Legal services
Legal support for operators, contractors and service companies in the energy sector.
We advise oil and gas operators, oilfield service companies, renewable energy developers and their contractors on contracts, licensing, disputes and compliance in the UAE and the region. Sector knowledge with a practical, commercial approach.
Energy remains the foundation of the UAE economy, and the sector is changing. Alongside the established upstream and downstream industry in Abu Dhabi, the country is investing heavily in solar, nuclear and hydrogen projects, and the free zones of Fujairah and Dubai host trading, bunkering and storage businesses. Contracts in this sector are long, technical and international, and the standard forms used by the national oil companies and the major contractors carry their own conventions.
Khalifa Al Sada Advocates & Legal Consultants offers services to oil and gas companies, oilfield support service companies and other energy businesses locally and internationally. We understand the commercial pressures of the sector, and our advice is designed to keep projects moving while protecting the client's position.
Our energy clients include:
We draft, review and negotiate the contracts that define an energy project: master service agreements, call-off contracts, drilling and well services agreements, equipment supply and rental, EPC and O&M contracts, and the subcontracts that flow down from them. We pay particular attention to the clauses that cause disputes: liability caps and knock-for-knock indemnities, liquidated damages, change orders, force majeure, termination and payment security.
We advise on the licensing and registration a company needs to work in the sector, including free zone set-up, vendor registration and local content requirements, and on compliance with health, safety, environmental and sanctions rules. When a dispute arises we represent clients in negotiation, in arbitration before DIAC, ADCCAC or the ICC, and before the UAE courts, including claims for unpaid invoices, wrongful termination and defective work. We also assist with the enforcement of awards and judgments against counterparties in the region.
Our team combines civil law and common law training, which matters in a sector where the contract is usually in English on an international form and the seat of arbitration or the enforcing court is in the UAE. We can tell you both what the contract means and how a UAE tribunal will read it.
We work from Dubai and Abu Dhabi in Arabic and English, and with our associate firms in India, Turkey and Canada when a project or counterparty is abroad.
We understand the scope, the parties, the standard form in use and the commercial risks you most need to control.
We draft or mark up the agreement, focusing on liability, payment security, change and termination.
We set up the licences, registrations and policies the project requires.
If a claim arises we negotiate, and if necessary arbitrate or litigate, then enforce the result.
Generally yes between commercial parties, subject to limits on excluding liability for gross negligence, fraud and personal injury. Drafting matters, and we review the clause against UAE law.
Most service activities can now be fully foreign owned onshore, and free zone companies are common in the sector. Vendor registration rules of the operator may add requirements.
Most contracts provide for arbitration, often in Dubai or Abu Dhabi. We advise on the clause at the drafting stage and represent you in whichever forum applies.
Yes. Depending on the contract, through the dispute clause or, for undisputed sums, through the UAE courts. Our debt collection department also handles amicable recovery.
Insights
20 Jul 2023 4 min read
Why parties increasingly choose arbitration over the courts, the arbitration institutions the UAE has built in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and how our offices support clients before DIAC, ICC, DIFC and ADCCAC.
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