On 8 March 2020, Saudi Arabia initiated a price war with Russia which has caused a major fall in the price of oil. This is disastrous for an industry that had only just recently recovered from the 2014 crash and companies are now looking at how to best get through another difficult downturn ...
The power sector has responded rapidly to the Coronavirus pandemic by following Emergency Operations Plans, some of which specifically include responses to epidemics. The reliability of the grids across the United States have been maintained and power providers are necessary to the continued functioning of the country ...
Companies operating in the oil & gas industry in the UK can find the most up-to-date information and guidance relating to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic on the websites of Oil & Gas UK (“OGUK”), Step Change in Safety and the Health and Safety Executive (“HSE”), amongst others. OGUK & Step Change in Safety OGUK is continuing to publish the latest information and guidelines relating to COVID-19 on its website ...
The Supervisory Agency for Investment in Energy and Mining ("OSINERGMIN") and the Ministry of Energy and Mines ("MINEM") have carried out a series of pre-publications of draft regulations in the electricity and hydrocarbons sector, including: Minimum Power: on July 31, 2020, through OSINERGMIN Resolution No ...
The pandemic of COVID-19 has severely affected functioning of various business activities across the globe and has posed a threat to legal services. The risks to legal services posed by the spread of COVID-19 were highlighted a few weeks back when international law firm Baker McKenzie closed its London office after a staff member was suspected to have been at risk of contracting the novel coronavirus ...
As misinformation on COVID-19 continues to spread, there is another more serious threat being dispersed through back trade channels and that is of counterfeit goods either for sale at exorbitant prices or fake goods proclaiming to cure or treat the virus. In 2018, Forbes announced that counterfeiting was the largest criminal enterprise in the world[1] and the sales of counterfeit and pirated goods totals $1.7 trillion per year, which is more than drugs and human trafficking ...
Many environmental impact reports and negative declarations will breeze through analyses of a development project’s impacts on cultural resources ...
On April 6, 2020, Law No. 21,227 came into force, allowing access to unemployment insurance benefits under Law No. 19,728, in exceptional circumstances. This law, in its Article 14, Title III "Final Provisions", provides for a new criminal offense consisting of fraudulently obtaining supplements, benefits and / or profits due to the pandemic caused by Covid-19 ...
The Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) published an administrative resolution declaring the extension of the suspension of all terms and proceedings before such authority until April 30, 2020. This resolution was published in the Federal Official Gazette on April 07, 2020. The administrative resolution A / 014/2020 published today amends CRE's prior resolution A / 010/2020 dated March 24, 2020 (which previously suspended all terms and proceedings from March 24 to April 17, 2020) ...
With most of the country working from home, many are wondering how to get their documents notarized. Thankfully, several states, including Texas, have authorized online notarization ceremonies. Under the new telecommunications statutes, individuals can have documents notarized from a healthy distance. Historically, Texas required both in-person notarization and the filing of the original notarized document, which precluded any possibility of a telecommuting notary ...
We are facing the growing and exponential spread of COVID-19 and a state of emergency was recently declared in Portugal. As a result, it is important to assess what impact this situation may have on the ability of businesses to meet the obligations they have assumed under the contracts they have made. The current situation is generating tensions in contractual relationships between companies ...
In Pakdel v. City and County of San Francisco, filed on March 17, 2020, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal voted 2-1 to affirm the dismissal of a property owner’s takings challenge against San Francisco’s “Expedited Conversion Program ...
South Africa is a party to a number of international environmental agreements, including the UN Framework Convention on Climate Control (“UNFCCC”), 1992, the Kyoto Protocol, 1997 and the Paris Agreement. In terms of the Paris Agreement, governments have made a commitment to ensure that global average temperatures remain below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. For South Africa, a country that relies heavily on fossil fuels to generate energy, this is a mammoth task ...
Impact of Supreme Court's order of March 23, 2020 A three-judge bench of the Hon’ble Supreme Court (“the Court”) in the matter of Suo Moto Writ Petition (Civil) No. 3 / 2020 titled as,In Re: Cognizance for Extension of Limitationinitiated suo - moto proceedings on 23.03 ...
Litigation and Dispute Resolution Group, Kochhar & Co. Delhi Health and safety are everyone’s priority today as COVID-19’s unprecedented impact continues to grow each day. Needless to say, the outbreak of Covid-19 has left its impact on litigation and arbitration in various ways, ranging from an increased use of remote hearings to general court closures, depending on the countries and institutions concerned ...
What is known to exist but is not visible is surrounded by mystery. It excites the imagination and people spin yarns about it. Though that is not true when it comes to novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”), the outbreak of which has been globally reported. COVID-19 has caused worldwide unprecedented disruptions to business operations; and the commercial turmoil continues ...
Introduction: The new reality As a result of the sudden and dramatic fall in the oil price that had occurred between June 2014, when oil had been trading at prices of around US$115 per barrel of Brent crude, to January 2015 by which time it had fallen to around US$35 per barrel, I was prompted to prepare a “Guide for Contractors”. Parties in the offshore oil and gas sector, and in particular contractors in the industry, were facing turbulent and unpredictable times ...
1. The Chilean Supreme Court is vested with the powers to order the suspension of hearings whenever they cannot be carried out because no basic guarantees can be offered for due process. This is due to the restrictions imposed by the Government in the context of the constitutional exception state, such as the limitations to freedom of movement or to the entry into or exit from certain territories, or due to the consequences of the sanitary emergency ...
The Ministry of Mines and Energy, through Resolution 40115 of 2020, extended until December 31, 2020 the delegation of the inspection function carried out by the department of Antioquia. On the other hand, the Secretary of Mines of Antioquia extended the suspension of some administrative actions until April 13, 2020 ...
The Coronavirus pandemic is impacting every business sector across the globe. Many new resources, however, including the new Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, provide franchise and hospitality businesses with opportunities for relief. The following information is intended to aid franchise and hospitality companies in understanding options available to them during this time ...
On 31 March 2020, the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (“DEFF”) published directions (the “Directions”) under the National Disaster Management Act, 2002, to reduce the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19). The purpose of the Directions is to ensure fair processes with respect to certain environmental laws, as a result of the restrictions placed on the movement of people during the lockdown period ...
The legislator acts - Special regulations on, among other things, deferral of claims, insolvency law, tenancy law and loan agreements in Germany to come. At the end of March, the German legislator adopted special regulations in response to the COVID 19 pandemic in fast-track proceedings. The law was passed by the German parliament (Bundestag) on Wednesday, March 25, 2020, and, in a special session, also by the German Federal Council (Bundesrat) on Friday, 27 March, 2020 ...
On March 24, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC” or the “Commission”) unanimously approved its final interpretive guidance (“Final Guidance”) regarding retail commodity transactions involving certain digital assets ...
Many regulated entities are struggling to comply with certain environmental reporting, monitoring and settlement agreement requirements because of the impact of shelter in place orders, supply chain disruptions, and social distancing requirements relating to the COVID-19 pandemic response ...
The National Mining Agency ("ANM") and the National Hydrocarbons Agency ("ANH") published resolutions by means of which they extended the suspensions of some of their activities during the preventive isolation decreed by the National Government. First, the ANM published the Resolution No. 116 of 2020, by means of which it extended until April 12, the suspensions set forth in its Resolution 096 of 2020 ...
