Upstream Oil and Gas
Module II – 30 January - 11 February 2022 (draft programme, subject to changes)
Week 1
Monday – Introduction
- Introduction to upstream oil and gas law
a. Historical development
b. Geological and technical
c. Economic and political
Tuesday – Legal Basis
- International law basis
a. UNCLOS, investment treaties
b. Conventions on environmental protection
c. Delimitation of ‘national sectors’ - The nation state’s options under international law
a. Exercise of jurisdiction
b. Forms of state involvement in activities
Wednesday – Production Sharing Agreements (PSA)
- Introduction
a. Nature of PSA
b. Historical development - Role of the State
a. State objectives
b. Developing and transition economies - Production Sharing
a. Structure
b. Standard terms
Thursday – Licensing (I)
- Licensing: Why and how
a. Historical development; different types of licences
b. Hydrocarbon Licensing Directive
c. Grant of licence; conditions - Licensing: Dynamics and flexibility
a. The ‘stepwise approach’
b. Change of conditions, expropriation
c. Taxation, government take - Licensing: Who and where
a. State participation
b. Unitisation and cross-border arrangements
c. Abandonment (introduction)
Friday – Licensing (II)
- Transportation systems: Technical and legal components
a. Technology, alternatives, licensing issues
b. Shipping from offshore or onshore installations
c. Legal position of gas treatment plants - Pipelines
a. Issues of international and EU law
b. Organisation of ownership and operation
c. Access to use - Mature provinces
- Decommissioning
Week 2
Monday – Joint Operating Agreements
- Joint operating agreements: Introduction
a. Relationship with licensees
b. Government involvement - Joint operating agreements / joint status in company law and partnership law
- Specific issues of joint operating agreements
a. Role of the operator
b. Issues of liability
c. Sole risk
Tuesday – Field trip
- Field trip (t.b.a.)
Wednesday – Contracts (I)
- Introduction
a. Types of contracts; common features/challenges
b. Choice of law
c. Standardisation of contract - Regulations on bidding procedures
- Contracts in various phases of activities
a. Contracts in the development phase (drilling, construction, financing)
b. Contracts in the operational phase (gas sales, transportation)
c. Contracts in the abandonment phase
Thursday – Contracts (II)
- Contractual techniques
- Risk allocation
a.Liability and indemnification
b.Limitation of liability - Flexibility: Dynamic contract law
a. Unregulated and regulated flexibility
b. Mechanisms to handle intended variations
c. Handling of unintended changes to contractual obligations - Comparative panel discussion
Friday – Assignment
- Presentation of papers
- Follow up instructions: preparation of essay and next teaching module
Academic staff
Dr Catherine Banet
Professor of Law
specialised in Energy Law, Head of the Energy and Resources Law Department Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law, University of Oslo and co-Director responsible for the Oslo module of the Advanced LLM in Energy Law
Dr Knut Kaasen
Professor of Law
specialised in Petroleum and Contract Law, Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law, University of Oslo
Dr Ola Mestad
Professor of Law
Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law, University of Oslo
Dr Ivar Alvik
Professor of Law
Scandinavian Institute of Maritime Law, University of Oslo
Dr Greg Gordon
Professor of Law specialised in Energy Law
Head of School, University of Aberdeen
Dr Beatriz Martinez Romera
Associate professor of Environmental and Climate Change Law
Centre for International Law and Governance, University of Copenhagen
Dr Martha Roggenkamp
Professor of Energy Law
Director of the Groningen Centre of Energy Law and Sustainability, University of Groningen
External Lecturers
Expected speakers from the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, Equinor and law firms.
