LONDON, March 26, 2019 – The worldwide growth, and appetite, for LNG is increasing and shows no signs of slowing.

This is only one of the take-aways from Baker Botts’ third annual Oil and Gas Lawyer School held in London on March 21.

• “The growth in demand for LNG has become more prominent as countries take advantage of lower gas prices and government policies encourage a move towards cleaner sources of energy.

• As a result, we are seeing the entrance of new players to the LNG market and the emergence of new LNG importing countries, such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Panama.

• This is having an impact, not just on the liquidity of the LNG market, but also on how projects are being structured,” said Rob Butler, a London-based Global Projects Senior Associate.

In addition, three big competition developments are playing out that will have a range of implications for the energy sector according to David Cardwell, a Brussels-based Antitrust Counsel. 

1. “BREXIT and the UK’s Withdrawal from the EU,
   
   
2. New EU foreign direct investment controls in both the EU and UK,
   
   
3. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority’s proposed changes to UK merger rules.”

“We anticipate seeing increased levels of government scrutiny based on strategic interest grounds and potentially-heightened antitrust enforcement against cross-border deals whether in the EU or UK after Brexit,” added Mr. Cardwell

Antitrust rules are changing and will impact UK merger enforcement:

“The CMA has confirmed its preference for at least some cross-border deals to be subject to mandatory notification under the UK’s merger control regime. This would be a major shift for UK merger control enforcement, which has until now operated on a purely voluntary basis,” said Mr. Cardwell.

Baker Botts’ energy lawyers were joined by 36 international industry professionals to analyze a range of legal and commercial factors facing the energy sector; including strategic choices in energy disputes, price review arbitrations and current developments in competition law, the UK’s Withdrawal from the EU, and proposed EU regulation for foreign direct investment controls.

The Baker Botts Oil and Gas School Lawyers included: Dorine Farah (Partner, London), David Cardwell (Counsel, London), Rob Butler (Senior Associate, London), Matt Lewy (Senior Associate, London) and Valeriya Kirsey, (Associate, London). 

An overview of the program is here; if you would like to schedule media interviews to discuss some of these topics please get in touch with Adam Leviton [email protected]

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