Oil & Gas
For upstream oil activities, Elite Law Firm advises and assists its clients in processes related to the granting, renewal, transmission and transfer of oil titles, the negotiation and drafting of oil contracts such as draft or outline agreements and Production Sharing Agreement (PSAs).
With regard to downstream activities, Elite Law Firm also advises its clients with regard to granting and renewal procedures of authorizations for importations, transport, storage and commercialization of oil and gas products.
To that effect, Elite Law Firm supplies the following legal services:
- Analysis, negotiation and documentation of transactions related to exploration and production activities such as joint venture agreements and production sharing agreements with governments and other exploitation agreements;
- Advice and assistance to oil, gas and energy companies in the granting of rights on hydrocarbons for the purpose of exploration and exploitation;
- Analysis, negotiation and documentation of auxiliary agreements such as drilling, engineering, construction and development agreements;
- Negotiation and documentation of sales, commercialization, storage, processing and transport agreements related to gas and oil as well as to processed or refined hydrocarbons products;
- Advice and assistance to oil, gas and energy companies in obtaining all types of required authorizations and permits for their activities, such as for the commercialization, transport and storage of oil products.
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Our Achievements
- OIL & GAS
- SERVICES
- TRANSACTIONS
Click the “Services” and “Transactions” tabs above to view Elite Law Firm’s achievements in the area of Oil and Gas.
Services
Taxation and taxes on companies
- Selection, structuring, documentation, incorporation of local entities operating in the oil, gas and energy sectors, including joint ventures and other forms of partnerships;
- Assistance and advice to oil, gas and energy companies on taxation issues and assistance for the structuring of oil, gas and energy and transactions related to infrastrucutures.
Due diligence
- Prior legal review for companies desiring to acquire or participate in the financing of rights, acquiring or interested participating in the financing of rights, assets and operations related to hydrocarbons activities, either upstream or downstream.
- Drafting of audit report and proposition of practical solutions to legal problems identified during the due diligence review or during the prior audit by the law;
- Drafting and production of legal documents for the purchase and sale of hydrocarbons rights or oil, gas and energy companies, as well as all the other documents required for the realization of transactions and post-completion issues.
Elite Law Firm assists its clients in litigation concerning the validity of oil or gas rights, including denial of approval or renewal of production sharing contracts, refusal of supply agreements for petroleum products, refusal to grant various authorizations, cancellation of production sharing contracts and expropriation.
Elite Law Firm also acts in other litigation related to hydrocarbon activities, in particular, litigation related to environmental damage and tax litigation related to oil and gas activities.
Elite Law Firm is involved in structuring, negotiating and documenting dispute resolution agreements relating to oil and gas and its infrastructure. Elite Law Firm advises, assists and defends its parties in commercial and investment arbitrations, both commercial and governmental.
Transactions
Elite Law Firm’s experts have provided their assistance in several transactions including:
- Advice and assistance to a South-African oil and gas company in negotiating and concluding a production sharing agreement, with a total investment amount of US $900 million, with the DRC government related to the hydrocarbons activities in the Graben Albertine in the DRC;
- Advice and assistance to a South African oil and gas company in negotiating and acquiring hydrocarbons rights in the DRC and drafting a hydrocarbons rights sale and transfer agreement;
- Advice and assistance to an American oil company in the negotiations with the DRC Ministry of Hydrocarbons with a view of concluding a production sharing agreement with the DRC government related to hydrocarbons activities in the Graben Albertine in the DRC;
- Advice and assistance to an Italian oil and gas company renowned for its participation in an exploration project covered by an oil agreement, as well as on tax issues related to its hydrocarbons activities in the DRC;
- Advice and assistance to a Canadian oil company in the process of securing the required authorizations in the DRC for transporting and storing oil products;
- Advice and assistance to an American oil company in the incorporation of an operating company in the DRC for the exploitation of oil and gas; advice and assistance during the acquisition of oil blocks and assistance as part of a prior audit and background search on the potential partners in the framework of a production sharing agreements;
- Advice and assistance to a consortium of foreign oil and gas companies with negotiations to conclude a draft or outline agreement with the government of the DRC for the acquisition and evaluation of technical data in the Tanganyika Graben, in the DRC;
- Advice and assistance to a consortium of foreign oil and gas companies for negotiations with a view to conclude a draft or outline agreement with the DRC government for the negotiation and signing of a production sharing agreement in the DRC Graben Albertine;
- Advice and assistance to a consortium of foreign oil and gas companies in the process of approval, by presidential decree, of a production sharing agreement with the DRC related to Graben Albertine Block 1;
- Advice and assistance to a consortium of foreign oil and gas companies for securing the authorization required in the DRC for the importation, commercialization, transport and storage of oil products;
- Advice and assistance to clients by representing them in international arbitrations (at Paris International Chamber of Commerce) involving oil and gas investments in the DRC.
