Attorney Dr. Fahad Al-refaei at the Energy Sector Dispute Settlement Conference in Dubai

n partnership with AIEN... SCCA to hold international conference on dispute resolution in the energy sector

Published Date: 30/08/2022

In the context of its ongoing partnerships with various international professional organizations, the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) will hold an international conference in partnership with Association of International Energy Negotiators (AIEN) to highlight a range of pressing issues around mechanisms for resolving disputes related to international energy projects in accordance with the latest international standards and best practices.

The Dispute Resolution in the International Energy Business conference will be held on Nov. 14 as part of Dubai Arbitration Week, featuring a broad array of participants from around the region and the world, including lawyers, legal advisors, energy sector businesses, and other relevant stakeholders.

Founded in 1981, AIEN is one of the most important international professional organizations in supporting the growth of the global energy sector and helping international energy negotiators to be fully prepared for the challenges of today’s global energy market. AIEN has its headquarters in Houston and a network of more than 3,000 members from 110 countries, representing oil and gas companies, law firms, and academic institutions.

The Dispute Resolution in the International Energy Business conference is part of a series of conferences convened by AIEN in cooperation with selected international arbitration centers in a number of world capitals. The importance of this conference stems from the fact that energy projects are complex, long-running, capital-intensive, and subject to legal, political, and geological variables. As a result, international commercial mediation and arbitration are therefore preferred for resolving disputes in this sector.

In helping to organize this event, SCCA hopes to highlight the role of the arbitration industry in resolving international energy disputes, and to exchange experiences and knowledge with various parties involved in institutional arbitration. SCCA is one of the region’s most important international arbitration centers and dispute resolution options, as well as the national beacon for the industry in Saudi Arabia.

Over the course of a day, the conference will address issues around the resolution of disputes related to international energy projects at any stage of the oil production process. There will be four sessions: State Investment Disputes, Upstream Commercial Disputes, Midstream & Downstream Disputes, and Energy Infrastructure Disputes.

In the first session, a group of international energy experts will conduct a historical review of energy cases in the Middle East and the latest investment disputes. This will include arbitration cases arising from granting instruments, especially production sharing contracts.

The second session centers on disputes around oil exploration and extraction. The speakers will talk about a variety of such disputes, in particular joint operating agreements, unit agreements, confidentiality agreements, service contracts, and property acquisitions.

The third session will deal with disputes over transporting and refining oil. This includes pipelines, transportation agreements, rights of way, gathering and processing facilities, refineries, and petrochemical plants. The speakers will present a review of disputes related to such contracts in several jurisdictions. The last session will provide an in-depth analysis of construction and infrastructure disputes related to international energy projects.