Energy - Oil & Gas

Recent Articles

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  05.09.2023

  Oman

  The New Oman Social Protection Fund Law - Key Changes

  The Sultanate of Oman as a welfare state has for long operated under the old Public Authority for Social Insurance (PASI) Law (Royal Decree 72/9). Recently however, Oman has enacted the novel Social Protection Fund Law (SPFL) (Royal Decree 52/2023) in an attempt to enhance its social welfare framework by creating a single and unified social protection fund that improves financing and provides a wide range of benefits to workers and their families. This article provides an overview of some of the key aspects of the new law and compares it with its repealed predecessor, by highlighting the key impacts...

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  30.08.2023

  United Kingdom

  OEUK De­com­mis­sion­ing Security Agreements – Ap­prov­al/Ob­jec­tion of Proposed Plan

  As discussed in our previous Law Now (see our OEUK Decommissioning Security Agreements – the Proposed Plan Law Now here), Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) has published two template Decommissioning Security Agreements (DSAs); one for use in relation to PRT (Petroleum Revenue Tax) paying fields (the “PRT DSA”) and another for all other circumstances (the “non-PRT DSA”) – other than in relation to their treatment of PRT, these are in identical terms, and are collectively referred to in this article as the OEUK DSA for ease of reference. These template DSAs provide a...

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  30.08.2023

  United Kingdom

  Hydrogen production – updated LCHA terms published

  On 9 August 2023, the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (“DESNZ”) published an updated full-form front end agreement (the “Front End Agreement”) and standard terms and conditions (the “Standard Terms and Conditions”) for the Low Carbon Hydrogen Agreement (together the “LCHA”).This follows on from the draft that was published by DESNZ on 19 May 2023. This article provides commentary on the key changes in this latest draft, and summarises the position in relation to key terms of the LCHA.For further commentary on the latest developments...

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  29.08.2023

  Bulgaria

  Bulgaria to call for 4th tender for offshore Han Tervel Block

  On 23 August 2023, the Council of Ministers voted to open another tender for awarding the Han Tervel block, offshore Bulgaria. The licence is for prospecting and exploration of oil and gas for an initial five-year period with the possibility of three regular extensions of two years. Although no investor interest was shown in the previous three tenders for this block, the Council’s decision to conduct a fourth tender was linked to recent interest in Bulgaria’s offshore Han Asparuh block and offshore exploration in neighbouring Romanian and Turkish waters. The Council of Minister’s...

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  03.08.2023

  United Kingdom

  UK Government Responds on the Future of the CfD Scheme

  On 12 July 2023, the Department for Energy, Security & Net Zero (“DESNZ”) published a summary of the responses (the “Consultation Response”) to the December 2022 consultation on policy considerations for future rounds of the Contracts for Difference (“CfD”) scheme (the “Consultation”). The Consultation ran from 14 December 2022 to 7 February 2023 and sought views on specific changes proposed for Allocation Round 6 (“AR6”), as well as early views on longer-term policy considerations for rounds beyond this. This is an update to the Consultation...

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  12.07.2023

  United Kingdom

  One step closer to piping away the carbon dioxide: UK Government updates the Business Model for CCUS transport and storage

  On 23 June 2023, the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (“DESNZ”) published an update (the “TRI Update”) on the proposals for the CO2 transport and storage (“T&S”) Regulatory Investment (“TRI”) business model. The TRI model consists of an economic regulatory regime built around a Regulated Asset Base (“RAB”), coupled with a user-pays revenue model and Government Support Package (“GSP”), with the aim of attracting private sector investment in respect of the T&S aspect of the carbon, capture, usage and storage...

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