The Energy Department is a branch in the Firm, which has undergone a systematic growth in the last couple of years, having been engaged in a lot of groundwork in both the Electrical Power and the Oil & Gas sectors in Nigeria and Ghana.

In the Electrical Power sector, the firm played a prominent role in the establishment of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), where it was engaged as a consultant. The work undertaken in this project has been instructive and elucidating, as it highlights the importance of an independent regulatory authority in the attraction of foreign investors into a recently deregulated market.

As a firm, we are in a pole position to render advice on dealing with NERC, which is a novelty in the Nigerian economy, as far as an independent regulatory authority goes. We have a thorough understanding of the functions of NERC especially the operation of the market rules; grid codes, distribution codes and the metering codes etc, with which new investors in the deregulated power sector must conform.

The Firm has equally been engaged in the Corporate Restructuring of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, which has granted it a vantage position in understanding the machinations of the new Electricity Supply Industry in Nigeria with the attendant obligations imposed on new investors and the inevitable trouble spots.

The Firm recently advised a consortium on the acquisition of hydro and thermal power stations towards the privatisation of the PHCN
The Firm has also been engaged as part of a consortium to undertake a feasibility study on the establishment of an Independent Power Plant in Nigeria by Owel Gas Holding Limited. Hence it is safe to assert that the Firm's experience in the emerging Electricity Supply Industry in Nigeria is comprehensive, integrated and primed to undertake transactional work in the sector.

In the Oil & Gas sector, the Firm has been actively involved in the reform, considering the role it played in the review of the Legal and Regulatory Framework of the Downstream Petroleum Sector in Nigeria, which culminated in the drafting of the Downstream Petroleum Sector Reform Bill and the harmonisation of the Petroleum Industry Reform Bill, which will be a blueprint for the Petroleum Industry in Nigeria. Likewise, we were part of the consortium that advised the Ministry of Energy, Ghana on the deregulation of the petroleum downstream sector.

Like in other departments of the Firm, especially Pensions, the groundwork in the Energy Sector inexorably leads to transactional works, and as such, the Firm has been proactive in its preparation for transactional work in the Energy sector, by recruiting specialist counsels, who are also being continually trained by leading experts in the Energy Sector on the latest issues and skills.