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In 2021, total exports of LNG from Africa were reportedly about 40 million t, and analysts anticipate that Africa’s export capacity will likely continue to grow through 2022. The potential opportunities in Africa for both operators and developers are clearly substantial. But progress has been slow during recent years, and what follows is a snapshot of the reasons why. In South Africa, for example, though … Continue reading LNG projects in Africa
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A sale and purchase agreement containing completion accounts provisions, and warranties associated with this, is intended to give the buyer the right to trigger a warranty claim in the event that the seller’s warranty as to the value of the target business is inaccurate or incorrect. In that event, the agreement will likely also contain a price adjustment mechanism, by way of which the parties … Continue reading Business Acquisitions – the problems associated with valuation
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Readers may be interested to read the full text of the joint, Ministry of Finance and Bank Indonesia press release, setting out six priority areas for the period of the country’s presidency of the G20, as below: JOINT PRESS RELEASE No. 23/323/DKom SP-104/KLI/2021 Indonesia officially kickstarted the finance track of its G20 Presidency today (09/12), hosting the 1st Finance and Central Bank Deputies (FCBD) Meeting, held … Continue reading Indonesia commits to six areas for finance
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FOLLOWERS OF THIS BLOG MAY BE INTERESTED TO READ THE TEXT OF ASEAN’S 10th NOVEMBER 2021 PUBLICATION ON TAXONOMY FOR SUSTAINABLE FINANCE ASEAN finance sectoral bodies today achieved a milestone towards meeting Paris Agreement commitments by introducing a common language across ASEAN for financing sustainable economic activities. In conjunction with the 26th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention … Continue reading ASEAN Taxonomy for sustainable finance
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The Environment Act 2021 passed in November 2021 by the UK parliament deals with the issues of climate change and loss of biodiversity. The new law imposes a legal obligation for UK ministers when drafting policy to follow the environmental principles referred to as the prevention principle, the integration principle, the rectification at source principle, the polluter pays principle, and the precautionary principle. The 2021 Environment … Continue reading The new UK Environment Act
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A gas sales or transportation agreement will typically contain terms and conditions for liability for delivery of off-specification (or off-spec) gas. The quality of the gas delivered will be tested at the delivery point in order to ensure that it meets contractual specification requirements as to quality. The difficulty with off-spec gas, is that it may be commercially unusable by the buyer, or by the … Continue reading What is off-specification gas?
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A number of my current clients comprise individuals or commercial businesses from or based overseas of the UK, wanting to set up a business presence in the UK, or buy into an existing UK business[1]. The business lines are diverse, and to date they have included tech or software companies, property developers, providers of specialist services, or portfolio investors. Typically, they will have already carried … Continue reading Doing business in England and Wales
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The Covid-19 pandemic gave rise to border closures in a number of parts of the world, and this resulted in shortages of labour where labour is typically accessed from across the border. This has been evident in Singapore, so Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower has decided to implement a temporary easing of regulations restricting renewals of work permits for certain business sectors. These sectors include building … Continue reading Singapore labour regulation softens in light of the Covid-19 pandemic
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Indonesia is a country with a great deal of potential; it covers a very large and diverse area of land and sea; is largely fertile and productive; and has a slowly growing, reasonably well-educated middle class. It is rich in a number of natural resources … timber, rubber, a range of minerals, hydrocarbons, fisheries, agricultural produce, and so on. Its infrastructure is improving, though we … Continue reading Indonesia: the pros and cons of doing business there
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Singapore has been in the spotlight for the past few months, for different reasons, among which are the country’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the recent shift of global wealth to its shores[1]. What makes Singapore the success story it clearly is, and what should we consider if we have a growing interest in migrating to Singapore, either for business purposes or for residence? … Continue reading Singapore: the pros and cons of basing your business there
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Ministry of Manpower Regulation No. 8/2021 issued in March this year, is an implementing regulation with regard to the employment of foreign workers in Indonesia. It is the implementing regulation for Government Regulation 34/2021. To re-cap, for those of us who may be familiar with Indonesian labour law, an employer wishing to employ a foreign worker is required to submit a manpower utilization plan to … Continue reading Indonesia: further Labour Law changes
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From fossil fuel dependency to renewable energy in South-East Asia Continue reading South-East Asia’s shift towards a clean-energy economy
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Some years ago, in one of my General Counsel roles, my client wanted to re-vamp its entire Human Resources system. What should this ideally cover? A policy document should start with a statement of its objectives, and the range and types of personnel which it applies to. The responsibilities of the human resources function itself should be set out in summary form, defining its role … Continue reading Corporate Human Resources policies: what should this cover?
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Readers may be interested to access the excellent article by M. J. Denison, in Volume 14, Issue 2, of the Journal of World Energy Law & Business, which provides the following practical drafting advice (See The Journal of World Energy Law & Business, Volume 14, Issue 2, April 2021, Pages 88–96, https://doi.org/10.1093/jwelb/jwab011): “i. The data set revealed gaps in coverage in the areas of new security … Continue reading Covid-19, force majeure, and the LNG industry
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Cross-border transactional work is a tough cookie, and even after three decades of ‘watching that space’, I am still not sure if I can see any real clarity! Take for example, a loan arrangement negotiated in Indonesia. Let’s assume that the lender is a ‘global bank’, for example an entity incorporated in Japan, but with global reach. The lender may kick-off negotiations using a loan … Continue reading So what’s all the fuss with cross-border transactions?
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It appears that the construction industry, at least in the UK, is looking at effective ways to make construction projects, and the contractual relationships between the key players in any such project, more collaborative, and less confrontational. An initiative called Project 13, has recently been launched by the UK’s Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), which the ICE has characterised as “an industry-led response to infrastructure … Continue reading A new way to design and implement an infrastructure project
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The Covid-19 pandemic has lead different jurisdictions to take different steps, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is no exception to that general outcome! The Supreme Court’s decision number M/45/M sets out some interesting, and in some areas atypical, principles, granting the courts of Saudi Arabia the power to amend the terms of a contract[1] in the interests of justice and fairness, and acknowledging that … Continue reading Saudi Arabian legislation in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic
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This post will focus mainly on joint ventures and joint operations in the upstream hydrocarbons industry, but many of the issues and solutions discussed here are equally applicable to joint ventures in other industry sectors So, to begin! The question of default – how to avoid it, or to deal with it, if it cannot be avoided – involves an area of serious risk for … Continue reading DEFAULT, AND HOW THIS CAN BE DEALT WITH IN A JOINT VENTURE
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Although the words “joint venture” (incorporated or otherwise), and “consortium”, are sometimes used synonymously, in particular in infrastructure projects, and hydrocarbons exploration, they are not the same thing. Broadly speaking, both the joint venture and the consortium concern the pooling of resources by hitherto un-associated parties, in order to carry out some piece of work, or tender for something. But there are several difference between … Continue reading Should I form a Joint Venture or a Consortium?
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On 1st February this year, the Singapore Parliament took an important step towards shifting the country away from the unnecessary use of paper in carrying out commercial transactions. One such unnecessary use of paper has been in the use of physical bills of lading in maritime trade, as evidence of a contract of carriage and as a receipt for the relevant goods. The step taken … Continue reading Singapore … the hallmarks of a “smart nation”
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The Singapore Ministry of Law has enabled small businesses in Singapore suffering financial hardship during the pandemic, to re-negotiate or terminate contracts in certain situations Continue reading Singapore supports small enterprises during the pandemic
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In 2020, Qatari labour law was amended granting better rights to employees[1]. In addition, a national minimum wage was introduced, taking effect in March 2021[2], and perhaps even more significantly, employees can now transfer from one employer to another in Qatar without the need to obtain his or her current employer’s consent[3]. The revised Qatari labour law has amended the termination of employment requirements, such … Continue reading Changes to Qatari Labour Law
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Vietnam has recently changed tack in its search for private investors for two key road projects, abandoning the PPP model originally mooted Continue reading Vietnam changes tack on major road projects
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Investing in Oman and the different business vehicles through which to do so Continue reading Investing in Oman
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It is true that the pitfalls to successful investment in Indonesia are potentially plentiful, and yes indeed, whether or not Indonesia will be a profitable investment option in 2021, will depend at least partly on the roll-out of a Covid-19 vaccine in Indonesia, and a host of other things Continue reading Investing in Indonesia – pitfalls and opportunities
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Developing a viable LNG regulatory infrastructure A viable regulatory infrastructure for LNG projects wherever they may be located, should include: effective applicable regulation, and effective contractual remedies in situations where the parties are in disagreement. This post will briefly summarise the scope of these two areas, as follows. Law and regulation: LNG regulation – what does it cover? Let’s first draw up a shortlist of … Continue reading Regulatory or contractual hurdles affecting LNG projects
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Basic points and procedures for foreign direct investment in Myanmar Continue reading Doing business in Myanmar – a brief introduction
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A foreign investor wanting to do business in South Africa, would most probably decide to set up a joint venture there. Many of the legal and business issues which apply to South African joint ventures, apply also to joint ventures in many other jurisdictions, but some matters are unique to South Africa Continue reading Doing business in South Africa – joint ventures
“FLNG projects can be self-propelling, but some are towed to their installation site, so the FLNG facility is in some cases a sea-going vessel, and in others more of an off-shore platform A key question is therefore whether the FLNG facility is a ship when it is used in stationary operations …” This is the sister-post to my earlier post on the nature of a … Continue reading Floating storage and regas units (contd.)
“The question the draftsperson should ask themselves is whether we are dealing with a sea-going vessel, or something more like a land-based LNG import terminal. FSRUs can and often are designed for operation not so much as LNG carriers, but instead as facilities which are semi-permanently located at the relevant import terminal.” Readers may like to read a recent post on this subject, at the … Continue reading Floating storage and regas units
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As with most parts of the developed and developing world, countries have been signing up in recent years to switching to green or renewable sources of energy. Indonesia is one such country, and one step which Indonesia has taken in that direction has been by promoting waste-to-energy projects. In 2018, regulation was passed with a view to promoting or facilitating waste-to-energy projects in certain specific … Continue reading Waste-to-energy projects in Indonesia
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What I am about to say is not new … I have been saying this kind of thing to my clients for decades. But it warrants repetition, because every year there are new players in the markets, and many are new to the game. So some guidance always helps. Transactional work carried out in the emerging markets often involves parties from different legal jurisdictions, for … Continue reading Cross-border work in an emerging market
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Much has already been published as to why Indonesia is a very good place to do business in, and quite a lot also as to what some of the difficulties are, which are specific to Indonesia. For purposes of this paper, let’s focus just on reasons for doing business there. We will look at the problem areas, in a separate post. Indonesia has a large … Continue reading Indonesia – what makes it attractive to investors?
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It is interesting to see what has changed, and what has not, in the past 23 years, because 23 years ago, I was seconded to Jakarta by a law firm now widely known as ‘Dentons’. In those days, it was ‘Denton Hall’; and some years prior to that, when I joined them, it went by the even longer name ‘Denton Hall, Burgin & Warrens’! Foreign … Continue reading Doing business in Indonesia
Emerging Markets Law and Business 