Oil & Gas

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The oil and gas industry is a challenging and exciting sector which has far reaching effects on the world we live in.

The top tier CMS Oil & Gas Team is the largest UK-based team dedicated to this industry, providing advice to clients all around the world, guiding them through all the problems and pitfalls they face. We advise on all aspects of the industry; upstream, downstream, LNG, platforms, pipelines, FPSOs, shipping and transportation, gas storage, supply chain management, decommissioning, M&A and financing included.

Acting for five of the seven ‘super major’ oil and gas companies, a host of ‘majors’, NOCs, and ‘independents’, as well as contractors and financial institutions, our Oil & Gas Team is widely recognised as a market leader.

CMS advises clients on oil and gas M&A transactions across the world. We act on deals that encompass all of the major purchase and divestment structures in the oil and gas marketplace, ranging from smaller-scale farm outs to high value, multi-jurisdictional corporate and asset transactions.

The CMS team has deep experience in advising on global oil and gas projects and supply chain management. Our lawyers have advised on projects ranging from FPSO developments, trans-national crude oil and gas pipelines and major LNG infrastructure developments to onshore gas processing plants.

CMS has considerable experience of advising clients on LNG and other gas monetisation projects worldwide, offering specialist legal expertise from wellhead to burner tip.

CMS is highly experienced in drafting and negotiating oil, gas, LNG and LPG sale and purchase agreements.

"It's a strong team that is very commercially minded."

Chambers, 2024

"CMS has a strong multi-disciplinary team of specialists which enables them to tackle complex problems."

Chambers, 2024

"CMS always adopts a can-do, proactive approach to finding solutions."

Chambers, 2024

"CMS's renewable team is very highly regarded in the sector."

Chambers, 2024

"The team is extremely helpful and quick to respond."

Chambers, 2024

"The team is very pragmatic and professional. They bring lots of experience, but they're not averse to thinking outside the box and coming up with novel solutions."

Chambers, 2024

"The firm's services have always gone the extra mile to support."

Chambers, 2024

"CMS understands the industry, our business and can give relevant, concise and commercial advice."

Chambers, 2024

"The team is always proactive and responsive."

Chambers, 2024

"The CMS oil and gas team are true experts. They are not just M&A or projects lawyers serving clients in the oil and gas industry; they live and breathe the issues, opportunities and experiences that their clients in the industry face."

Legal 500, 2024

"The team does not just churn deals – they are at the forefront of advising on all of the “hard things” facing the oil and gas industry in today’s economic and geopolitical climate."

Legal 500, 2024

"The partners in the oil and gas team are incredibly easy to work with. They are approachable and available, you don’t need to spend time getting them up to speed, because they just “get it”."

Legal 500, 2024

"Deep industry knowledge allied with an excellent understanding of the client."

Legal 500, 2023

"Excellent capabilities in the North Sea oil & gas sector, from project inception and development to the operational phase of a project to decommissioning."

Legal 500, 2022

"CMS is completely unique in this space. They understand the O&G sector deeply, with many of their key partners and associates having gained experience working on a secondment basis in O&G companies’ legal teams. They are a creative, solution-driven, hard-working, approachable and personable team of lawyers."

Legal 500, 2023

"This is a first-class international upstream and M&A practice together with market-leading UK Continental Shelf upstream knowledge."

Legal 500, 2020

"Excellent capabilities in the oil & gas sector, from project inception and development to the operational phase of a project to decommissioning."

Legal 500, 2022

"Full service capability, deep industry knowledge and very pragmatic, solutions-focused advice."

Legal 500, 2022
Law-Now: Oil & Gas
Visit Law-Now for legal know-how and commentary
07/12/2023
COP28: how the law can unite, act and deliver the UN SDGs
The law, and the work of lawyers, should enable countries, communities and companies to deliver the changes needed to achieve the UN SDGs and the Paris Agreement. As COP28 urges us to unite, act and deliver, Advocates for International Development (A
Advising the Board

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12/03/2024
After EU Commission's first decision on Carbon Contracts for Difference,...
The European Commission approved the first Carbon Contracts for Difference (CCfD) scheme under the new Guidelines on State aid for climate, environmental protection and energy 2022 (CEEAG).Fol­low­ing the...
01/03/2024
“End user” combustion emissions – an essential requirement in environmental...
End-user combustion emissions, and the extent to which these should be considered in the context of industrial developments, have been the subject of recent attention in both the oil and gas industry...
27/02/2024
NSTA Consultation on Carbon Storage Data
In 2023, the UK’s first carbon storage licensing round led to the award of 21 offshore carbon storage licences. A handful of licenses had been awarded prior to the licensing round, so that there are...
26/01/2024
A “Move” to Annual Oil and Gas Offshore Licensing Rounds - The Offshore...
Under the recently introduced Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill (the Bill), the North Sea Transition Authority (the NSTA) would have a new obligation to invite applications for new seaward area (oil and...
23/01/2024
Key oil and gas provisions of the Energy Act 2023 become effective from...
The Energy Act 2023 (the “Energy Act”) received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. The Energy Act has been years in the making and represents a significant step in the UK's efforts to achieve net zero...
23/01/2024
OEUK Decommissioning Security Agreements – Default Provisions
It is crucial to the operation of the arrangements set out in decommissioning security agreements (“DSA”) that parties post the required security within the timelines set out in the DSA as well as...
12/01/2024
Oil & Gas - Russian Companies and Force Ma­jeure/Sanc­tions revisited
In Litasco SA v Der Mond Oil and Gas Africa SA and Locafrique Holdings SA [2023] EWHC 2866 (Comm), the Commercial Court confirmed its approach to applying sanctions to oil and gas entities with Russian...
22/12/2023
Great ex-formations – December 2023 update on CCS developments
Since our July article on the development of the TRI licence, the evolution of the legal, regulatory and commercial landscape for the transportation and storage within repurposed geological formations...
22/12/2023
Energy Act 2023: creative licence – overview of carbon dioxide and hydrogen...
Following our general update on the enactment of the Energy Act 2023 (EA23), this article looks in a little more depth at Parts 1 and 3 of EA23 regarding the new licensing regime for the trans­port­a­tion...
21/12/2023
UK hydrogen sector updates: hydrogen production – kicking off the next...
On 14 December 2023 the UK Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (“DESNZ”) published a wide array of documents on its approach to the development of the hydrogen sector in the...
21/12/2023
UK hydrogen policy updates: hydrogen pipelines, regulation and geological...
On 14 December 2023 the UK Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (“DESNZ”) published a wide array of documents on its approach to the development of the hydrogen sector in the...
19/12/2023
Meeting the Decommissioning Challenge in Southeast Asia
Following on from our previous Law Now on the decommissioning regime in the UK (see our Law-Now here and here, this Law-Now considers the issues and challenges facing the offshore decommissioning sector...