The AIPN Joint Operating Agreement

This book offers a pragmatic, detailed clause-by-clause review of the most recent (2012) version of the conventional petroleum AIPN JOA. Each clause is analysed in depth by reference. The book also analyses the major appendices of the AIPN JOA, including the accounting procedure and the lifting procedures.

The Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN) model form joint operating agreement (JOA) was first issued in 1990 and has undergone a number of subsequent revisions. It is the most widely-used (although not always the most liked) joint operating agreement in international conventional oil and gas projects today.This book offers a pragmatic, detailed clause-by-clause review of the most recent (2012) version of the conventional petroleum AIPN JOA. Each clause is analysed in depth by reference to: (1) a statement of what the clause says; (2) a summary of the intended meaning of the clause; and (3) observations on how the clause tends to be modified in practice and might be improved. The book also analyses the major appendices of the AIPN JOA, including the accounting procedure and the lifting procedures.This book is written by experienced practitioners who together have many years of knowledge and understanding in redrafting, negotiating and applying the AIPN JOA. It will be invaluable to legal representatives, financiers, commercial managers, operational personnel and government parties who are dealing with the AIPN JOA, whether for the first time or from a position of relative familiarity.

1. Introduction2. Article 2 – Term and termination3. Article 3 – Scope4. Article 4 – Operator5. Article 5 – Operating committee6. Article 6 – Work programs and budgets7. Article 7 – Operations by fewer than all parties8. Article 8 – Default9. Article 9 – Disposition of production10. Article 10 – Decommissioning and abandonment11. Article 11 – Surrender, extensions and renewals12. Article 12 – Transfer of interest or rights and changes in control13. Article 13 – Withdrawal from agreement14. Article 14 – Relationship of parties and tax15. Article 15 – Venture information, confidentiality, intellectual property16. Article 16 – Force majeure17. Article 17 – Notices18. Article 18 – Applicable law, dispute resolution, waiver of sovereign Immunity19. Article 19 – Allocation of cost and profit hydrocarbons20. Article 20 – General provisions21. Accounting procedure22. Appendices