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Natural Gas and LNG Negotiation and Arbitration

Our global team has extensive expertise advising clients in relation to corporate transactions, project development, financing and disputes across the gas and LNG industry. As one of the preeminent law firms in the world in this area, and with significant experience in the US, European and Asia Pacific markets, we advise on procurement and trading of LNG and regularly partner with our clients to address all manner of day-to-day issues arising out of the operations of their gas supply agreements, long term LNG sale and purchase agreements, master LNG sale and purchase agreements, and confirmation notices. In particular, we work jointly with our clients to manage potential disputes before they arise, develop negotiation strategies to achieve maximum results, and assist with each step of any contentious process, be it with regard to delivery, flexibility, hardship, termination, force majeure or pricing.

Why Choose Us

Our multidisciplinary core team of specialists, spread across our global network of offices, work together on a daily basis. Our long-standing collaboration and constant contact between transactional and disputes lawyers lead to great efficiency, flexibility, and the ability to respond to our clients’ issues in real time as they arise, no matter what time zone they happen in. Our natural gas/LNG disputes team regularly advise LNG buyers and traders in preparing for, and participating in, price review negotiations, developing strategies based on the interpretation of the contract, analyzing the price review provision as well as the wider contract, and working closely with the client’s commercial team, economic experts, and in-house legal team as a unified “project working group”.

Our natural gas/LNG disputes team has over 20 years’ experience and has acted for parties in over 75 natural gas disputes, achieving several billion dollars in successful outcomes for our clients. We are currently working on natural gas/LNG disputes across the spectrum of industry issues, including:

  • Acting for multiple European buyers in disputes regarding underdeliveries of pipeline gas
  • Acting for Asian LNG buyers in price review arbitrations
  • Acting for Asian LNG buyers in price review negotiations
  • Acting for buyers in multiple jurisdictions in commercial arbitrations regarding missed cargoes, underdeliveries and disputed declarations of force majeure

Our natural gas/LNG transactional team has a strong track record in drafting and negotiating all types of gas/LNG project documents and commercial agreements:

  • Long-term LNG sale and purchase agreements, master LNG sale agreements, confirmation notices
  • Pipeline gas sale and purchase agreements
  • Liquefaction tolling agreements
  • Terminal use agreements
  • Shared facilities agreements
  • Port use agreements/conditions of use
  • Pipeline transportation agreements, pipeline precedent agreements
  • Vessel charterparties

Our team is based in Europe, Asia, Australia and the US and includes civil law and common law qualified lawyers fluent in multiple different languages.

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  • Recognized as one of the world's most successful firms for international arbitration by the 2023 edition of the Global Arbitration Review (GAR), which ranked us in the upper half of its prestigious GAR 30.
  • George von Mehren (London), Stephen Anway (New York), Michelle Glassman Bock (Brussels), Rostislav Pekař (Prague), José Feris (Paris), John Adam (Paris) and Rodman Bundy (Singapore) are named in Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration 2023: Arbitrators and Counsel
  • Mária Poláková (Prague), Sabrina Aïnouz (Paris), Jerome Lehucher (Paris) and Marija Šćekić (London) are named in Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration 2023: Future Leaders
  • Ranked in Chambers Asia Pacific 2023: Singapore - Dispute Resolution: Arbitration: Highly Regarded
  • Ranked in Chambers USA 2022 (Band 1) for Nationwide: International Arbitration
  • Ranked in Chambers Global 2022 (Band 1) for Dispute Resolution: Czech Republic
  • Recognized by Jus Connect’s 2022 Arbitration Team of the Year Award
  • Ranked in The Legal 500 United States 2022 (Tier 4) for International Arbitration
  • In 2020, two partners were appointed to the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators: Stephen Anway was appointed by the Slovak Republic, and Ali Gursel was appointed by Turkmenistan
  • In 2020, Law360 named Squire Patton Boggs as International Arbitration Group of the Year, selecting the firm out of 800 other applicants
  • Won three of the top 20 commercial arbitration awards in the world from 2001 to 2013, as ranked by The American Lawyer Arbitration Scorecard:
    • Atlantic LNG Company of Trinidad and Tobago v. Gas Natural Aprovisionamientos SDG, S.A., UNCITRAL arbitration, award dated March 27, 2008 – Serving as counsel for Gas Natural in a UNCITRAL price review arbitration against Atlantic LNG, centering on the conditions in the Spanish and US gas markets. The tribunal issued an award in our client’s favor for more than US$4 billion in value.
    • Gas Natural SDG, S.A. v. Nigeria LNG Limited, UNCITRAL arbitration, award dated June 14, 2005 – Representing Gas Natural in a UNCITRAL price review arbitration against Nigeria LNG, centering on the deregulation of the European natural gas markets. The tribunal issued an award in our client’s favor for more than US$2 billion in value.
    • Edison S.p.A. v. Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (II) (RasGas), ICC Case No. 17788/VRO – Acting for Edison SpA in a natural gas price review ICC arbitration against RasGas, concerning end-user prices in the European gas market due to the economic crises, increased competition and other factors. The tribunal issued an award in our client’s favor for €450 million.