Legal experts convene to address woes in Nigeria’s oil & gas sector

Lingering challenges bedevilling Nigeria’s oil and gas sector and the wobbling economy may receive fresh insight if the Federal Government adopts a new solution being canvassed by global law firm Hogan Lovells, in collaboration with Aluko & Oyebode and Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre (LACIAC), to host a two-day legal training session for select participants.

Although the oil and gas sector remains crucial to Nigeria’s economy in terms of revenue generation, but prevailing challenges ranging from governance and fiscal loopholes, which stakeholders feared drastically affect the country in the face of growing population and a volatile oil market.

Since crude oil exports accounted for 88 percent of foreign exchange earnings, and made up about 85 percent of government revenue, stakeholders stressed the need for urgent actions to stem these prevailing challenges.

The symposium, which took place at the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) premises in Bonny Island, presented a rare opportunity for participants to engage in constructive and interactive sessions with legal experts.

Among the commentators were Hogan Lovells’ Londonbased partners Nathan Searle, Angus Rankin, and Hogan Lovells International Arbitration Lawyer, Ademola Bamgbose; Babatunde Fagbohunlu (SAN), Ngo-martins Okonmah Construction Law and Arbitration lawyer, and Dare Senbore of Aluko & Oyebode; and Funmi Iyayi, Managing Director at LACIAC.

Speaking at the event, Nathan Searle, Hogan Lovells partner, expressed confidence in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry and said it has a strong future while also acknowledging that Nigeria has one of the largest gas reserves in the world, with NLNG being the fifth largest producer of LNG in the world.

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“NLNG is growing in Africa and looking at Nigeria over the past decade, it has had a significant number of international transactions, despite difficult market conditions,” Searle said.

Searle said there is a need to further harness the sector’s potential by continuing to build on existing knowledge through trainings like these.

Other discussions revolved around the management of legal risk and in particular, international business disputes particularly with regards to Engineering, Procurement and Construction Contracts in the oil and gas sector with an overview of the governing laws of the industry and challenges experienced by arbitration practitioners in the Nigerian context.

“Through this training, we shared global best practices and solutions that can lead to the sustainable growth of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector; and we are glad to be amongst the thought leaders that shape the way this sector addresses key issues going forward,” Searle said.

Senior partner at Aluko &Oyebode, Babatunde Fagbohunlu (SAN) said large scale projects in the oil and gas sector carry risks and it is important that such risks are properly managed.

“Discussing how to manage such risks at an early stage from both a legal and commercial perspective is critical to minimizing disruption to the business and loss of value,” Fagbohunlu said.

The convener of the symposium, Funmi Iyayi, Managing Director at LACIAC reiterated the body’s efforts towards providing tailored dispute management solutions and assisting businesses not only in the resolution but in the management of disputes through partnerships with local and global thought leaders.

“LACIAC sees an increasing role for arbitration under its rules to be included in contracts including the Nigerian oil and gas and construction sectors to provide for efficient, cost-effective and local dispute resolution of disputes that may arise during a project,” Iyayi said at the event.

The session provided a platform for participants to discuss global best legal practices and trends, as well as explore the issues and opportunities across the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) sector in Nigeria.with over 40 offices across the world, Hogan Lovells is committed to providing business-oriented legal advice and high-quality service across its exceptional breadth of practices to clients