As natural gas commodity prices continue their near-term climb, and new domestic sources become harder to find, many oil and gas producers and large gas users such as chemical companies are looking abroad for a cheaper and more readily available source of supply ...
The JIA or the Joint Investment Activity Agreement is a legal document on the basis of which thousands of tones of carbohydrates become privately owned in Ukraine everyday. Presently the JIA Agreement dominates the production of carbohydrates and this situation does not seem to be about to change in the near future. The article goes on to describe various JIA’s ...
One of the key sectors of the Oil & Gas industry is the extraction of oil, gas and gas condensate hereinafter to be referred as carbohydrates (“CH”). For businesses involved in CH extraction, the two key assets are the extraction licence and the oil or gas well (“CH Well”). This article throws light on light on the legal concept of a CH Well in Ukranian Law and its application to the ownership issue ...
After long years of fierce debate, the Kyoto Protocol finally came into force on 16 February 2005, imposing obligations on states parties to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. This article takes a look at the background to the Protocol, and the many new and varied opportunities for businesses in Scotland and across the globe. The Protocol itself was adopted at the Third Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Kyoto on 11 December 1997 ...
In December 2004 and more recently in March 2005, the Superior Court rendered three significant judgments respecting motions for authorization to institute class actions. In the first case, Bouchard v. Laiterie et Boulangerie Parmalat Inc.1, the motion was denied for the absence of interest and of rights of the applicant. In the second case, Citoyens pour une qualité de vie v. Aéroports de Montréal2, the motion was denied for lack of identical, similar or related questions of law or fact ...
The article appeared in the 2005 edition of The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Environment Law; published and reproduced with kind permission of Global Legal Group Ltd, London ...
On April 29, 2005, the Court of Appeal rendered a judgment in Pharmascience Inc. v. Option Consommateurs et Piro1 on the constitutionality of the amendments made to the Code of Civil Procedure on January 1, 2003 regarding authorizations to institute class actions. Contrary to the arguments of the appealing pharmaceutical companies, the Court of Appeal held that the amendments are constitutional and do not violate the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms in any way ...
The coming into force of the Kyoto Protocol on February 16, 2005 has generated intense discussion and left many unanswered questions for the industrial sector. Over the last two months, the federal government has published several documents that, to a certain extent, uncover its intentions regarding its stated objectives and its strategies for achieving such objectives ...
On April 13, 2005, the government of Canada announced the first phase of Project Green “Moving Forward on Climate Change: A Plan for Honouring our Kyoto Commitment”. Although there is no legislation in force in Canada which requires companies to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, emitting companies should begin preparing for this possibility. In some cases, they should even look at the advantages of immediately trading emission reduction credits ...
Amendments to several provisions of the Mexican Mining Law (the “Law”) were recently passed by the Mexican Congress and published in the Federal Official Gazette on April 28, 2005. The amendments to the Law can be summarized as follows: a) A new governmental body called the “Mexican Geological Service” was created in lieu of the previous Mineral Resources Council ...
Do environmental considerations feature in your business plans? If not, then perhaps it is time they did. Minimising waste, reducing energy consumption and decreasing the environmental impact is not just good for the planet but can lead to increased profits. That is the message from the Scottish Executive in its paper 'Going for green growth: a green jobs strategy for Scotland' ...
In a decision released Wednesday, July 20,(1) the Supreme Court of Canada has overturned Court of Appeal decisions from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia finding that Mi’kmaq people have a treaty right to harvest timber for commercial purposes. In so doing, the Court also provided guidance on how to assess aboriginal title claims ...
Practical Advice for Defending Toxic Tort Actions - 11/29/2001 Texas Lawyer © 2001. All rights reserved Defending a toxic tort case involving multiple plaintiffs and defendants, not surprisingly, presents multiple issues of concern. In developing a litigation strategy, thoughtful defense counsel will anticipate these issues ...
The provisions of the Environment Quality Act (“EQA”) regarding contaminated land require a person intending to change the use of a parcel of land to perform a site characterization study1 if certain specific industrial activities have been carried on there. If this study reveals the presence of contaminants in excess of the limit values prescribed by regulation 3, a notice of contamination must be registered in the land register against the property in question ...
Energy Policy Elert, please click on link to view full publication ...
On September 30, 2004, the MDEQ Remediation and Redevelopment Division (“RRD”) issued Operational Memorandum No. 5 (“Op. Memo No. 5”) related to groundwater surface water interface (“GSI”) criteria and their application under NREPA Part 201 (Michigan Contaminated Sites), Superfund, and Part 213 (Michigan Leaking UST Sites). Op. Memo No. 5 replaces the previously issued Op. Memo No. 17 (September 8, 1998) related to GSI criteria ...
Judgement of the European Court of Justice in case C-231/03 – Consorzio Aziende Metano (Coname) v. Commune di Cingia de’Botti, dated 21 July 2005 The case developed out of a dispute between Consorzio Aziende Metano (Coname) and the Comune di Cingia de’ Botti (municipality of Cingia de’ Botti) concerning the award by the latter to Padania Acque SpA, of a concession for provision of service covering management, distribution and maintenance of methane gas distribution installations ...
Per Decree 1404 issued on May 5, 2005 (“Decree 1404”), the Colombian Government approved the sale of the State’s majority interest in the largest gas transportation company in Colombia, Empresa Colombiana de Gas (“Ecogás”). An introduction to Ecogás and the privatization process is set forth below. 1 ...
On November 29, 2005, the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico’s Congress approved a draft of the “Civil Liability for Environmental Damage Law” (the “Bill”) which regulates liability for acts or omissions which have an adverse impact on the environmental. The Bill was sent to the Senate on December 1, 2005 and is now in the process of being studied by the Environmental, Economic Development, Justice and Legislative Studies Committees ...
Purchasing a yacht should be a pleasurable experience given that the craft in question is most likely to be used for the owner’s leisure pursuits. Yachts, however, whether they are second-hand, new, large or small, have one thing in common. They are expensive. However, many purchasers whether they are paying £10,000 or £1,000,000 are sometimes less cautious than perhaps they should be when buying what is in effect a “toy” ...
An amendment to the Law Regulating Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution Concerning Petroleum (the “Law”) was recently passed by the Mexican Congress and published in the Federal Official Gazette on January 12, 2006 ...
On December 28, 2005, the Mexican Ministry of Finance published in the Federal Official Gazette notice of an increase in domestic electricity power supply charges to be implemented during the year 2006. Such increase will not exceed 4% and will be put into effect gradually, month-by-month, throughout the year. As of the end of 2004, Mexico had 24 million domestic power supply consumers ...
The Federal Electricity Commission (the “Commission”) will put out for public bidding the construction and operation of a hydroelectric plant named “La Yesca.” The plant will be located 65 kilometers from the El Cajon Dam, between the boundaries of the states of Nayarit and Jalisco ...
Thanks to Houston's leading role in energy, the exotic names of former Soviet Republics forming the Commonwealth of Independent States -- entities such as Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan -- are familiar to locals active in oil and gas. They are also well known to Houston law firms that serve energy interests. Serving Russia and the Caspian region, Haynes and Boone LLP opened a Moscow office last year ...
Supreme Decree No. 28701 of May 1st, 2006 (the “SD”), has a legitimate basis that rests on the 2004 binding Referendum by which a majority of the Bolivian population approved the nationalization of hydrocarbons. Also, the SD was created in order to comply with campaign promises made to the various social sectors that ultimately brought the current government to power ...
