Abstract

The oil and gas industry requires huge investments involving extraordinary financial, environmental and safety risks. Dramatic images of the Deepwater Horizon (Gulf of Mexico, 2010), Alpha Piper (Scotland, 1988), P-51 (Brazil, 2001) and Campeche (Mexico, 1979) disasters offer chilling reminders of the monumental loss of life, property and environmental integrity that can quickly result from human error. With this backdrop, industry participants and their insurers learned early on that the normal fault-based approach to wellsite liability did not fit the nature and needs of the petroleum business.This article analyzes the risks inherent in applying the laws of a civil law jurisdiction to an oil and gas wellsite contract based on common law principles, with special emphasis on Brazil. It first briefly describes the traditional common law approach to liability allocation in wellsite contracts, including “knock-for-knock” principles (“K4K”). Next, it outlines the traditional civil law approach to liability (responsbilité) through French and Brazilian prisms. The authors do not deeply discuss the pros and cons of K4K clauses nor the policy implications of anti-indemnity statutes. Rather, they assume the reader is contemplating the negotiation of a wellsite services contract subject to the laws of a civil law jurisdiction, and describe the relevant risks and possible mitigation strategies.

中文翻译：

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飞跃前要仔细看看：您的石油补丁责任条款是否可以执行？：（根据对民法管辖权的分析，重点是巴西）

摘要

石油和天然气行业需要巨额投资，涉及巨大的财务，环境和安全风险。戏剧性的深水地平线（墨西哥湾，2010年），阿尔法·派珀（苏格兰，1988年），P-51（巴西，2001年）和坎佩切州（墨西哥，1979年）的灾难性影像令人不寒而栗，令人联想到生命，财产和财产的巨大损失。人为错误会很快导致环境完整性。在这种背景下，行业参与者及其保险公司较早地了解到，基于故障的正常故障处理井场责任的方法并不适合石油业务的性质和需求。本文分析了将民法管辖区法律应用于石油行业所固有的风险。基于普通法原则的石油和天然气井场合同，特别侧重于巴西。它首先简要介绍了井场合同中责任分配的传统普通法方法，包括“按敲敲打”原则（“ K4K”）。接下来，它概述了传统的民法责任赔偿方法（责任）（通过法国和巴西的棱镜）。作者没有深入讨论K4K条款的利弊，也没有讨论反赔偿法的政策含义。相反，他们假设读者正在考虑根据民法管辖区的法律来谈判井场服务合同，并描述相关的风险和可能的缓解策略。