Preface

Geoffrey Picton-Turbervill
Ashurst LLP

Oil and gas are likely to continue to be key drivers of the world economy for the
foreseeable future. Notwithstanding the sort of economic downturn and price
volatility that we have been experiencing in 2008 and 2009, the long-term growth
in economies such as India and China, and the demand for oil and gas for
transportation, power generation, petrochemical products and other industrial uses
is likely to continue to drive demand. As existing reservoirs are depleted, the search
for oil and gas is taking the industry to new regions using technological advances to
explore for and produce hydrocarbons in increasingly hostile environments. New
discoveries are often remote from demand centres, posing new challenges in terms
of transportation, whether by ship or pipeline.
This book is an introduction to the legal and commercial elements of the oil
and gas chain, from resource to market, and is aimed at providing a practical
overview of the suite of legal agreements likely to be encountered by a practitioner
involved in the oil and gas business. It does not seek to provide an in-depth analysis
of each area covered (many are themselves the subject of separate books), but is
intended to help those who are newer to the area to get a broad understanding of
each element of the chain.
Written by experienced industry practitioners, the book starts at the exploration
stage with several chapters covering the relationship between governments and
international energy companies and the nature of upstream joint venture arrangements;
it covers transportation of oil and gas by pipeline and ship, and gas and crude oil sales
agreements; there are chapters covering the issues involved in commingling, allocation
and attribution, and gas balancing, as well as terminalling and processing; and the book
includes chapters on international boundary delimitation, financing of upstream
developments, and buying and selling upstream assets.
I hope it will be of interest and benefit to anyone wanting to get a better
understanding of the oil and gas chain, from resource to market, and the legal and
commercial issues which it involves.

Geoffrey Picton-Turbervill is a partner in the energy, transport and infrastructure department

in London and heads Ashursts global energy team. Ashurst is an international commercial
law firm with its head office in London and other offices in Europe, the Middle East, Asia
and the United States. Ashurst has a dedicated energy practice and specialises in advising
international energy companies, governments and government agencies, and financial
institutions on international energy projects.