Profile

Employment History

03/2007: Member, Fasken Martineau Stringer Saul

2006-07: Member, Dr K C Mildwaters Oil and Gas Consulting LLP

• Advice and intensive due diligence for large Nigerian farm-in
• Advice on gas sales agreements in Africa
• Advice and full scale due diligence for new foreign investor oil and gas company investing in Kazakhstan intending to acquire Kazakh oil company, working with local Almaty law firm and top 3 City international law firm (subsoil contract, licence, marketing and transportation, employment, finance & loan agreements, sale and purchase agreement)

2004-06: Partner, Head of Oil & Gas, PLLG International Law firm, London (with offices in Ukraine, Russia & Kazakhstan)

• Advice on establishment of UK AIM Company (Imperial Energy Corporation plc, a leading oil & gas company) operating in the Russian & the Republic of Kazakhstan
• Conducting due diligence with Russian & Kazakh team of lawyers for the acquisition of 4 Russian & Kazakhstan oil & gas companies & subsequent establishment of Imperial Energy Corporation plc
• Advice to large UK PLC construction company on its Ukrainian JV & regulatory requirements
• Drafting turnkey drilling contract & consultancy contracts & seismic contracts for Imperial Energy
• Advice on sale of Kazakhstan oil & gas company including due diligence
• Advice on companies, annual returns, registration, due diligence
• Acquisition of companies, sale & purchase agreements, due diligence
• Negotiations with Shell for work on Refineries in the Russian Federation

2001-3: Vice President, Legal & Contracts Hurricane Hydrocarbons (now Petrokazakhstan), Kazakhstan

• Head of legal & contracts department with 12 local upstream/downstream lawyers, & member of the company management team
• Responsible for management of litigation including two successful cases (tax & antimonopoly law) in the Kazakh Supreme Court
• Conducted review & changes for Hurricane marketing terms & conditions
• Handled defence in environmental audit of downstream business
• Negotiations/drafting for 200 km KAM oil pipeline in Kazakhstan, including legal aspects of permitting & government consents
• Set up/maintained oil & gas licences compliance system & conducted farm-in negotiations
• Organised three 'due diligence' inspections by BP, TotalFinaElf & Lukoil in connection with possible commercial transactions (takeover and farm-in to the CPC pipeline)
• Set up & implemented 'new Kazakh law' reporting system to senior management
• Negotiation & settlement discussions with two major Kazakh joint venture partners
• Education & training of local Kazakh lawyers

1999-01: Head of Legal Services, OKIOC, Kazakhstan & the Netherlands (North Caspian JV, leading to the discovery of 'Kashagan', one of the world's largest oil fields

• Secretary to the production sharing agreement management committee, with drafting of minutes & resolutions for leading oil majors of the world (Shell, Total, BG, Agip, ExxonMobil, Inpex, BP, Statoil, Phillip)
• Negotiations drafting for Parker barge drilling contract, Deutag Island drilling contract & Western Geco seismic contract & numerous service contracts
• Member of OKIOC management team, involving discussions & strategy & team building exercises
• Two years working in Shell offices in The Hague, applying Shell procedures in respect of risk management, mandates, roles & responsibilities, HR, HSE & international technical standards set-up & implementation of risk management system for the North Caspian PSA
• Set up & managed corporate compliance system for OKIOC, according to Shell standards
• Set up & managed risk management system for OKIOC land & asset acquisition program, according t Shell standards
• Set up & managed Kazakh legal database & trained 3 Kazakh staff members in the Netherlands
• Negotiation & drafting for two major offshore Caspian contractual claims
• Managed 'due diligence' exercise of OKIOC by AGIP, during Agip take-over
• Managed litigation, including successful defence of IP case in the Kazakh Supreme Court
• Training & education of two Kazakh staff, including Zhanara Kutpanbetova, now solicitor at Herbert Smith, London & Gulnara Insepova, now lawyer with AGIP

1997-98: Senior Attorney, Baker & McKenzie, Kazakhstan

• Acted as 'counsel' for Tractebel in the acquisition & implementation of its government granted national high pressure gas pipeline transmission concession for the whole of Kazakhstan & also Tractebel electricity contracts for its Almaty concession agreement
• Set up compliance system for Tractebel gas pipeline concession agreement
• Advising on setting up of business for Amerada Hess & farm-in negotiations
• Advise on Enterprise Oil concession agreement
• Advise on MOL concession agreement
• Advise on a Californian company farm-in for concession agreement
• Handled & managed Tractebel litigation arising from the gas pipeline concession agreement
• Training & education of 3 local Kazakh lawyers, now senior lawyers in leading local Almaty firms

1980-97: Head of Legal Services, British Gas Exploration & Production, London & Reading, UK

• Responsible for 20 staff, including 13 lawyers
• Negotiations & drafting for numerous North Sea JOA's, Unitisation agreements, transportation & processing agreements, AMI & bidding agreements, gas sales agreements, drilling/seismic contracts
• Set up & managed database for over 80 BG oil & gas licences & agreements worldwide
• Negotiations & drafting of agreements for concessions/contracts/licences in Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Syria, Denmark, France, Tunisia & Egypt
• Negotiations over 6 month period for BG's participation in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium with Chevron as Operator
• Set up & managed regulatory law database for BG North Sea operations
• Advised on claims & court disputes for regulatory infringement in the North Sea at BG's Rough & Morecambe gas fields
• Advised on privatisation law & contracts & 'due diligence' for BG plc, disposal of Wytch Farm oil field to the Dorset Bidding Group, privatisation of BG North Sea oil assets to Enterprise Oil
• International consultancy agreement major negotiations for Cairo, Egypt, Hong Kong, Dubai
• Managed American law firms in the defence of major USA litigation claim
• Training & education of staff, of which two are now partners in City firms & two are heads of their own legal departments

1979-80: UK Legal Adviser, Texas Instruments, France & UK

• Responsible for Texas Instruments' legal matters in the UK, Eire & Scandinavia
• Organised setting up of Texas Instruments, Ireland
• Induction training for 6 months at Texas Instrument offices in Dallas, USA, Nice, France & Bedford
• Negotiations & drafting with Marconi, Lucas, British Aerospace
• Conducted defences in trading standards cases & claims
• Settled UK land dispute at its offices in Plymouth
• Training & education in consumer law, health & safety, foreign corrupt practices legislation for Texas Instruments management & staff
• Negotiating & drafting Texas Instruments standard conditions of business

1977-79: Assistant Legal Adviser, International Computers (ICL), London

• Worked in ICL's Paris office for 6 months on terms & conditions of business & competition law claims & disputes
• Advised on competition law issues arising from ICL's UK business
• Advised on various insurance claims & disputes
• Conducted & won two HR cases in the industrial tribunal
• Negotiations & settlement with London Borough of Hammersmith for company car parking at its Putney offices

1974-77: Senior Common Law Assistant, City Secretary's office, Coventry, UK

• Personal adviser to Deputy City Secretary on re-drafting of the City's local legislation
• Advising City Secretary on claim by Chairman of Council against Commissioners in respect of pension rights
• Advising City Architect's office on building disputes on ARIBA contracts
• Conducted prosecution of regulatory law cases in the magistrates' courts & civil claims in the County Court