Module Content

1. Principal organisations – roles and interplay of Governments, national and international oil companies, major product supplies, engineering and contracting companies and the service companies.
2. Joint operating agreements – including exploration and production sharing agreements and licences, drilling agreements, construction and engineering contracts, gas sales agreements, transportation agreements and decommissioning agreements as well as key standard form contracts.
3. Risk allocation – key legal contractual risk management issues.
4. Dispute Resolution – the international framework and institutions.

Teaching Methods

Preparation for the online workshops will involve extensive research and reading, to consider and critically analyse the set topics and the discussion questions, set in advance, arising from those topics. Students are expected to prepare answers to the discussion questions and present these to, and discuss with, the workshop tutor and group in the context of synchronous and / or asynchronous discussions. In addition to the skills of analysis and research, students are expected to develop and apply skills of analytical discussion, oral expression and writing. Students will engage with other students and staff in online activities, and synchronous and asynchronous workshops, to consider and critically analyse particular sources and engage in discussion leading to development of these skills.
The synchronous and asynchronous workshops also give students the opportunity to synthesise in a more dynamic way the independent learning already undertaken and apply principles from various themes covered in the workshop activity sheets. The final workshop will take place two-weeks before the submission deadline for coursework and run as a revision session.

Assessment Methods

This module is assessed through one Written Assessment and one Written Exam.