Indemnity Structures
Knock for knock and liability provisions assessed for how they actually operate under UAE law.
Oil and gas work in the region is contract heavy and dispute prone, with long chains of service agreements, tight HSE obligations and counterparties spread across multiple jurisdictions and sanctions regimes.
Dubai Legal Expert advises operators, service companies, traders and contractors across the UAE on contracts, compliance, HSE and disputes in the oil and gas sector.
Service and supply contracts in this sector typically allocate risk through knock for knock indemnities, liability caps and consequential loss exclusions. Whether those provisions operate as intended under UAE law requires specific attention rather than assumption.
Sanctions and trade compliance is the second recurring exposure. Counterparty screening, cargo origin verification and payment routing all carry consequences that extend well beyond the transaction itself.
Contact UsDrilling, services, supply and construction contracts including indemnity and liability structures.
Joint operating agreements, participation arrangements and disputes between venture parties.
Sale contracts, bunker supply, quality and quantity disputes and payment security.
Counterparty screening, trade compliance and responses where an issue is identified.
Health and safety obligations, incident investigation and regulatory and civil exposure.
Knock for knock and liability provisions assessed for how they actually operate under UAE law.
Sale, supply and bunker contracts with workable quality, quantity and payment security terms.
Counterparty and cargo screening processes and rapid response where an issue arises.
Incident response covering regulatory, civil and criminal exposure together rather than separately.
Sector disputes conducted under the institutional rules the contracts typically specify.
Coordination with counsel in other jurisdictions where counterparties and assets sit abroad.
Knock for knock indemnities and consequential loss exclusions are standard in sector contracts and are drafted against the background of other legal systems. How they operate under UAE law is not identical, particularly where liability arises from gross fault.
We review these provisions against the position that will actually apply if the contract is performed and disputed here, rather than assuming the drafting achieves what it does elsewhere.
A structured route from review through documentation to dispute support.
Service, supply and trading contracts are reviewed with attention to risk allocation and forum.
Sanctions, trade compliance and counterparty screening processes are reviewed and strengthened.
Terms are negotiated with focus on indemnities, liability caps, payment security and dispute clauses.
Incident response procedures and documentation standards are established before they are needed.
Incidents are managed across regulatory, civil, criminal and insurance dimensions together.
Sector disputes are conducted through arbitration or the courts as the contract provides.
The indemnity structure we relied on would not have operated as we assumed. That review changed our contracting position.
Their screening process caught a counterparty issue that would have been extremely serious for us.
A risk allocation structure where each party bears responsibility for its own personnel and property regardless of fault, subject to how it operates under the applicable law.
Commonly yes, with institutional rules specified, and the forum and seat should be reviewed for enforceability.
Counterparty and cargo screening, payment routing checks and documented procedures, with rapid response where an issue is identified.
Caps and exclusions can be effective but must be assessed against UAE law, particularly where liability arises from gross fault.
Preservation of records, regulatory notification where required, and management of regulatory, civil and insurance exposure together.
Through the contractual inspection and determination mechanism, and the drafting of that mechanism decides most of these disputes.
From indemnity structures to sanctions screening, the first consultation is free.
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