Oil and gas

“The team specialises in advising oil and gas companies on the full life-cycle of matters.”
Legal 500 2012

“Oil and gas is perhaps Norton Rose’s most prominent area of activity, with the firm popping up at every stage of the energy chain, including LNG, floating oil and gas vessel and drilling rig financing, pipelines, petrochemicals and refineries, gas storage, and restructurings.” 
Chambers 2010

“The team is particularly strong in energy, advising major players in the sector on a range of issues including M&A, downstream oil and gas matters, networks, trading and regulation.” 
Chambers Global 2010

“The lawyers are able to develop original thoughts to address difficult and complex issues.” 
Chambers Global 2010

Our global oil and gas team works on all aspects of the oil and gas value chain and we work with clients in all of the major energy markets. We have broad experience across the sector, from the licensing of exploration rights to the development, production, transportation, storage and sale of hydrocarbons and their use either as a primary energy source or as a feedstock for industrial application. Our industry specialists work closely with other professionals to provide full service coverage to our clients across the globe in areas such as financing, mergers and acquisitions, construction and engineering, environment, shipping, dispute resolution, antitrust, competition and regulatory, employment, industrial relations, safety and incident response.

Our client base covers the full range of participants in the global oil and gas industry and includes, amongst others: international oil companies, national oil companies, major new players in the upstream oil and gas industry, independents, service companies, banks and other financial institutions.

Our expertise covers conventional projects as well as those which involve exploring new frontiers. We are at the forefront of advising on ‘unconventional’ projects, including coal bed methane projects in Indonesia, Australia, China and Botswana, dissolved gas projects in Rwanda, shale gas projects in Canada and Poland; shale oil projects in Australia and Estonia, oil sands projects in Canada and heavy oil projects in Indonesia and Madagascar. We recognise that unconventional reserves will make an ever-increasing contribution towards meeting future energy demands, and we have developed our services and expertise to cater to our clients’ needs.

In addition to developing unconventional reserves, our oil and gas specialists are focussed on unconventional means of developing conventional reserves. This includes advising on innovative and technically challenging projects to develop floating LNG liquefaction and regasification units, and projects being developed in extreme conditions such as the Arctic. The strength and depth of our cutting-edge legal and industry experience is valued by our clients.

Our core areas of expertise are: Exploration and Production, Pipelines, LNG, Unconventional hydrocarbons, Petrochemicals and Refineries, Shipping and Offshore Infrastructure, Gas storage and carbon capture and storage, Supply and Trading, Oilfield Services.

What we offer you

• industry specialist advice across your key jurisdictions;
• full service coverage with the ability to advise on complex commercial issues covering the entire oil and gas value chain and the capacity to handle all corporate, commercial, finance and contentious matters.
• over 150 oil and gas specialists who understand local market issues and speak local languages across the globe