In Europe, we have for several years been very actively involved in the deregulation of the gas market and the basis on which gas is supplied to and within Europe. We have played a leading role in advising on the restructuring of the gas market in the UK (which was the first EU member to liberalise its gas market); and, as the UK and other European countries liberalise their energy markets, we continue to advise companies participating or involved in the restructuring of those markets whether as suppliers, purchasers, traders, lenders or owners of transmission and distribution networks.
The balance of energy imports and exports is changing: the UK and USA are becoming net importers of gas, and China's energy demands are increasing greatly; other areas (for example, Qatar and Algeria) are developing export markets with large investment in LNG facilities; as production in the North Sea declines operators are looking to cost effective ways of complying with their decommissioning requirements; new enhanced recovery players are extending the lives of North Sea fields. And new sources of supply (from wind or renewables) are being developed.
Lovells has a long history of acting for companies in the energy, power and utilities sector. Our clients include oil and gas majors, utility companies, banks, gas and electricity transmission and distribution companies, power generators and suppliers, water companies, contractors and major energy consumers.
Our work in the sector involves advising on the legal aspects of the complete supply chain (upstream and downstream) of crude and refined products, gas and LNG, power generation (including from wind and renewables), gas and power transmission and distribution, and water treatment and distribution. Members of our team also have in depth mergers and acquisitions, regulatory, procurement and competition expertise in liberalised regulated utilities markets such as the UK.
Lovells' energy, power and utilities specialists are based in the UK, continental Europe and Asia. Members of this international team have backgrounds in regulatory, contractual and transactional disciplines and are drawn from the key practice areas of
corporate,
competition, EU and trade,
engineering and construction projects,
project finance,
trade finance and securitisation,
real estate and planning and
dispute resolution.