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12-05-2022 / Energy & Infrastructure

Refund guarantees are often described as the cornerstones to shipbuilding projects and the buyer’s main security. Although they do not strictly form part of the shipbuilding contract, a shipbuilding project is unlikely to go ahead at all without one. It is therefore important to understand the different types of guarantee instruments, and the impact each has in practice on the guarantor’s obligations to pay and the buyer’s entitlement to recovery. A well-drafted guarantee provides certainty to the parties and strikes a balance between their respective entitlements and obligations.

04-04-2022 / Energy & Infrastructure

Estoppel is a useful tool in litigation, which is usually used to bind one party to a statement or a promise that it has previously expressed causing another to accept or adopt it for the purpose of their legal relations. The Court’s recent ruling in Geoquip Marine Operations AG v (1) Tower Resources Cameroon SA (2) Tower Resources PLC addresses estoppel by convention and recognises the requirement for the common assumption created between the parties to be clear and unequivocal. In this article, we focus on the specifics of the Court decision.

29-03-2022 / Energy & Infrastructure

On 24 March 2022, the Court of Appeal overturned the conviction of a second man, Paul Bond, prosecuted by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in relation to alleged wrongdoing by Unaoil. 

08-03-2022 / Energy & Infrastructure

As we approach the second anniversary of Covid-19 being declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation on 11 March 2020, a number of judgments are coming out of the English Courts which are providing useful guidance on how the English Courts are treating claims concerning Covid-19, especially in a force majeure context.

02-03-2022 / Energy & Infrastructure

R (Finch) v Surrey County Council CA (Civ Div) [2022] EWCA Civ 187 “The task of the court in a claim such as this is only to decide the issues of law. Those issues cannot extend into the realm of political judgment – which is the responsibility of the executive, not the courts …”

28-02-2022 / Energy & Infrastructure

With companies racing to make sense of and take steps towards a net-zero future, an array of climate goals are being published at ever increasing speed; it remains to be seen how achievable many of these goals are without concrete plans in place. Accusations of ‘climate-washing’ are rife and statements have been legally challenged. Current investigations and actions show the direction of travel as pressure groups and public organisations seek to hold private sector companies to account.

22-02-2022 / Energy & Infrastructure

We previously reported on the Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) entered into between the SFO and Amec Foster Wheeler Limited (Amec) relating to the use of corrupt agents in the oil and gas sector. The timing of the agreement was particularly significant, as it came on the tenth anniversary of the Bribery Act 2010 and was the tenth DPA entered into by the SFO. As part of the DPA, we reported that Amec had agreed to pay a financial penalty to authorities in the UK, US and Brazil, including compensation to the people of Nigeria.

27-01-2022 / Energy & Infrastructure

The English Court has dismissed another attempt to disrupt production of hydrocarbons on the UK Continental Shelf, ruling that the OGA’s Strategy for Maximising the Economic Recovery (MER) of UK Petroleum is not irrational and not unlawful.

25-01-2022 / Energy & Infrastructure

A claim has been brought against the directors of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (the “USS”), the largest private pension scheme in the UK, for inaction around climate change commitments.

16-12-2021 / Energy & Infrastructure

On 10 December 2021, the Court of Appeal in R v Akle & Anor [2021] EWCA Crim 1879 concluded that the Serious Fraud Office’s (SFO) failure to disclose vital evidence had unfairly led to Ziad Akle (Akle) being convicted and jailed for bribery.

02-12-2021 / Energy & Infrastructure

The case of Saul Luciano Lliuya vs RWE - an example of a pending climate litigation case in Germany

01-11-2021 / Energy & Infrastructure

Zavarco plc v Tan Sri Syed Mohd Yusof Bin Tun Syed Nasir [2021] EWCA Civ 1217

15-10-2021 / Energy & Infrastructure

The Scottish Court of Session has declared that dealing with the global environmental impact of the consumption of oil is a political matter for the UK Government, not a legal issue for the UK Courts in considering the validity of approval to drill new oil wells in a single field.

11-10-2021 / Energy & Infrastructure, Maritime

This article is the third in a series of articles looking at the impact of the African Continental Free Trade Area (the “AfCFTA”) on various practice areas and industry sectors that our clients operate in. This article focuses on Energy and Infrastructure and addresses some of the key questions our clients have asked us.

21-09-2021 / Energy & Infrastructure

In Times Travel (UK) Ltd v Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (Rev 2) [2019] EWCA Civ 828, the Supreme Court confirmed the existence of the doctrine of ‘lawful act duress’ under English law and its limited scope in commercial transactions.

17-08-2021 / Energy & Infrastructure

In 1991, the Ejama-Ebubu people began a legal campaign to hold Shell Nigeria (“Shell”) accountable for an oil spill that occurred in 1970. Shell accepted that these oil spills had occurred, but argued that these were caused by “third parties” during the Biafran war, for which Shell should not be held liable. Almost 20 years later, in 2010, a Nigerian Federal court ordered Shell to pay 17 billion naira to the Ejama-Ebubu community. Shell has unsuccessfully attempted to challenge this ruling over several years and, in November 2020, the Nigerian Supreme Court ruled that Shell could no longer appeal the decision.

11-08-2021 / Energy & Infrastructure, Maritime

19-07-2021 / Energy & Infrastructure

15-07-2021 / Energy & Infrastructure

Climate change litigation is a growing trend, as the legal industry bears witness to a constant rise in claims brought against both governments and private corporations for either failing to prevent, or contributing to, harmful carbon emissions across the world.

30-06-2021 / Energy & Infrastructure

LOGIC has recently published Edition 3 of the LOGIC General Terms & Conditions (Including Guidance Notes) of Contract for Marine Construction (referred to herein as the “Contract”).

27-05-2021 / Energy & Infrastructure, Maritime

24-05-2021 / Energy & Infrastructure

Apache UK Investment Limited v. Esso Exploration and Production UK Limited [2021] EWHC 1283 (Comm)

09-02-2021 / Energy & Infrastructure

British Gas Trading Limited v Shell UK Limited, Esso Exploration & Production UK Limited [2020] EWCA Civ 2349

27-01-2021 / Energy & Infrastructure

The Brexit transition period came to an end on 31 December 2020, shortly before which the UK and the EU were finally able to agree on a trade deal.

19-10-2020 / Energy & Infrastructure

It is important not to lose sight of the potential impact that Brexit will have on disputes that are governed by English law and subject to the English court jurisdictions

16-07-2020 / Energy & Infrastructure

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought considerable challenges, as well as potential opportunities, to the offshore sector. Offshore drilling continues to face difficulties and is expected to be the worst performing subsector of the oil sector, with rig utilisation at around 60%.

12-05-2020 / Energy & Infrastructure

Successful creditor challenges to schemes of arrangement are incredibly rare, and ARCM’s challenge to Premier Oil’s scheme [1] has not bucked this trend. This scheme raised a broad range of issues which, subject to the outcome of the appeal, have been addressed to confirm the broad, flexible scope of the scheme of arrangement to implement creative restructuring solutions in the face of opposition from minority creditor groups. We provided an overview of the scheme of arrangement process and some of the issues raised by the Premier Oil scheme in our previous bulletins [2] .

04-05-2020 / Energy & Infrastructure, Maritime

Golar LNG & Keppel Capital, FLNG Gimi – US$ 700m Senior Secured Term Loan awarded ‘Offshore Project Finance Deal of the Year’.

23-04-2020 / Energy & Infrastructure

22 April 2020, London International legal and professional services firm Ince has today announced the appointments of Gillie Belsham and Chris Kidd as co-heads of its Energy and Infrastructure Practice.

25-03-2020 / Energy & Infrastructure

It is a well-established principle of English law that a contract resulting from a threat of an unlawful act or omission may be avoided at the option of the aggrieved party. The Court of Appeal’s decision in Times Travel (UK) Ltd v Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (Rev 2) [2019] EWCA Civ 828 provides a long-awaited clarification on whether a contract may be avoided if it is entered into following pressure involving a threat to do something lawful i.e. “lawful act duress”.

09-10-2019 / Energy & Infrastructure

We are pleased to share with you the latest edition of the Ince Smart Bulletin. Our aim is to keep those working in the Energy & Infrastructure sectors up-to-date with relevant legal developments.

08-10-2019 / Energy & Infrastructure

In the recent case of Classic Maritime Inc v Limbungan Makmur SDN BHD [2019] EWCA Civ 1002 the Court of Appeal has upheld a Commercial Court decision on the interpretation of the causation requirement in a force majeure clause in a long-term contract of affreightment. It found the trial judge misapplied the compensatory principle in taking into account the impact the event of force majeure would have had on Charterers’ performance even though it could not rely on the force majeure event to avoid liability for its breach.

08-10-2019 / Energy & Infrastructure

In Nobiskrug GmbH v Valla Yachts Limited [2019] EWHC 1219 (Comm), the Commercial Court considered the attempt of an owner to recover payments that it had made directly to a third party supplier (that had contracted with the yard) during the construction of a superyacht. The Commercial Court stressed the importance of establishing that the sums claimed by the third party suppliers were a result of a breach of Nobiskrug’s obligations and remitted the case back to the arbitration tribunal for further consideration.

08-10-2019 / Energy & Infrastructure

… we are unable to accept that the objective test of rectification for common mistake articulated in Lord Hoffmann's obiter remarks in the Chartbrook case correctly states the law.” The Court of Appeal clarifies test for rectification for common mistake in FSHC Group Holdings ltd v GLAS Trust Corporation Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 1361.

08-10-2019 / Energy & Infrastructure

An important reminder from the High Court regarding res judicata and merger. In the judgment in Zavarco PLC v Tan Sri Syed Mohd Yusof Bin Tun Syed Nasir1, Chief Master Marsh held that the High Court had no jurisdiction to deal with the claim before it; the claimant’s cause of action merged in a judgment and order made in proceedings brought in 20162 (the “2016 Proceedings”). As such, the claimant’s cause of action had been extinguished.

08-10-2019 / Energy & Infrastructure

With the increasing digitisation and use of information technology in the world today, the chance of becoming a victim of a cyber-attack is greater than ever. The energy industry is particularly susceptible as it seeks to increase the automation of processes in the interests of efficiency, safety and reducing the potential impact of human operational errors.

08-10-2019 / Energy & Infrastructure

The court considers the circumstances under which quantum meruit can be claimed. In the absence of a legally enforceable agreement a party can claim a quantum meruit, which is Latin for “what one has earned”, but the circumstances in which this might be claimed may well be limited.

08-10-2019 / Energy & Infrastructure

When it comes to legal proceedings to resolve disputes, there are two concerns uppermost in the minds of parties: costs, and enforceability of the outcome.

08-10-2019 / Energy & Infrastructure

Following an inquiry launched by the Women and Equalities Select Committee (“WESC”) of the UK Parliament in 2018 into sexual harassment in the workplace and its subsequent report of 11 June 2019, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (“BEIS”) launched a further consultation on 4 March 2019 in response to the recommendations set out by WESC. BEIS proposed a number of key measures to prevent the unethical use of non-disclosure agreements (“NDAs”) and confidentiality clauses to silence victims of workplace harassment or discrimination. On 22 July 2019 the Government issued a response to BEIS’ proposals, which confirms it will legislate to implement a number of key changes to the use of NDAs and confidentiality clauses.

08-10-2019 / Energy & Infrastructure

The English scheme of arrangement sits alongside the US Chapter 11 as the ‘go to’ international restructuring tool of choice. Like Chapter 11, it is used to implement financial restructurings for overly-leveraged companies (where local restructuring processes are not able to deliver the restructuring). The English scheme, like its US cousin, has extremely permissive jurisdictional requirements. This has allowed a plethora of non-English companies to benefit from it. US-centric international groups, however, have tended to rely upon Chapter 11 as their restructuring tool of choice. This potentially changed on 10 September 2019, when the English court sanctioned a scheme for Syncreon, a US-headquartered group. This restructuring brings into sharp relief some of the perceived advantages of the English scheme - particularly regarding the relative costs of the two processes – and is a reminder to the energy sector to consider the benefits of implementing financial restructurings by means of the English scheme.

24-09-2019 / Energy & Infrastructure, Maritime

Rania Tadros Managing Partner of Ince (Dubai) recently attended the “Transforming Women’s Leadership in Law Networking Breakfast” session, hosted by Thomson Reuters. Following the session Rania sat down with Maha Abboud and discussed work life balance and how she manages this in order to have a successful career. She also discussed the challenges she has faced in her career and what advice she would give her younger self.

16-09-2019 / Energy & Infrastructure

On 14 September 2019 a large-scale drone attack targeted some of Saudi Arabia's principal oil production and processing facilities. In particular, the attack targeted the Khurais oil field and the Abqaiq processing facility, which is the world’s largest.

02-07-2019 / Maritime, Energy & Infrastructure

2 Julynbsp2019, Singapore - Leading international law firm, Ince, has advised Japanese shipowner, Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), on the supply of a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to the Hong Kong Offshore LNG terminal project (the Project)

02-07-2019 / Energy & Infrastructure, Maritime

2 July 2019, Singapore - Leading international law firm, Ince, has advised Japanese shipowner, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), on the supply of a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to the Hong Kong Offshore LNG terminal project (the “Project”).

28-06-2019 / Energy & Infrastructure

We are pleased to share with you the latest edition of the Ince Smart Bulletin. Our aim is to keep those working in the Energy & Infrastructure sectors up-to-date with relevant legal developments.

28-06-2019 / Energy & Infrastructure

In Triple Point Technology, Inc. v PTT Public Company Limited [2019] EWCA Civ 230, the Court of Appeal has clarified a line of conflicting authorities on the question of whether liquidated damages can be claimed following the termination of a contract. The Court of Appeal held that the relevant provision did not, on its wording, apply where the contract was terminated and the original contractor failed to complete the works. It is a salient reminder of the need to construe liquidated damages clauses using ordinary principles of interpretation, rather than proceeding on the assumption that liquidated damages will be payable post-termination.

28-06-2019 / Energy & Infrastructure

Contractors are widely used in the oil and gas sector to ensure flexibility of resource, cost control and engagement of highly skilled individuals for technical workstreams. The arrangements with contractors may be direct between the contractor and end user or involve an intermediary company which supplies the contractor to the end user. The use of the latter arrangement has been subject to HMRC scrutiny and IR35 legislation was introduced in 1999 to combat potential tax avoidance by workers supplying their services to end users through an intermediary, such as a Personal Service Company (“PSC”). If, but for the intermediary, the worker would be an employee of the end user, then IR35 will apply.

28-06-2019 / Energy & Infrastructure

Contractors are widely used in the oil and gas sector to ensure flexibility of resource, cost control and engagement of highly skilled individuals for technical workstreams. The arrangements with contractors may be direct between the contractor and end user or involve an intermediary company which supplies the contractor to the end user. The use of the latter arrangement has been subject to HMRC scrutiny and IR35 legislation was introduced in 1999 to combat potential tax avoidance by workers supplying their services to end users through an intermediary, such as a Personal Service Company (“PSC”). If, but for the intermediary, the worker would be an employee of the end user, then IR35 will apply.

28-06-2019 / Energy & Infrastructure

In a decision handed down last month, the Commercial Court has considered, for the first time, the consequences under clause 12(e) of BIMCO SUPPLYTIME 2017 of failing to dispute an invoice before the due date: Boskalis Offshore Marine Contracting BV v Atlantic Marine and Aviation LLP (Atlantic Tonjer) [2019] EWHC 1213 (Comm).

28-06-2019 / Energy & Infrastructure

“It will remain our inexorable direction of travel to maintain the White Book as the practitioners’ text of choice.” – Sir Geoffrey Vos, Chancellor of the High Court and Editor-in-Chief of the White Book in the Preface to the 2019 Edition. The White Book: the procedural text which contains the Civil Procedure Rules (“CPR”) together with commentaries as to application, and which is used extensively by the judiciary, barristers and solicitors. Unfortunate then, that the Chancellor himself should declare the White Book to be wrong in relation to the new disclosure pilot scheme in the Business and Property Courts in England and Wales which came into force through Practice Direction 51U of the CPR on 1 January 2019 (the “Pilot”) and its application to proceedings where standard disclosure had been ordered by the court prior to commencement of the Pilot.