As part of the implementation of the Mexican energy reform of 2013, several new regulations and administrative guidelines affecting the hydrocarbons and power industries were issued during May and June 2017. These are of particular importance to oil and gas producers, midstream companies, power generators, traders and others looking to invest or expand operations in Mexico’s dynamic energy sector. I. Hydrocarbons May 2, 2017 ...
Contractors who are managing to continue to operate in the offshore oil and gas sector have had some time to adjust their business models and modes of operation to the new commercial realities resulting from the lower oil price. However, the radically different economic circumstances of recent years continue to manifest themselves in challenging commercial scenarios quite unlike those experienced in the better times when the oil price was significantly higher ...
Congress approved Supreme Decree Nº 2954, on Integral Waste Management (the “Regulation”) within the framework of article 344 of the Constitution, which provides that the State shall regulate the internment, production, commercialization and use of techniques, methods, input materials and substances that affect health and the environment ...
The Federal Environmental Agency (“IBAMA”) published Ordinance No. 01/2017, which provides for the improvement and unification of the procedures of suspension and/or blocking of the access to the Forest Origin Document (“FOD”) module. FOD is an instrument of the National Control System of the Origin of Forest Products (“SINAFLOR”) for the control of transportation and storage of forest products. In this sense, Ordinance No ...
On June 27, 2017, the US EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers took the first of two steps to narrow the Clean Water Act’s scope. The agencies proposed a rule rescinding the Obama Administration’s 2015 Clean Water Rule defining “waters of the United States” (“WOTUS”) and replacing it with its prior definition ...
On June 22, 2017, BOEM announced that, in light of the recent order of the Secretary of the Interior concerning its recent NTL 2016-N01 establishing a new program for financial assurance for decommissioning liabilities on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), it will extend the NTL implementation timeline beyond June 30, except in circumstances where there is a substantial risk of nonperformance of the interest holder’s decommissioning liabilities ...
On June 17, the Trump Administration announced a new policy on Cuba, partially reversing certain of the market-opening measures that had been adopted by the Obama Administration during its final two years ...
Getting the Deal Through – Shipbuilding is part of the series of Getting the Deal Through law guides published by Law Business Research that provide an overview of specialist areas of the law in a variety of international jurisdictions.It is published annually and the sixth edition, published in June 2017, covers 14 jurisdictions. Leading practitioners from each jurisdiction answer the same key questions ...
The shock result in the UK General Election has caused further political and economic upheaval with no single party controlling the House of Commons. Serious questions are now being raised over the UK’s approach to Brexit with negotiations set to commence next week ...
FBC & Co examine the business and legal aspects of investing in one of the world’s most technologically advanced economies. Established in 1948, Israel is the world’s only Jewish state, and the sole democracy in its vicinity. Israel has a diverse open market economy. Being a relatively young state, Israel is recognized as a developed market by many major indices. Israel has been a member of the high-income sector of the OECD since 2010 ...
India and Japan share a long history. Buddhism, which was born in India, travelled to Japan around the 6th century. The first major interaction between Japan and India seems to have been Japanese assistance to Shri Subhash Chandra Bose in the fight for Indian independence (1943-45). Post WWII, Japan and India signed a peace treaty and established diplomatic relations on 28th April, 1952 ...
Changes to North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have been anticipated since the moment of President Trump’s election. When U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer notified Congress of the Administration’s intent to renegotiate NAFTA, he triggered the 90-day consultation period before formal negotiations can begin ...
In a recent decision concerning off-site drilling, the Texas Supreme Court affirmed the San Antonio Court of Appeals1 and held that an oil and gas operator could drill through the mineral estate underlying an adjacent tract of land without the adjacent mineral lessee’s permission. Lightning Oil Co. v. Anadarko E&P Onshore LLC, No. 15-0910, 2017 Tex. LEXIS 463, --- S.W.3d --- (Tex. May 19, 2017) ...
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has published in the Federal Register a Notice of a “Request for Comments on Negotiating Objectives Regarding Modernization of the North American Free Trade Agreement With Canada and Mexico.” In the Notice, USTR advises that it will accept written comments by June 12, 2017 and will hold a public hearing at the U.S ...
"WHAT BELT AND ROAD SNUB MEANS FOR SINGAPORE’S TIES WITH CHINA" Thus the headline from the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on 18 May 2017.China had concluded its Belt and Road Forum, to which 29 other heads of government were invited. Only 3 from 10-member ASEAN were excluded: Singapore, Thailand and Brunei. Even smaller nations, with less-established diplomatic ties to Beijing, sent their heads of government ...
Once the new Commercial Companies Law was enacted as Federal Law No. 2 it gave existing companies time to achieve compliance with its terms. Article 374 provides that a further one-year extension could be granted by Resolution of the Cabinet, and such an extension was in fact granted. Article 374 also provides that a company that fails to achieve compliance shall be deemed dissolved ...
ANGOLA: Budget Law, 2017 details publishedOn 10 February 2017, the provisions of Budget Law, 2017, enacted on 31 December 2016, were published. In terms of the Budget Law, 2017 the 10% withholding tax on technical services and management fees paid to non-residents for the provision of foreign technical assistance or management services (Contribuição Especial sobre as Operações Cambiais de Invisíveis Correntes), which was introduced by Law No ...
In the 2017 South African Budget Review, specific statements were made from a tax and exchange control perspective in relation to fund managers. We briefly consider below whether these statements constitute a relaxation of the exchange control restrictions applicable to South African residents, and the taxes to be considered ...
As part of the implementation of the Mexican Energy Reform of 2013, several new regulations and administrative guidelines affecting the hydrocarbons and power industries were issued. These are of particular importance to oil and gas producers, power generators and others looking to invest or expand operations in Mexico’s dynamic energy sector. I. Hydrocarbons March 6, 2017.Ayín-Batsil Farmout ...
The Philippine Court of Appeals (CA) denied the petition by NGO Ang Aroroy ay Alagaan, Inc. and certain individuals, for the issuance of a writ of kalikasan against Filminera Resources Corporation, and its directors and officers. The petitioners have claimed that Filminera, which operates in the Philippine province of Masbate, had been causing environmental damage in the conduct of its mining operations in violation of local law, and that a writ of kalikasan should be issued ...
