Energy, Extractive Industry and Power Practice

This practice area focuses on providing legal advisory services to clients within the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors relating to licensing, regulatory and country – entry issues, local content compliance; reserve-based lending; project finance including financing for marginal fields and securitisation of receivables; advisory on Oil & Gas contracts and transactions including Joint Operating Agreements, Production Sharing Contracts and Technical Services Agreements, Liquefied Natural Gas Projects; acquisition finance; assets disposals; farm in, farm out and joint venture arrangements; abandonment, remediation and other environmental matters; pipeline and turnkey projects; infrastructure projects including PPPs; the Marginal Oil Fields Programme, domestic gas supply and pricing policy and regulations; negotiating, drafting and structuring petroleum industry contracts and arrangements. We are able to provide industry expertise, assist with transaction structuring and regulatory compliance; and advise on a broad spectrum of power projects and transactions and related arbitration and litigation.

Major Transactions

• Advised a midstream Operator as the EPCM master contractor on its US$1.05 billion NCTL 45 Kilometer pipeline project delivered to SPDC in the Niger Delta.
• Advised a Nigerian oil and gas exploration and production company on its over US$500 million global IPO and dual listing of its shares on the Nigerian and London Stock Exchanges and private placements in the USA and France.
• Acted as transaction solicitor and due diligence adviser to Neconde Energy Limited in its acquisition of 45% participating interest in OML 42 from SPDC, TOTAL and NAOC at the price of US$585 million.
  Advised a consortium of foreign and Nigerian infrastructure companies that bidded for Genco and Disco assets under the privatization of power companies in Nigeria.
• Advised an EPC operator on a US$300 million ongoing gas pipeline project awarded by the NNPC.
  Advised a host of indigenous exploration and production companies on the legal validity of farm out agreements, joint operation agreements, technical services agreements, extension of the farm out agreement, as well as compliance with the petroleum laws of Nigeria and other related laws.
• Advised Neconde Energy Limited in connection with a US$720 million secured reserve-based lending from a syndicate of foreign and local banks.
• Legal advisers to NestHak HDD Services Limited, an incorporated joint venture between Nestoil Plc and A-HakDrillcon BV (a multinational mid-stream company established in The Netherlands), in connection with its business activities in Nigeria. The joint venture company is involved in Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD).
• Advised prospective foreign investors directly and in some cases through their International Counsel and other foreign investment partners on the acquisition and financing of marginal oil and gas fields in Nigeria.
• Advised Nestoil Plc on several EPC projects including a 260-Meter Gap in the Gas Tie-in- Pipeline project to Alaoji Power Station.
• Advised a foreign lender on a US$250 million credit facility to a Nigerian downstream operator for the importation of refined petroleum products.
• Advised a Nigerian oil and gas company on its leveraged buy-out of a private equity investor via financing arranged by a South African-owned commercial Bank.
• Advised a subsidiary of one of the largest conglomerates in Africa on its cross – border investment in an acreage partnering with the host central government and its national oil corporation.
• Advised on a farm out firm in bidding, assignment and perfection of interest in OMLs, OPLs and marginal field acreages.