29 April 2024
Serving as expert witnesses in an LNG operational dispute in Asia-Pacific
Publication date: 13 March 2020
Gas Strategies Group
10 Saint Bride Street
London UK
EC4A 4AD
ISSN: 0964-8496
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LNG contracts are complex commercial agreements, so when a dispute arises between two parties the consequences are often equally complicated. As an LNG seller facing claims that you had not met your operational requirements, how would you go about bringing the dispute to a quick and satisfactory conclusion?
If hiring good lawyers was your first instinct, that would probably be the correct response. The LNG seller in this case did the same, but their law firm saw the benefits of involving us to provide expert insight on the LNG and gas industry, which they believed would help them secure a favourable outcome for their client.
We assembled a team of LNG experts with vast experience in commercial operations, LNG markets and LNG sale and purchase agreements (SPAs) to help assess the case for the defence. Our team’s expertise covered a broad range of commercial and operations issues relating to the case.
Our LNG industry knowledge was immediately put to use as we worked with the law firm to frame the direction of the defence. We provided commercial and LNG operational analysis to independently verify the LNG seller’s claims.
In a second phase of work, we wrote an additional expert report in response to four key questions at the centre of the dispute. Our expert witnesses drew upon their collective experience in the gas and LNG industry to answer each of the questions. In this phase, we added an additional expert to our team as the arbitration evolved and a further area of scope emerged relating to the evolution of LNG contracting. In each case, we worked closely with the law firm to ensure that the critical questions were addressed in a way that was most appropriate to the context of the case.
The written reports we provided were well received by the law firm, which was appreciative of our ability to be responsive to the needs of the case and flexible to the changing scope, including by providing additional expert witnesses as needed.