Shahid Law Firm is one of Egypt’s leading firms in the field of Oil & Gas and Mineral Resources in Egypt. Over the past decades, we have successfully grown our Oil & Gas and Mineral Resources practices into a focused team of highly-skilled lawyers with exceptional industry insight and in-depth knowledge of sector trends and developments, both locally and regionally.

The team combines Shahid Law Firm’s long-standing expertise in the evolving Egyptian legal and regulatory frameworks with an in-depth and practical understanding of concession agreements, corporate matters, an acute understanding of the dynamics of the Oil & Gas and Mineral Resources sectors, and a solid experience in dispute resolution in Egypt.

Some of the areas Shahid Law is regularly involved in include assisting oil and gas companies in understanding the legal canvas in Egypt, negotiating with potential and existing business partners and ministries in Egypt, as well as representing them in the management of disputes between international oil and gas and petrochemical companies and Egyptian governmental entities.

Additionally, Shahid Law Firm represents international companies before the various authorities handling the necessary regulatory procedures, as well as managing disputes between them.

Clients have been relying on our insightful and timely advice for many years in the upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors.

Some of the services offered by our specialist oil and gas lawyers include:

  • Drafting agreements, including service, sales, concession, farm-in/out, and joint venture/operating agreements;
  • Financings and M&A transactions focused in the oil & gas industry;
  • Regulatory advice;
  • Administrative proceedings; and
  • Liaising and negotiating with the various authorities.

Shahid Law Firm provides legal advice on matters of Egyptian law in relation to the sale and unitization of oil and gas fields, the direct and indirect assignment of rights under concession agreements, pre-emption rights, and matters of cost recovery and anti-trust notifications.

The firm also assists clients frequently on matters that require timely assistance as part of crises management efforts.

Our client list comprises primarily international exploration and production companies, petrochemical or mining companies, as well as international civil engineering firms, transportation services companies, ministries, and donor agencies.

Shahid Law Firm is retained as a trusted advisor to a number of IOCs such as BG Group, Edison, Eni S.p.A. and its subsidiary IEOC, Vegas Oil and Gas, VERTEX and others on day-to-day concession and commercial matters.

Shahid Law Firm’s involvement in the industry includes:

  • Acting as co-counsel for East Mediterranean Gas and a significant number of its shareholders in a major international oil and gas dispute against the Arab Republic of Egypt and various State entities in a complex multi-billion-dollar arbitration cluster before ICSID, ICC, CRCICA UNCITRAL, and PCA (ICSID Case No. ARB/12/11; ICC Case No. 18215/GZ/MHM; CRCICA Case No. 829/2012 and PCA Case No. 2012-26);
  • Representing the top bidder in a gold mining tender during the 2009 Bid Round, in its dispute with EMRA concerning the terms of the concession agreement before the Ministerial Committee on Investment Contracts Dispute Resolution, established pursuant to the Investment Law as amended pursuant to Law No. 17 of 2015;
  • Representing Vegas Oil & Gas S.A. to successfully obtain necessary approvals in connection with carrying out Oil and Gas exploration and exploitation activities in the heavily regulated Sinai Peninsula;
  • Representing a global inspection company against an Egyptian petroleum projects company in a multi-party dispute (CRCICA Case No. 1053/2015) and negotiating the re-registration of the company with EGPC affiliates;
  • Acting as local co-counsel in connection with the acquisition of a substantial Egyptian interest in a major international oil company by another major international oil company, possibly the largest on-going oil and gas-related acquisition;
  • Advising BG Group on the development of a new cross-border pipeline from Israel to Egypt to allow gas from the Leviathan field offshore Israel to be liquefied in an Egyptian LNG facility;
  • Advising Edison in relation to the envisaged unitization of one of its producing oil fields in Egypt, and in the large midstream facilities’ sharing operation comprising the transfer by BG Group and Edison of the right of use of Rosetta onshore facilities to other two oil and gas producers, BP and RWE, as of mid-2016;
  • Acting as a local counsel for an international oil and gas services provider in the divestment of part of its business in connection with its merger with another international oil and gas services provider;
  • Advising Vegas Oil & Gas S.A. in the multi-million-dollar sale to a Chinese company of certain assets of the independent oil and gas exploration and production group in Egypt, particularly with respect to the unitization of oil and gas fields, the indirect assignment of rights under a concession agreement, matters of cost recovery and anti-trust notifications;
  • Providing critical due diligence review of Egyptian concessions and assets as part of an international acquisition of a global oil and gas company;
  • Advising Shell on the issue of payment of assignment bonus at the exit of a contractor under a concession agreement for the exploration of oil and gas in Egypt during the exploration phase;
  • Advising Saipem on matters related to labor, health and safety on one of their rigs operating in the Gulf of Suez;
  • Advising Novatek, on the acquisition of a well-established petroleum company operating in the Western Desert of Egypt;
  • Advising an Egyptian oil and gas service company in the acquisition of 20% of its interests by a global equity fund, turning the company into a regional player;
  • Providing legal counsel to a number of oil service companies and joint venture companies concerning commissioning and decommissioning of oil rigs;
  • Conducting legal due diligence on oil and gas interests in Egypt owned by a Cypriot and a Croatian oil and gas companies; and
  • Representing IEOC, a subsidiary of ENI, in the arbitration case filed by its employees on the grounds of laws and regulations applicable to employees’ profit-sharing schemes in general and in the oil and gas field in particular and filing challenges before the Egyptian Constitutional Court.