LNG

Recent work examples:

Non-contentious and Advisory – Trading

• Bespoke drafting of long-term sale and purchase agreements for European utilities companies and producers of North American LNG.
  
• Bespoke drafting of template master sale and purchase agreements.
  
• Bespoke drafting of spot sale and purchase agreements for European and Asian LNG trading houses.
• Support with drafting Confirmation Notices and associated documentation (e.g. credit support and novation agreements) for spot and strip deals for various oil and gas majors, European energy trading houses and LNG producers.
• Advising clients in relation to the purchase of LNG assets and portfolios.
• Advising oil and gas majors on local licensing requirements for the import and export of oil and LNG in numerous markets.
• Advising oil and gas majors on US, UK and EU sanctions relating to LNG trading, bunkering and reloads, as well as other regulations such as the Jones Act.

Non-contentious and Advisory – Shipping

• Bespoke drafting of long-term charterparties for European and Asian LNG trading houses and utilities companies.
• Negotiation and drafting of suites of documents required for restructuring of trading house’s fleet of LNG carriers in line with portfolio requirements.
• Drafting long and short-term charters from owner’s and charterer’s perspectives for major LNG producers and charterers.
• Drafting template house charters for the purposes of chartering on the spot and mid-term market.
• Advising on the impact of environmental regulations (e.g. CII and EU ETS) on LNG carriers and use of boil-off.
• Risk analysis of forms of charterparty where the counterparty will not negotiate its standard terms.
• Advising in relation to and drafting Conditions of Use, Terminal Use Agreements and other contractual terminal documents, including charters for vessels being used as FSRUs and FSUs.
• Drafting and negotiating LNG bunkering terms for bunker suppliers and ship owners.
• Advising in relation to insurance cover and wordings.
• Advising clients in relation to the effect and use of newly published standard form charterparty documents e.g. ShellLNGtime2.1.

Contentious – Trading

• Advising an oil and gas major in connection with a US arbitration of a dispute under a long- term agreement for the sale and purchase of LNG relating to a continuous failure to deliver cargoes.
• Advising an LNG trading house in relation to the successful rejection by it of a multi-million dollar claim for an alleged failure to take under a MSPA and CN for a strip of cargoes.
• Advising an LNG trading house in relation to force majeure provisions under a MSPA/CN.
• Successfully rejected the FM argument and recovered the client’s losses in full.
• Advising a trading house in relation to a dispute as to the use of “subject” in a term sheet.
• Advising a major energy company in relation to the nomination of potentially sanctioned vessels and load port under a CN / MSPA.
• Advising in relation to a dispute arising from the “operational tolerance” wording in the delivery provisions of a MSPA / CN.
• Advising a trading company on their rights and remedies in relation to delivery of an off- spec cargo of LNG pursuant to a CN / MSPA.

Contentious – Shipping

• Acting for a shipowner in relation to the early redelivery of an LNG Carrier including detailed analysis of the losses suffered as a result of market seasonality and fluctuations and unexpected LNG heel on redelivery.
• Advising an international trading company in relation to heel options under a short-term charter and a failure to load.
• Acting for an LNG shipowner in a claim brought by charterers under a long term time charter, for approximately USD60m, including trading losses, arising out of the failure of the pumps on a newbuild LNG Tanker. Bringing a related claim against the shipyard under a shipbuilding contract.
• Advising a major energy company in relation to the nomination of sanctioned vessels pursuant to long-term charterparties.
• Advising charterers in relation to provisions in long-term time charters regarding the early re-delivery of vessels, periods of off-hire, breaches of stipulations regarding the description of vessels and bunker quality claims.
• Representing the charterer in relation to claims arising from damage to and off-hire periods for a vessel being used as a FSU in a FSRU facility.
• Advising an energy company in relation to off-hire and gas-up and cool-down cost following repairs to the vessel.
• Advising numerous clients in relation to performance claims, mostly in relation to excess boil-off calculations and wordings in the body of the charterparty together with the performance appendices.
• Acting for a major energy trading company in respect of a multi-million dollar claim arising from a vessel’s failure to be compatible with a Primary Terminal as designated in a long- term charter.
• Representing claimant charterers in relation to losses arising from alleged off-spec cargo when debris was found in a vessel’s strainers on discharge.

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  LNG Shipping and Terminals Conference

  12 November 2024

  Event:          LNG Shipping & Terminals Conference 2024 
  Attendees: Damon Thompson 
  Date:            12 – 13 November 2024
  Venue:        London

  Damon Thompson will be on stage speaking at the LNG Shipping & Terminals Conference on the 12th – 13th November.

  Tuesday 12th November:

  10:10am – 11:00am [Leaders’ Panel]

  • Topic: How should the LNG industry respond to geopolitical and energy security risks?

  • Panel:
    – Damon Thompson, Floyd Zadkovich
    – Capt. Marco Nuytemans, Excelerate Energy
    – Karolina Mentz, UK P&I Club
    – James Hammond,  DNV
    – Jithender Ammireddy, Centrica

  4:10pm – 4:45pm [Roundtable Discussion hosted by Damon Thompson]  

  • Topic: EU ETS Processes and compliance 

  6:00pm onwards:  Drinks / Dinner

   

  Wednesday 13th November:

  2:35pm – 2:45pm:  [Lightening Talk by Damon Thompson]

  • Topic:  Legal risks related to bunkers in the LNG sector

  Please get in touch below if you are at the event and interested in meeting.

• 

  US Sanctions Update – Russian LNG Shadow Fleet

  16 September 2024

  On 23 August 2024, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced sanctions against seven LNG carriers reportedly comprising a new Russian shadow fleet, designating them as US specially designated nationals (“SDNs”).[1] According to satellite imagery and ship tracking data, at least three of these ships are confirmed to have loaded LNG at Novatek’s sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 facility. The other four ships have been used to deliver volumes from non-sanctioned Yamal LNG, but were originally intended for use with Arctic LNG 2.