Clyde & Co has been appointed by Lukoil Mid-East Ltd to support them in their development of the West Qurna-2 field in Iraq. With recoverable reserves of 43 billion barrels West Qurna is the second largest oil field in the world.
This is a landmark project for Lukoil, representing as it does a planned production capacity of 1.8 mbd by 2017. This equates to more daily production than Libya currently achieves as an order of magnitude indicator. With planned investment levels of US$4.5bn over the next 3 to 5 years, and a total investment projection of US$30bn, the scale of this project for Lukoil is clear.
Commenting on the selection of Clyde & Co, Director of Legal Affairs for Lukoil Mid-East, Nikolay Isaakov said: “We are pleased to have selected Clyde & Co for a place on our panel of outside law firms for work in connection with Lukoil’s operation of the West Qurna-2 field in Iraq. Clyde’s major presence in the Middle East and their experience in Iraq, together with their oil and gas expertise, made them an obvious choice for us. We look forward to working with the Clyde’s team on this important project.”
With first oil projected for 2013 Lukoil and its IOC partner Statoil have an aggressive time table in place. As one of the world’s largest untapped oil fields, the second phase of West Qurna has known reserves of 12.9 billion barrels, and was awarded to Lukoil by Iraqi Ministry of Oil following a lengthy and keenly contested bidding process. The continuing development of this vital national asset, is indicative of the continued improvement in the national oil industry of Iraq.
Commenting on the appointment on behalf of Clyde & Co Duncan Gray, senior legal counsel and George Booth, Partner said: “Being appointed by Lukoil Mid-East Limited to assist them and their partner Statoil in their development & operation of the huge West Qurna-2 Field in Iraq is a significant development in the growth of Clyde & Co’s international energy practice. Advising clients investing in the energy and infrastructure sector in Iraq forms a significant part of our projects practice and is well suited to our combination of oil and gas and emerging markets expertise, combined with our long-standing and substantial Middle East presence.”
The West Qurna-2 field is located in the Basra province west of the Majnoon field, which has been awarded to Shell and Petronas, and north of the Halfaya field which was awarded to CNPC and Total. Lukoil has the operatorship of the field with a 56.25% holding, its IOC partner Statoil has 18.75%, with the state owned North Oil Company holding the remaining 25%.
Clyde & Co is a global law firm with four Middle East offices operating as a single unit: Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the UAE; Doha in Qatar; and an associated office in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. The firm has a major presence in the Middle East, having formalised its on-the-ground presence over 20 years ago in 1989, after many years of client activity in the region.
Internationally, with 1400 staff across 24 offices around the globe, Clyde & Co has a focus across six core sectors: Energy, Aviation, Infrastructure, Insurance, Marine and Trade & Finance and is particularly well known for its expertise in relation to international trade, emerging markets and in relation to high profile and/or difficult dispute resolution work.
In 2011, Clyde & Co has been named as the Legal Business 2011 Law Firm of the Year. In 2010, Clyde & Co was voted Middle East Law Firm of the Year by legal market intelligence and transaction analysis provider ‘PLC Which Lawyer?’ in a process that canvassed over 5,500 legal departments. Also in 2010, Clyde & Co was named by Asian-MENA Counsel Magazine/inhousecommunity.com as the overall UAE ‘Firm of the Year’, nominated the ‘most responsive international firm’ in the UAE, and selected as ‘UAE firm of the year’ for seven distinct areas of expertise.
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