department of Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP in Calgary, Alberta. He holds degrees in law and economics and has specialised in environmental law, especially for the upstream oil and gas industry, for over 25 years. Alan has led environmental projects for the decommissioning of large onshore oil and gas fields, pipelines and facilities in Canada, and coauthored British Columbia’s Oil and Gas Activities Act. Alan has also worked on large acquisitions and divestitures for energy companies, appeared before various Canadian energy regulatory bodies and courts, and published various articles on legal developments in the energy industry, including in the Alberta Law Review.

Adam Hedley
Associate, Reed Smith LLP
[email protected]

Adam Hedley is a senior associate in Reed Smith’s energy and natural resources group. He advises on a broad spectrum of UK and international environmental and regulatory matters. Adam routinely advises on a range of regulatory compliance and operational issues, including soil and groundwater contamination, environmental permitting, trade effluent and water discharges, waste management and duty of care, flood and water management and producer responsibility obligations.
Adam has also assisted clients with UK- and EU-wide regulatory compliance initiatives and strategic projects such as substance procurement, product safety and stewardship, brownfield redevelopment, waste disposal, site decommissioning and permit surrender in relation to manufacturing facilities, chemical and petrochemical plants and waste facilities.

Robert Hodges
Partner, EY
[email protected]

Robert Hodges is a partner in EY’s energy team and has over 15 years’ experience working with oil and gas companies and investors in the sector, advising on UK and international tax. He has provided tax support and advice on a number of corporate and asset transactions and financing across the value chain.
His experience also covers various tax policy activities, including 15 months leading policy development on the UK oil and gas taxation regime for the UK finance ministry (HM Treasury), advising the Chancellor of the Exchequer and junior ministers. He also advised Oil & Gas UK in the co-development of proposals with the UK government to achieve long-term certainty over the availability of tax relief for decommissioning costs in the United Kingdom.
Robert speaks regularly at oil and gas industry and tax seminars and has authored a number of articles and journals. In 2011, he presented and participated in the expert panel at a seminar for the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation to share the UK experience with resource taxation. The seminar was co-organised by bodies including the IEA and the International Tax Dialogue.

Ben Holland
Partner, Squire Patton Boggs
[email protected]

Ben Holland specialises in handling multijurisdictional large-scale dispute resolution for energy-sector clients around the world. Ben’s practice focuses exclusively on energyrelated disputes with particular emphasis on the oil and gas, LNG, power and utilities, renewables and mining sectors. Ben advises on disputes concerning the construction, operation and decommissioning of oil and gas production facilities and equipment, pipelines, onshore and offshore engineering, power and renewables facilities.
Legal 500 2015 says he is “excellent for tricky, high-value disputes”. Chambers UK says he is a “true energy disputes lawyer” and is highly recommended by market sources for his arbitration expertise.

Faizah Jamaludin
Partner, Skrine
[email protected]

Faizah Jamaludin is a partner at Skrine and heads both its oil and gas and competition practice groups. Prior to Skrine, Faizah was senior legal attorney with ExxonMobil in Malaysia. Faizah has extensive experience in advising international oil companies and oil services companies on asset and corporate acquisitions and disposals, production sharing contracts, joint operating agreements, farm-outs, risk service contracts, alliance agreements and Petronas licensing in Malaysia. She also advises on downstream refining, petrochemical and renewable energy projects.
Chambers Asia Pacific 2016 ranked Skrine in band 1 for projects, energy and infrastructure and stated that it is a “standout practice which is widely recognised for its expertise in oil and gas, particularly in the upstream field. Frequently advises various multinationals on complex transactions such as joint ventures and acquisitions within the energy space” and named Faizah as a notable practitioner. The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2016 ranked Skrine in tier 1 for projects and energy and remarked that Faizah “understands the industry and knows how to create a win-win solution”.

Merete Kristensen
Senior associate, Arntzen de Besche
[email protected]

Merete Kristensen is a senior associate in the oil, offshore and energy group at Arntzen de Besche law firm in Oslo, Norway. She has experience advising both Norwegian and foreign authorities, as well as commercial clients, on regulatory and contractual matters in the oil and gas industry. She has in recent years also been part of the teams on major litigations before the Norwegian courts.

Sam MacGibbon
Partner, Minter Ellison
[email protected]

Sam MacGibbon is a partner in the energy and resources group of Minter Ellison. He has specialised in energy and resources projects and transactions for over 20 years, and was a partner in the energy and projects practice of a major US law firm in London before joining Minter Ellison. Sam has worked extensively on domestic and international oil and gas and LNG projects, advising on acquisitions, disposals and joint ventures, the development of offshore and onshore oil and gas projects, gas processing, pipeline and transportation arrangements, gas, LNG and NGLs sales and marketing, facilities operation and management and tolling agreements, drilling contracts and master services agreements. He also advises on project finance and a range of general corporate and commercial matters.

Rui Mayer
Partner, Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira
[email protected]

Rui Mayer is the partner in charge of the oil, gas and mining department of Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira, and is also responsible for overseeing the firm’s activities in Angola. He began practising in 1982. Rui has been: legal adviser at Partex – Companhia Portuguesa de Serviços, SA, where he began his work in the oil and gas sector; resident manager at the oil exploration and production division of the Finnish company Neste Oy in Lisbon and Algiers; corporate secretary and general manager in human resources at Petróleos de Portugal, Petrogal, SA. Between 2000 and 2013 he was general counsel of the Galp Energia Group. His practice has focused on the legal themes relating to all components of the oil and gas industry’s value chain. He has also practised in the area of commercial and corporate law – having participated in several mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganisations and financial transactions – and employment law.

Leon Moller
Lecturer, Law School, Robert Gordon University
[email protected]

Leon Moller is a lecturer and researcher in maritime, energy and oil and gas law at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen. He has an LLM in international petroleum law and a PhD in international law of the sea and the exploitation of offshore oil and gas resources, from the University of Dundee. Dr Moller is a qualified solicitor and previously worked in both private practice and in-house, advising international oil and gas clients. He presents regularly at various conferences and publishes on international oil and gas law, decommissioning, contractual risk and legal challenges in oil and gas investment. He is a council member of the UK Society of Legal Scholars and convener of the maritime law section.
Previously, Dr Moller worked as Namibian Petroleum Commissioner and contributed to the development of energy, minerals and oil and gas legislation for Namibia.

Simon Moore
Partner, Stephenson Harwood LLP
[email protected]

Simon Moore is a partner at Stephenson Harwood, specialising in insurance, shipping and general commercial litigation, with a particular focus on drafting and negotiating contracts and dispute resolution in the offshore oil and gas and maritime industries.
Mr Moore acts for London Market and international insurers and reinsurers on a wide range of marine and energy classes of business, including hull and machinery, war risks, P&I, builders’ all risks, construction all risks, and control of well and energy package policies. He also advises offshore construction, installation and drilling contractors in the offshore oil and gas industries on drafting and negotiating contracts and on dispute resolution.
Mr Moore has a broad range of experience, having worked on projects in Southeast Asia, India, West Africa, South America and the North Sea, and he is recommended by Legal 500 UK, which describes him as “very focused”, “straight talking” and “punching above his weight”.

Karl Erik Navestad
Partner, Arntzen de Besche
[email protected]

Karl Erik Navestad is a partner in the oil, offshore and energy group at Arntzen de Besche law firm in Oslo, Norway. He regularly acts on behalf of clients within the oil and gas industry on a variety of matters, including offshore field developments, exploration activities, disputes, licence and company transactions and licensing framework and regulatory issues. His expertise lies mainly in the fields of oil, gas and energy law and contract law. Karl Erik has served as in-house legal counsel for the Norwegian subsidiary of the French oil major TOTAL.

Bruno Neves de Sousa
Lawyer, Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira
[email protected]

Bruno Neves de Sousa has been an associate lawyer at Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira since 2009 and is currently working in the oil, gas and mining areas. He was admitted to the Portuguese Bar Association in 2006 and was assistant professor at the University of Lisbon Law School from 2008 until 2012. He has a law degree from the University of Coimbra Law School (2006) and a Specialisation Course in Legal Sciences at University of Lisbon Law School (2009). He has concluded a Post-Graduation Course in Corporate Law at the Institute for Business and Labour Law at the University of Coimbra Law School (2011). More recently, he concluded a course in international petroleum transactions conducted by the Portuguese Association of International Law (2014) and an LLM programme on international business law conducted by the Global School of Law at the Portuguese Catholic University (2015).

João Oliveira
Legal counsel, BP Angola (Block 18) BV
[email protected]

João Oliveira is a legal counsel for BP’s upstream business activities. He holds a degree in law and an LLM in energy, environment and natural resources law from the University of Houston (US). João works regularly with oil and gas regulations, tax and commercial matters giving support to BP’s operations in Angola. Prior to working for BP, João worked for six years for an international law firm in its Lisbon, Houston and Luanda offices.
Based in Luanda, João works directly with the Angolan oil and gas industry and has written two articles regarding environmental regulations applicable to the oil and gas sector.

Franklin Onwuzu
Associate, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie
[email protected]

Franklin Onwuzu is an associate with Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie’s oil and gas team and regularly advises clients on various issues in connection with the Nigerian oil and gas industry, including local content compliance requirements, foreign investment approvals and general regulatory permits. He has also been involved in corporate restructuring and capital market transactions. Franklin has presented a paper on the Nigerian Department of Petroleum Resources’ guidelines for the release of staff in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

Steven P Otillar
Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
[email protected]

Steven P Otillar is a partner in the global energy transactions practice of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in Houston, Texas. He is licensed in Texas and is a solicitor in England and Wales. Steven has been representing clients in the development, finance, acquisition and divestiture of domestic and international energy projects for over 20 years, with a particular emphasis on offshore projects and upstream projects in emerging markets. He counsels clients on host government granting instruments, public tenders, farm-in/farm-out agreements, joint ventures, and investment arrangements relating to the right to develop oil, gas and major energy infrastructure projects around the world, as well as negotiating and drafting the underlying project development and engineering, procurement and construction of documentation. Steven also continues to work closely with his financial restructuring partners to help energy clients find solutions and take advantage of opportunities in the challenging commodity price environment.

John Paterson
Professor of Law, University of Aberdeen
[email protected]

John Paterson is Professor of Law at the University of Aberdeen and formerly co-director of its Centre for Energy Law. He was appointed the University’s Vice-Principal of Internationalisation in 2016. He is one of the founders and coordinators of the University’s LLM in oil and gas law which now offers dissertation and professional skills variants and which will have its tenth anniversary in 2017. His research focuses on regulatory issues in the upstream, especially in relation to health and safety and decommissioning. He has been involved in international funded projects in research and teaching, as well as in the provision of specialist training for the industry and in consultancy.
He is co-editor of Oil and Gas Law: Current Practice and Emerging Trends, the third edition of which is currently in preparation.

Eduardo G Pereira
Adjunct Professor, University of Eastern Finland; Counsel, Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva (MLGTS)
[email protected]

Eduardo G Pereira has been active in the oil and gas industry for several years and is an international expert on joint operating agreements. His experience in this area – both academic and practical – is extensive. He played a key role in assisting Petra Energia in becoming Brazil’s leading onshore oil and gas company and developing its international business throughout Europe, Africa and Asia. He has practical experience in over 40 jurisdictions covering America, Europe, Africa and Asia. Dr Pereira concluded his doctoral thesis on oil and gas joint ventures at the University of Aberdeen. He is an adjunct professor of energy law at the University of Eastern Finland Law School (Finland), visiting adjunct professor of energy law at the University of Reykjavik Law School (Iceland), research fellow at Centro de Estudos em Regulação e Infraestrutura – FGV (Brazil), senior research fellow at the Centre for Petroleum and Mineral Law Research (Nigeria), visiting researcher at the Scandinavian Institute for Maritime Law – University of Oslo (Norway), managing editor for UEF Energy Law Review and an associate editor of OGEL. He is a consultant at the Portuguese/ international law firm Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva (MLGTS). He is also the author and editor of several leading oil and gas textbooks.

Jessica Raza (nee Harris)
Lawyer, Axiom Global Ltd
[email protected]

Jessica Raza is an Axiom lawyer based in London who works with companies and institutions operating across the oil and gas, energy, mining and environmental industries, providing a range of transactional and general corporate/commercial in-house legal support. She was previously an associate in the corporate energy team at Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) in Singapore, where she specialised in transactional and advisory work in the oil and gas and power sectors across South- East Asia.
She was a key member of the HSF team that successfully completed CNOOC’s sale of its interest in the Offshore Northwest Java PSC in Indonesia and has advised many other clients on similar upstream and downstream transactions in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Myanmar and Japan. In addition, she has been heavily involved in a number of power, biogas, LNG and mining projects in Indonesia and across South East Asia.
Jessica began her legal career at King & Wood Mallesons in Perth, where she advised on several large Australian resources projects, including the Gorgon Gas Project in Western Australia. She is currently seconded to Environmental Resources Management (ERM), a leading global provider of environmental, health, safety, risk and social consulting services and sustainability related services, supporting ERM’s group corporate team and various regional business units.

Jill Reid
Partner, Maclay Murray & Spens LLP
[email protected]

Jill joined MMS in 2015 as a partner in the oil and gas team and is based in Aberdeen. She brings over 25 years’ experience working in both UKCS and international upstream oil and gas in Chevron and Shell where she held both legal and commercial roles. Prior to joining MMS she was General Counsel and Company Secretary at Dana Petroleum. Her experience in decommissioning covers all areas but her specialism lies in the preparation of late life assets including the area of M&A, addressing allocation of decommissioning liability between the parties and the security of costs on the transfer of late-life assets. During her career she has been the lead lawyer in the sale of a number of platforms and her team at Shell was responsible for the mature asset divestment programme.

Maricela Robles
HP Inc
[email protected]

Maricela Robles is currently social and environmental responsibility counsel for EMEA at HP Inc in the United Kingdom. Fluent in English and Spanish (and proficient in French and Italian) she is dual-qualified in Mexico and the United Kingdom with over 10 years’ experience in practice. She handles a wide range of environmental and human rights work including waste law, chemicals regulation, material restrictions, eco-design regulations and antihuman trafficking legislation. Maricela also has an LLM in international trade law.

Nicholas Rock
Partner, Reed Smith LLP
[email protected]

Nicholas Rock is a partner in Reed Smith LLP in London and head of the firm’s EME environmental law practice. He specialises in all aspects of contentious and non-contentious UK, EU and international environmental and climate change law with a particular focus on the energy sector. Clients say: “he has a ready grasp of the legal, commercial and tactical issues” (Chambers UK Directory 2015); “he is a first-class intellect and a very good lawyer” (Chambers UK Directory 2014); “singled out by sources for ‘his responsiveness and commercially astute advice’” (Chambers UK Directory 2011); “an excellent negotiator who is very effective at achieving great results” (Chambers UK Directory 2010); “exudes ‘star quality’ ... an invaluable sounding board” (Chambers UK Directory 2007).

Luisa Rodriguez-Lucas
Former Deputy Secretary, OSPAR Commission
[email protected]

Luisa Rodriguez-Lucas is the former Deputy Secretary of the OSPAR Commission, an international organisation devoted to the protection of the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic. She has over 10 years’ experience as an international lawyer advising policy makers and supporting negotiations in both national and international fora. At the OSPAR Commission she is responsible for the Legal Committee, which deals with any legal matters within the scope of the Organisation. These range from offshore oil and gas to international cooperation. Prior to her role at the OSPAR Commission, she conducted extensive research as a Fulbright Scholar at the US Coast Guard National Pollution Funds Centre, which is the agency dealing with the implemenation of the US Oil Pollution Act. She also served as a legal adviser in the Spanish Ministry of Environment and lectured in international and environmental law at the University of Valencia in Spain.

Nicholas Ross-McCall
Partner, CMS Cameron McKenna
[email protected]

Nick Ross-McCall is a London-based partner at CMS. With over 10 years’ experience, he specialises in the financing and development of energy projects, in particular upstream and power financings.
He has advised lenders and sponsors on numerous reserve-based lending transactions and other upstream finance products. He also has substantial experience negotiating oil and gas and nuclear decommissioning security arrangements and decommissioning provisions in oil and gas sale and purchase agreements, and advising on related decommissioning law.
Nick speaks regularly at conferences on energy matters – including oil and gas and nuclear decommissioning – and has authored many chapters and articles on upstream financing and other energy issues.

Sean Rush
Owner, Spindletop Law Limited
[email protected]

Sean Rush is the owner of Spindletop Law Limited, a law firm dedicated to the international petroleum industry based in Wellington, New Zealand. Prior to forming Spindletop, Sean was the commercial manager at Todd Energy, New Zealand’s largest domestic oil and gas company. From 1996 to 2012 he was a legal adviser to the industry based in London where he was a partner and head of oil and gas at a London law firm. He is a director of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators, a past Chairman of the UK Energy Lawyer’s Group and provided input to Oil & Gas UK’s model form decommissioning security agreement.
Sean has an LLM in petroleum law and policy (with distinction) from the University of Dundee’s Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy and is admitted to practise law in New Zealand and England and Wales.

Sally Udoma
Consultant, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie
[email protected]

Sally Udoma joined Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie as a consultant in its energy and arbitration practice areas. She joined the firm after a 30-year career in the oil industry and after her last position as Regional General Counsel in Chevron’s Global Upstream organisation, with responsibility for Europe, Eurasia and the Middle East. Over the course of her career (during which she worked in Lagos and Paris for a major European oil company (Elf) and Lagos and London for a major US oil company (Chevron)) she has advised on, and been involved in negotiating and drafting, multiple, often complex, agreements for upstream acquisitions, joint ventures and operations, and had responsibility for managing dispute resolution for the wide variety of contractual and other disputes that naturally arise in the course of operations of a major oil-producing company in Nigeria and elsewhere.

Chris Wicks
Compliance manager, Marathon Oil
Decommissioning Services LLC
[email protected]

Chris Wicks has worked in the oil and gas industry for over 20 years. Starting in British Gas as a graduate engineer, he joined Marathon Oil in 2001 as a safety engineer.
Within his 15 years at Marathon, Chris has had the opportunity to work not only in the safety arena, but also within the operations teams both on and offshore, in multiple roles from maintenance to production.
He transferred into the decommissioning group as the compliance manager in 2014 having spent the previous two years as the UK HES Manager supporting the Brae field. In this decommissioning role, he is responsible for delivering the decommissioning programmes, comparative assessments and other studies to support the Marathon decommissioning plans.