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 ...
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 ...
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 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 ...
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 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 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 ...
