Upstream meaning

Checklist Intensifying geopolitical conflict — including open hostilities, regional volatility, cyber interference and closure of sea lanes — can exert rapid, multifaceted strain on energy-sector contracts. This checklist offers a structured, practical approach to evaluating force majeure (FM) risk in an active conflict or war setting, and to judging whether FM can be effectively invoked under English law. It also maps how that assessment intersects with frustration and contractual termination rights, and sets out drafting considerations for parties to weigh in future transactions so that FM provisions expressly address war risks. It is intended for legal and commercial teams operating across oil and gas, LNG, trading, infrastructure and energy supply chains, where disruption frequently stems from direct physical impossibility at the point of delivery, or indirectly via upstream or downstream domino effects. The objective is not solely to test the viability of an FM claim, but also to enable informed, risk-aware choices in rapidly evolving conflict environments. This checklist focuses on FM arising from war-related physical and operational disruption....

Mergers AG advises Court of Justice to reject appeal against conditional Phase II clearance of the PKN/Gupto Lotos merger Advocate General Medina has delivered his opinion in Case C-541/23 P, Polwax v Commission, an appeal against the General Court’s judgment in Case T-585/20 that upheld the Commission’s 14 July 2020 decision conditionally clearing the acquisition of PKN Orlen after a Phase II investigation (M.9104). He recommends that the Court of Justice dismiss the first ground of appeal, which concerns the definition of the upstream market. Background On 14 July 2020, the Commission approved, subject to conditions, the proposed acquisition of Lotos by PKN Orlen (the Commission’s 2020 decision). Lotos and LKN Orlen were two large Polish integrated oil and gas companies. Following its Phase II review, the Commission concluded that the merger would harm competition, notably in the following areas: the wholesale and retail supply of motor fuels in Poland; the supply of jet fuel in Poland and the Czech Republic; and ...

In this issue: Air emissions and climate change Brexit Contamination and pollution Energy efficiency and buildings Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental assessment Environmental enforcement and prosecutions Environmental information ESG and sustainability Marine Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Trackers Useful information Air emissions and climate change EA issues five guides on monitoring ambient air. The Environment Agency has released five guidance documents covering approaches to ambient air monitoring. See: LNB News 10/09/2024 17. NSTA releases 2024 Emissions Monitoring Report. The North Sea Transition Authority reports a 28% fall in production emissions across the UK’s upstream oil and gas sector between 2018 and 2023, with half of the cuts delivered through targeted emissions reduction actions. Despite the drop, emissions intensity—greenhouse gases per barrel produced—is expected to have risen due to lower output. See: LNB...

Full statement follows. Due diligence: MEPs endorse rules for companies on human rights and the environment covers EU and non-EU companies and parent companies with turnover above €450m businesses must draw up a transition plan aligned with the Paris Agreement firms can be held liable for harm and face fines if they fail to comply new obligations require companies to stop child labour across their chain of activities On 24 April 2024, Parliament gave final approval to legislation compelling businesses to curb negative impacts on human rights and the environment. The European Parliament backed the new due diligence directive, negotiated with the Council, by 374 votes to 235 with 19 abstentions. It imposes duties on companies and their upstream and downstream partners — spanning supply, production and distribution — to prevent, cease or lessen adverse effects on human rights and the environment. These include slavery, child labour, labour exploitation, biodiversity loss, pollution, and the destruction of natural heritage. Risk-based approach...

Margin squeeze Margin squeeze is a form of exclusionary behaviour aimed at rivals, intended to remove them or undermine their viability—either by driving them from the market or by deterring entry at the outset. Where a vertically integrated firm holds a dominant position in an upstream market for a vital input and also supplies that input to wholesale customers who compete at retail, it can have both the means and the incentive to exclude those competitors from the downstream market. The dominant firm compresses retail rivals’ margins by setting a high wholesale charge, a low retail price, or a mix of the two, thereby narrowing the gap between the cost of essential inputs and the price attainable in the retail market. Consequently, the spread between the dominant undertaking’s retail price for the product or service and the wholesale price it levies on its rivals is insufficient to allow an efficient retail rival to compete effectively. This weakening of effective competition downstream can, in turn, result in higher prices, diminished...

Introduction to common participants in the market The oil and gas sector is a major contributor to the UK economy: It supports around 152,000 jobs, both directly and indirectly It accounted for 0.8% of GDP in Q2 2015, down from a peak of 2.5% in Q2 2008 Government revenues from production in 2016/2017 were £1.2bn The UK is Europe’s second largest oil producer and the third largest gas producer Historically, the industry has been buoyant, with limited involvement from insolvency practitioners. In 2010, there were only four insolvencies in the sector. However, when oil prices fell to a record low in 2015, the number of insolvencies increased to 28 that year. Due to its maturity, the UK continental shelf is among the more expensive regions globally for oil production: before the 2015/2016 downturn, producing a barrel in the UK cost about US$40, compared with under US$5 in Kuwait. These costs have somewhat reduced since the 2015/2016 downturn...

The Master Deed is the standardised mechanism used across the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS) to formalise asset transfers. It is long-established and addresses two strands: (i) pre-emption, and (ii) standardised transfer arrangements. Its four principal objectives are to: bring existing pre-emption provisions into a common form provide pro-forma transfer arrangements cut complexity around document execution, and deliver greater certainty over completion timing Structure The concept is embedded in the main body of the Master Deed, but most day-to-day operative provisions sit in the schedules, arranged as follows: main body — appoints the Administrator to operate the Master Deed processes and provides for new parties to join via a Deed of Adherence schedule 1 — lists the Contracting Parties at the date of signature schedule 2 — New Transfer Arrangements — whose Annexes include the Execution Deed schedule 3 — New Pre-Emption Arrangements, and schedule 4 — Deed of Adherence ...