Joining William Powell and Joseph Murphy of Natural Gas World, Lewis McDonald discusses what the future now looks like in terms of investments in energy, namely oil and gas. Given the burgeoning global population, rising standards of living and climate goals, there has been a serious increase in awareness and concern in global climate change around the world. The environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda is now at the top of many companies’ priorities though currently appearing to mainly affect companies in Europe and less so in Asia. Prior to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, ESG was the major issue being discussed in board rooms. With about 12,000 entities, together controlling around $14 trillion, divesting or wanting to divest from fossil fuels primarily based on consumer demand and consumer sentiment and where the laws and regulation are heading, we have seen rather a chilling effect on investment in the oil and gas sector – and the big question is ... where does it all go from here… Read more

We are delighted to present an update to our European Energy Handbook. The European Energy Handbook usually reports on regulatory, legal and market developments in the European energy sector. However, these are not usual times as the COVID-19 pandemic is creating significant health, social and economic challenges worldwide, forcing governments and businesses to critically assess the impact on their people, operations and governance. In many jurisdictions, governments have made available support schemes for businesses in an effort to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic on their businesses. In this special edition, we cover 52 jurisdictions across the globe. Read more

On 8 August 2019, Indonesia’s President signed the country’s first regulation on electric vehicles – Presidential Regulation No. 55 of 2019 on the Acceleration Program for Battery-powered Electric Vehicles for Road Transportation (“PR 55/2019”). PR 55/2019 reflects the government’s twin ambitions of (i) attracting more investment into the country (in particular to develop the electric vehicle sector) and (ii) becoming a major producer of lithium batteries. This regulation also supports the drive to improve energy efficiency and reduce pollution and gas emissions. However, the new regulation does not touch on autonomous ... Read more

In Rubicon Vantage International PTE Ltd v Krisenergy Ltd [2019] EWHC 2012 (Comm), the court determined that the fact that a parent company, and not a financial institution, issued the guarantee was no reason to limit the terms of the guarantee. The wording of the guarantee was the key consideration when determining the scope of … Read more