15th ITA-IEL-ICC Joint Conference on International Energy Arbitration

Time: 13:30

Registration

Time: 14:30-14:45

Welcome

• Charles “Chip” Brower II, ITA Chair, Of Counsel, Miller Canfield, Professor of Law, Wayne State University, Detroit
• Sharon O. Flanery, IEL Chair, Steptoe & Johnson PLLC, Charleston
• Claudia Salomon, President, ICC International Court of Arbitration, Paris

Time: 14:45-14:50

Welcome to the Roundtable

• Julio Rivera Ríos, ICC YAAF Representative, Rivera García, Ciudad de México, México

Panel Introduction:  Joy Mgbado, Young ITA Representative, Aluko & Oyebode, Abuj

Time: 14:50-15:45

Power Without Borders: Navigating Disputes in Cross-Border Energy Transmission

This panel will examine the unique dispute risks associated with subsea cables, interconnectors, pipelines, and other energy infrastructure spanning multiple jurisdictions. Drawing on recent developments and incidents involving large-scale cross-border transmission projects, panellists will explore how companies are navigating these challenges and managing risks involved in complex multi-state energy projects.

Moderator: 

• Madeline R. Snider, Snider Dispute Resolution PLLC, Ciudad de México

Panellists:

• Chris Campbell, Legal Director – Litigation Counsel, Baker Hughes, Florence
• Lisa Denman, General Counsel, OneSubsea, Houston
• Tunde Fagbohunlu, SAN, Senior Partner, Aluko & Oyebode, Lagos

Time: 15:50-16:55

When States Go Commercial: Is Immunity from Enforcement Justified?

This Oxford-style debate will examine the limits and implications of sovereign immunity in commercial award enforcement. 

Following an introductory discussion, panelists will debate two propositions: 

1. This house resolves that a State-owned energy enterprise’s entry into a commercial arbitration agreement constitutes a default waiver of sovereign immunity, absent an express reservation in the agreement itself; and 
2. This house resolves that the law of the arbitral seat, and not the law of the enforcement forum, governs whether a State-owned enterprise has waived sovereign immunity from execution.

Moderator:

• Duncan Pickard, Associate, Debevoise & Plimpton, New York, New York

Panelists:

• Catherine Bratic, Counsel, Hogan Lovells Cadwalader, Houston
• Christina Doria, Partner, Baker McKenzie, Toronto
• Alejandro Martinez de Hoz, Head of Latin American Arbitration, Linklaters, Washington, D.C.
• Vitor Vieira, Associate, Alston & Bird, New York

Time: 16:55-17:00

Roundtable Closing Remarks

• Courtney Giles, IEL YEP Representative; Partner, Baker McKenzie, Houston

Time: 17:15-19:30

Conference Social

Join us at The Grove for a relaxed evening reception on the restaurant’s first floor, reserved exclusively for our group. Enjoy drinks, plenty of outstanding food to make a full dinner, and an informal setting designed for visiting with friends and colleagues. Guests are free to mingle at the bar or settle in at smaller tables throughout the evening.

The Grove | 1611 Lamar St. | Houston, TX 77010

Time: 8:00-9:00

Registration and Continental Breakfast

Time: 9:00-9:05

Welcome Back

Time: 9:05-9:35

Energy Markets, Energy Transition and Energy Security in a Time of Turmoil

Dr. Michot Foss will explore the status of the energy transition in uncertain times, including the regulatory, political and geopolitical considerations influencing the transition in the US and abroad.

• Michelle Michot Foss, Ph.D.,Distinguished Fellow, Energy Policy Research Foundation, Houston

Time: 9:35-10:25

To Boldly Go Where Nobody Has Gone Before: New Frontiers of Energy Disputes

As wind and solar disputes rage on, new frontiers of energy disputes are emerging. Panelists will dive into the bold new world of building and powering data centers, storage battery failure and intermittency, repowering aging energy infrastructure, (unequal) access to transmission resources such as hydrogen pipelines, and the re-emergence of nuclear power.

Moderator: 

• Norah Gallagher, Academic Director, Energy & Climate Change Law Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London

Panelists:

• Jonathan Brierley, Partner, Akin, London
• Kirsten Odynski, Partner, White & Case LLP, Houston
• Zachary Song, Partner, Steptoe LLP, New York

Time: 10:25-10:50

Coffee Break

Time: 10:50-11:45

Price Shocks, Broken Promises and Facility Disruptions: When is Performance Excused?

Geopolitics and market forces are upending the conventional wisdom about when contractual performance is excused. Panelists will discuss contractual force majeure, CISG, UCC and other statutory defenses and at-law doctrines such as impossibility and hardship, and the extent of the duty to mitigate, if any.

Moderator: 

• Patricia Saiz, Independent Arbitrator,Saiz Arbitration, Madrid

Panelists:

• Alexandre de Gramont, Partner, Womble Bond Dickinson, Washington, D.C.
• Jennifer Huang, Partner, Mayer Brown, New York
• Calvin F. McKnight Jr., Senior Counsel, Vitol, Houston
• Shaden Yousef Newton, Executive Counsel, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Spring

Time: 11:50-12:45

The Physical Toll: Infrastructure, Supply Chain, and Shipping Disputes

Energy infrastructure projects are increasingly exposed to disruption from armed conflict, sabotage, sanctions, tariffs, changing shipping routes, and global supply-chain pressures. Panelists will discuss how owners and EPC contractors are navigating the resulting risks, disruptions, and delays to energy infrastructure projects.

Moderator: 

• Fritha Wheeler-Ozanne, Assistant General Counsel, Fluor Corporation, Irving

Panelists:

• Jane Davies Evans KC, Counsel, 3VB, London
• Pamela McDonald, Partner, Pinsent Mason, Doha
• Sami Tannous, Partner, Freshfields, Dubai

Time: 12:45 -14:10

LUNCHEON

A Conversation with:

• Jean Kalicki, Independent Arbitrator, Kalicki Arbitration, New York

Interviewed by:

• Prof. Dr. Crina Baltag, Queen Mary University of London, Associate Professor; Independent Arbitrator, ARBITRA, London

This interview is the latest in a series organized by the ITA Academic Council to record the evolution of modern international arbitration in the words of those who have led it.

Time: 14:10-14:20

Coffee Break

Time: 14:20-15:20

Year in Review: The Top Developments in International Energy Arbitration

This presentation will survey investor-state and commercial disputes in the energy sector and highlight the biggest developments of the last year. Casting an eye over a wide range of matters, speakers will identify decisions and industry trends that are likely to influence energy arbitration in the future.

Panelists:

• Kate Brown de Vejar, Partner and Global Co-Chair of International Arbitration, DLA Piper, Ciudad de México
• Luke Sobota, Partner, Three Crowns, Washington, D.C.

Time: 15:25-16:25

Erosion of the PSA & Quantum: Compensation for Windfall Taxes and Fiscal Reinterpretations

Conflicts persist between host states wanting more revenue for government projects and operators relying on the economic rewards built into their Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs). The host state rarely outright expropriates a project anymore. Instead, profits are recouped through tax code reinterpretations, windfall profits taxes, R-factor adjustments, or environmental surcharges. True experts will provide a highly practical, technical discussion on damages and the “equilibrium of the contract” in volatile regimes.

Moderator: 

• Laura Cózar, Partner, Accuracy, Madrid

Panelists:

• Carla Chavich, Executive Vice President and the Head of the International Arbitration Americas Practice, Compass Lexecon, New York
• Drake Hernandez, Director in the Energy & Climate practice, BRG, Houston
• Julian Honowitz, Managing Director, Ankura, Chicago

Time: 16:25-16:30

Closing Remarks