In the 1970s Baker Botts first began assisting clients in the Caspian region and we have been advising on major projects in this exciting and rapidly changing part of the world ever since. Our work in the region has been acclaimed by two leading independent legal directories, Legal 500 and Chambers. Our energy industry experience has also been acknowledged by Petroleum Economist in its most recent survey of leading energy executives, which ranked Baker Botts as the leading law firm for "Best Knowledge of Energy Law and Transactions in the CIS."
As part of our oil and gas practice, Baker Botts lawyers have represented Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC), an operating company formed and owned by a consortium that includes BP, ExxonMobil, Unocal, Devon Energy, Statoil, Amerada Hess and TPAO, both with respect to certain upstream matters and in developing two early oil pipelines connecting their production field to crude-oil sales markets on the Black Sea. We have also advised several of the producers from this consortium in developing the multijurisdictional legal framework and forming BTC Co., the BP-managed company currently implementing the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Main Oil Pipeline.
The BTC project, completed and placed in operation in 2006, connects fields in the Caspian Sea, offshore Baku, to markets on the Mediterranean. Similarly, we have provided legal counsel to the consortium developing and operating the Shah Deniz field, also offshore Baku, both in the upstream project and in developing the South Caucasus Gas Pipeline, which will deliver gas from the Shah Deniz field to markets in Georgia and Turkey.
Our work in the Caspian area is able to draw on our international resources as well as strategic support from the firm's lawyers in London, Moscow, Riyadh, Washington, New York and Houston. In addition to Baker Botts' considerable regional experience, we have also developed successful working relationships with many leading independent law firms in the various CIS countries. By effectively coordinating our local and international resources, we are able to provide our clients in the Caspian region with a comprehensive business law service of the highest quality.
Examples of Matter and Projects
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Pipeline projects
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Oil and gas exploration and production
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Litigation and dispute resolution
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Production sharing agreements
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Exploration and development agreements