The Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment (“Cape Town Convention”) and Protocol to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment on Matters Specific to Aircraft Equipment (“Protocol”) were concluded in Cape Town on 16 November 2001, and entered into force on 1 March 2006. They are to be read and interpreted as one instrument ...
Key Points A federal district judge has invalidated the Army Corps of Engineers Nationwide Permit 12 for failure to comply with the Endangered Species Act, in response to a case filed against the notorious Keystone XL pipeline. As a result of the decision, the Army Corps has halted new and pending approvals under the permit, which is required for construction projects that will discharge dredged or fill material into waters of the United States ...
It might seem that in the time of the "coronavirus", everything revolves around veils, disinfection or restriction of operation of various production facilities, and energy is talked about only in connection with the need to keep the elements of critical energy infrastructure running ...
It is evident that the current lockdown is having an unprecedented slowdown in the movement of persons between EU Member States. This is not due to a restriction which was imposed by the EU itself but because of the restrictions which the Member States themselves imposed through their respective Public Health officials. It is noticeable that the legal restrictions on immigration were driven by the Member States' individual rules rather than by a general guideline from the EU ...
Amidst price wars, a global pandemic, and the diminished demand for oil, E&P borrowers and secured lenders face inevitable credit agreement defaults ahead (if not already). Although real property foreclosure of oil and gas assets is often seen as a secured lender’s primary remedy, negative oil prices, operational challenges and the potential for liability may leave some banks contemplating whether a real property foreclosure is the best course of action ...
The negative pricing for West Texas Intermediate oil (“WTI”) on Monday has raised alarm bells for many of our clients in the exploration and production and midstream industries. This article will clarify the issues for these companies and explain the forces at work that have created this situation. The root cause of the current dilemma arises from the dramatic drop in demand starting with the onset of the COVID-19 virus on the United States ...
With an additional $310 billion in funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) signed into law, energy companies should consider applying for PPP loans in order to maintain daily operations during the COVID-19 crisis. Generally speaking, companies may receive a maximum loan amount of the lesser of two-and-a-half times their average monthly payroll costs, or $10 million ...
The National Mining Agency ("ANM") published, in recent days and after receiving comments from the public, the Resolution 100 of March 17, 2020 (the "Resolution"), which sets forth the conditions and periodicity for the submission of information on mineral resources and reserves in respect to a concession area ...
Through Circular 4011 of 2020, the Ministry of Mines and Energy presents the considerations regarding the application of the exceptions to the restriction of free movement for the Mining Sector, as established in Article 3 of Decree 531 of April 08, 2020, by means of which"(...) it gives instructions under the health emergency caused by the Coronavirus COVID-19 and set measures for the maintenance of public order ...
In accordance with the schedule of the Permanent Bidding Process ("PPAA"), the National Hydrocarbons Agency ("ANH") published on April 17 the final list of qualified companies to participate in the fourth cycle of this process, with which it is expected to reactivate the economy in Colombia ...
The Ministry of Home Affairs (“MHA”) issued an order on April 15, 2020 containing the revised consolidated guidelines on the measures to be taken by the Central and State Governments for containment of COVID 19 (“Revised Guidelines”). The order/ Revised Guidelines specify the economic activities which will be permitted after April 20, 2020 (except in containment zones) ...
The National Government, considering the economic, social and environmental emergency caused by COVID-19, has issued Decree 574 of 2020, aiming to conjure the effects of the emergency over the mining sector and to adopt measures that seek to guarantee the continuity of the power energy and gas public service provision. The National Government has identified the need to temporarily relief and suspend the compliance of certain legal and contractual obligation of some mining titles ...
The nearly global response to the spread of the deadly Coronavirus has led to governmental authorities at all levels issuing “stay-at-home orders,” “orders to close non-essential businesses,” and bans on gatherings of 10 people or more. The resulting shut-down, as well as the impact of widespread remote-working practices and displacement of personnel, may disrupt or interrupt trading and hedging activity ...
In order to implement transitional measures to mitigate the adverse effects of the fall in international hydrocarbons prices and the public health emergency caused by COVID-19, the National Hydrocarbon Agency (“ANH”), issued Agreement 2 of 2020 (the “Agreement”) ...
The mining industry has been subject to some specific measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I. Collective Safe-Passage Permits. According tonumber 10.bof theinstructionsfor travel permitsissued bythe Ministry of Internal Affairs and Public Security1,updatedonApril2nd, 2020, mining companies and their related industries are considered as part of those basic services, utilities, and services with a high degree of social worth ...
Does the Covid-19 pandemic (or actions taken to counter the spread of Covid-19) constitute a Force Majeure in a refit/ repair contract? Is there any implied right of relief for the contractor or the owner? Under English law, unlike civil law systems, a force majeure is neither defined nor automatically applicable to commercial contracts ...
Does the COVID-19 pandemic (or actions taken to counter the spread of COVID-19) constitute Force Majeure and is there any implied remedy (e.g. implied force majeure relief) arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic? Under English law, unlike civil law systems, force majeure is neither defined nor automatically applicable to commercial contracts ...
In their March 3, 2020 Law 360 article, our colleagues, Rob Patterson and Shu-Shu Wong, commented on the trend of certain buyers evaluating the feasibility of invoking force majeure as an excuse for not performing their purchase obligations under their liquefied natural gas long-term sale and purchase agreements (LNG SPAs) due to the COVID-19 outbreak ...
We have previously reported on the Order that adopted the extraordinary measures under the COVID-19 health emergency declaration, published on March 31, 2020 (the “Order”), and the subsequent Technical Guidelines regarding certain essential activities described in the Order published on April 6, 2020. (These alerts may be found here and here, respectively ...
On March 25, 2020, and as the Chilean authority holding the superior direction of the civil aviation, the Civil Aeronautical Board (Junta de Aeronáutica Civil) issued the resolution Resolución Excenta Nº280 (“RE280”). The RE280 was issued based on the need to reduce the risks associated to the spreading of the Covid-19 virus through the air transport during the sanitary emergency period ...
The circular makes provision for the following services: 1. The public service of land transport of cargo. The exceptions referred to in Decree 457 do not specify a type of vehicle, but rather limit the cargo transport service to that which corresponds to the goods strictly necessary to prevent, mitigate and attend to the emergency and which are listed in Article 3 of the same Decree, as well as the cargo transport of imports and exports. 2 ...
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 ...
