Advising oil gas and mining companies on contested
areas of ownership
As prices for oil and gas continue to increase, and
technology allows for more imaginative exploration for oil
and gas assets, companies are becoming interested in parts
of the world which until recently were well off the beaten
oil and gas track. Often, it is the discovery of such
assets that accelerates a push by countries to fix or
contest their boundaries - both on land and offshore.
Companies take a significant risk by commencing
exploration without a firm grasp of territorial ownership
issues which we can help mitigate by identifying the key
arguments that the sides to a dispute are most likely to
use (typically, for example, historical boundaries between
colonial powers or signed by predecessor regimes, treaties,
protocols, or other agreements, sovereign acts or
historical rights) and by giving an evaluation of the
relative strength of their claims.
It may be that an arrangement is in place for the
management of a boundary – for example, the creation of a
joint development zone – or a protocol which oversees the
distribution of profits from a trans-boundary project. In
which case, we can give an indication of the durability of
that arrangement in the face of prospective or possible
claims or renegement by either party.
In cases of this nature we would tend to work closely
alongside a law firm with expertise relating to boundary
agreements and disputes, our input being to inform the
evaluation through the provision of expert understanding of
the politics of the country or region.