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AIPN's History
The story of the AIPN is a story rich in the description of the people who contributed their time and effort to make it the preeminent organization it is today. Although the association's roots are in Houston's upstream oil sector, it has now grown to be a truly global organization serving the needs of cross-border energy negotiators in the upstream, midstream and downstream hydrocarbon sectors.
In 1981, Scotty Greenwald, Jack Rosshirt, Frank Alexander, Tom O'Dell, Colin Friedlander, Hank Thomsen, Clark Halderson, Mickey Ables, and Frank Mytinger (who were then associated with the following oil companies: Amoco, Union Texas, Conoco, Pecten, and Cities Service) formed a "Steering Committee" to explore the formation of what eventually became the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators. The Steering Committee held six organizational meetings in Houston and prepared the first AIPN By-laws. Letters then followed inviting international petroleum industry negotiators in the area to participate. The first meeting of the AIPN took place in Houston at the Inn on the Park Hotel (now the Omni Hotel) on February 25, 1982, and soon thereafter, the AIPN elected its first officers. Regular lunch meetings followed thereafter, with Gordon Barrows (Barrows Company Inc.) becoming on October 20, 1982, the first person to speak at an AIPN luncheon. At that time, AIPN had 180 members, mostly from the United States.
The first AIPN "Spring Conference" was held in the Houston area in 1985. The Annual Spring Conference in Texas has continued to date, with San Antonio serving as the venue during the 1990s, and Galveston and Houston hosting the conference since 2002.
1990 was a historic year for the association. That year, the first AIPN model form contract - the AIPN Model Form Confidentiality Agreement (committee chaired by Rod McAlister (Conoco)) - was completed. A far more ambitious project was completed when the 1990 version of the AIPN Model Form International Operating Agreement (committee chaired by Andy Derman and Sean Murphy of Oryx) was released to almost instant acclaim. Lastly, in 1990 Andy Derman also organized the first annual AIPN Model Contracts Workshop in Vail, Colorado.
Cynthia Masters (British Gas) and Scott Helma (British Petroleum) were instrumental in the production of the AIPN newsletter, the Advisor, the first issue being printed and mailed in October 1992. 1992 also saw the finalization of two additional model form agreements: the AIPN Model Form Accounting Procedures (committee chaired by Bob Cummings (Union Texas)) and the International Study and Bid Group Agreement.
By 1993 membership in AIPN had passed 500 and the annual association budget exceeded $150,000. The first informal meetings of the Canadian Regional Chapter began that year when Patrick Wesley organized the initial Calgary event and asked then President Mick Jarvis (Amoco) to help kick it off. Mick Jarvis also organized the first AIPN conference outside of the United States - the Fall Conference in London in September 1993. This began a decade long movement to enhance the "internationalization" of the association by including more cross-border negotiators from around the globe. The association hosted in December 1993 its first Holiday Party (a well-attended Houston annual event that still continues; since 1997 this gathering has also been a successful charity fundraiser).
1994 was another year of innovation for AIPN, when Andy Derman (Oryx) worked with the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation to organize a week long "Short Course" on International Petroleum Contracts and Negotiations; the Short Course is the premier course on upstream agreements, as evidenced by
the almost 1000 negotiators from various parts of the world who have attended.
The second version of the AIPN Model Form International Operating Agreement (committee chaired by David Asmus of Baker Botts) was released in 1995. Also that year, AIPN's second conference outside the United States was held in Rome (committee chaired by John Campion (Union Texas)). The AIPN held its next conference in Banff, Canada in 1996 (chaired by Sean Murphy (PanCanadian) and Tim Martin (Nexen)).
In 1997 John Brooks of the Ministry of Industry of the United Kingdom became the first host government representative to become a member of the AIPN Board of Directors. Since that time, several other host government representatives (including from Kuwait, Morocco, Namibia, Trinidad and Tobago, and South Africa) have served on the AIPN Board.
AIPN again ventured into new territory when it held its conference in Asia in 1997, sponsored for the first time by a national oil company, Petronas. The Kuala Lumpur Fall Conference's success (committee chaired by Belle Toren (Triton Energy)) further encouraged AIPN to broaden its geographic base.
The first AIPN Publications Grant in 1998 resulted in Dr. Peter Cameron's "Decommissioning of Oil and Gas Installations - A Comparative Approach to the Legal and Contractual Issues." In late 1998, we held our second major conference in London.
1999 saw the conclusion of a second version of the AIPN Model Form Confidentiality Agreement (committee chaired by Chris Tytanic of Kerr McGee) and the Consultant Agreement for Business Development in a Host Country (committee chaired by Charles Daniels of Phillips). Also that year, we released the Host Government Contract Handbook - Volume No. 1 (committee chaired by Frank Alexander (Legal Consultant)), a project providing a comparative analysis
of significant issues under production sharing agreements and other HGC contracts. Our 1999 Fall Conference was held in Washington D.C. and was organized by David Asmus (Baker Botts) and Andy Derman (Thompson & Knight).
Around this time, AIPN ventured onto the Internet by developing a website (under the leadership of Pat Appel (Meyer Orlando)) which has permitted more efficient communication on a truly worldwide scale.
The year 2000 was a busy one for AIPN. First, the International Conference in Cape Town, South Africa (organized by Stephen Mills (Petroleum Agency of South Africa)) was our initial opportunity to host a conference in Africa. Second, on the model agreements front, we released the 2nd version of the Model Form Accounting Procedures (committee chaired by Bob Cummings (Consultant) and Osiris Madera (Triton Energy)). Lastly, in 2000, Al Boulos (Boulos International) concluded 12 years of heading the AIPN resume referral service, which has placed many negotiators into new positions; Marty Forte (Mobil) took over this important task.
Although attempts had been made to start a European chapter in 1996, it was not until after the Cape Town International Conference that those efforts culminated. In early 2001, the first official meeting of the Europe/Africa/Middle East /CIS Chapter (EAMC) was held in Paris (steering committee led by Mick Jarvis (Consultant), Stéphane Brabant (Herbert Smith), Toufic Nassif (BP) and Terry Todd (TotalFinaElf)). Meetings of the EAMC have since been held every 3-4 months in various regional venues, including London, Tunis, Dubai and Moscow. Similarly, in late 2001 the South American Regional Chapter (renamed in 2003 as the Latin American Regional Chapter (LARC) upon Mexico's inclusion) was formed under the leadership of Justo Norman (Maciel Norman)
and Pablo Alliani (Estudio Bruzzon). Meetings of the LARC have since been held in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, and Quito. The AIPN published that year the Model Form Crude Oil Lifting Agreement (committee chaired by Terry Todd of Elf Exploration Production and James Barnes (Thompson Knight)). Moreover, an AIPN Publications Grant resulted in the publication of "Cross-Border Oil and Gas Pipelines: Legal and Regulatory Regimes," by Dr. Sergei Vinogradov of the Centre for Energy, Petroleum & Mineral Law & Policy, University of Dundee, Scotland. That year AIPN expanded its successful International Energy Law, Contracts and Negotiations Course when it added a complementary second week addressing mid-stream petroleum issues (committee chaired by James Barnes (Barnes and Cascio). September 11, 2001 was a memorable date for many AIPN members, as they were gathered in Calgary for the AIPN's first major conference in Canada (committee chaired by Bill MacGillivray (Pan Canadian) and Nolan Rempel (Pan Canadian). On December 7, 2001, the AIPN voted to form a separate U.S. Chapter, thus placing activities in the U.S. on the same footing as those of other AIPN regions that are directly supervised by a local steering committee rather than the AIPN Board. Last but not least, Ms. Jo Ann Mulske retired in 2001 as Executive Director of the organization after many faithful years of valuable service.
The 2002 version of the AIPN Model Form International Operating Agreement, the form's second revision, was released in June (committee chaired by Philip Weems (King & Spalding)). Shortly thereafter our first Model Secondment Agreement was approved (committee chaired by James Barnes (Barnes and Casio). Also, the Model Form Service Contracts for Well Services, Seismic and Drilling (committee chaired by Tim Martin of Nexen with sub-committees chaired by Howard Johnson (Texaco) and Charles White (Halliburton)) was published. The highlight event of the year was the International Conference held in Paris (committee chaired by Stéphane Brabant (Herbert Smith) and Toufic Nassif (BP)). During that year, AIPN also formed committees to update the Model form
Accounting Procedure (committee chaired by Ben Welmaker (Thompson Knight) and Kerry Speer of ExxonMobil) and to develop three new model agreements: Pipeline Gas Sales Agreement (committee chaired by Bryant Daniels (Devon) and Cecile Wake (Herbert Smith)); Farmout Agreement (committee chaired by Skip Maryan (ExxonMobil) and Mike Darden (Baker Botts)); and International Dispute Resolution Agreement (committee chaired by John Bowman (Fulbright Jaworski) and Doak Bishop (King & Spalding)). That year the annual AIPN Model Contracts Workshop was moved to Banff, Canada for two years running (led by Tim Martin (Nexen) along with Paul Feldman (Anadarko) and Richard Shoylekov (Cadwalader)).
In 2003, AIPN achieved a milestone when it elected members to its Board of Directors from six continents. Another landmark event was the formation of the Australia / Asia Regional Chapter (under the direction of Hans Hirschmanner (Woodside Petroleum)). In August 2003 the AIPN released a more modern website, utilizing its new logo. The AIPN website, under the leadership of Victor Obadiah, has been expanded to enhance all of AIPN's services: membership contact information, an online forum for model form committees, downloads of existing model forms, conference materials and the newsletter ‘the Advisor’, bulletin boards for regional chapters, registration for members and conferences, posting of resumes and job opportunities. In October 2003, the International Conference in Dubai (committee chaired by Gavin Daniel (Kufpec) and Curt Satre (Nexen), with the assistance of Tim Martin (Nexen)) welcomed over 200 attendees from 23 countries; for the first time this event brought together host government petroleum negotiators from Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Oman, Syria and Yemen in one place for an open discussion on key issues facing the Middle East energy negotiator.
Building on the accomplishments of the previous years, AIPN in 2004, got into high gear focusing on the key themes of its mission: Education, Communication, membership outreach and growth. On education new procedures were adopted for approving New Model Form Contracts to ensure that these documents meet the highest industry standards. First Farmout Model Form Agreement and Model Form Dispute Resolution Agreement were rolled out at the Tuscany Model Form Workshop in July 2004 in the beautiful village of Artimino, in tuscany, Italy. The Model Form Workshop (chaired by Tim Martin, Terry Todd and Richard Shoylekov) and the Short Course (chaired by Jim Barnes and Karen Krug) were both a sell out in 2004, a testimony to the high quality of these two flagship educational events. Later that year, the AIPN Board recognizing the need to expand the organization’s educational and outreach programs, gave the green light for holding the first AIPN negotiation workshop paving the way for creating another successful educational event.
Events and short workshops were conducted all over the globe, in London, Tunis, Washington, New York, Almaty, Moscow, Rio de Janeiro and Calgary to name a few. The AIPN 2004 International Conference (chaired by Pablo Alliani and Gusto Norman) was held in the beautiful city of Buenos Aires setting a new attendance record with more than 230 registered delegates. These great events and workshops have contributed significantly to our membership growth and helped us reach out to our members across the globe. The Board in an effort to maximize the connectivity with our members in various locations held 50% of its meeting in international locations coinciding with various AIPN regional events.
In 2005 AIPN proved once again that it is the most dynamic, innovative and productive organization in the international petroleum industry. Pat Allison, VP of Education and her many committees completed a record number of Model Form Agreements. Professor Owen Anderson finalized a Model Contract handbook that provides clear guidelines to drafting committees and ensures consistent quality in future Model Form Contracts. The Board also approved the initiation of several Model contracts to include LNG sales and Purchase agreement and Gas Transportation Agreement. The AIPN model JOA was translated into Spanish and Arabic for the first time. French and Russian versions were also being prepared. The Model Contracts workshop in Artimino -chaired by Terry Todd and Marco Bollini- was once again a great success. Jim Barnes and Karen Krug, the chairs of the Short Course, were faced with some real challenges when Hurricane Rita threatened the Gulf of Mexico and forced the postponement of the first session of the course from September to December. Despite all the logistical difficulties the two sessions of the short course were a sell out. AIPN saw in 2005 the launching of a new education course, the Negotiation Skills Workshop under the leadership of Yvonne Holm and Harry Sullivan. The first workshop was held in London and it was very well received.
Regional activities continued to expand in 2005. Many great well attended events were held in Rio, Bogotá, Houston, Washington DC, Denver, Singapore, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, London, Dubai, Doha, Lagos, Marrakech, Moscow and Almaty. In addition to these great events the AIPN 2005 International Conference co-chaired by Jennifer Josefson and Andrei Sapozhnikov was held in Moscow and covered key topics on O&G about the FSU. Once again these events have proven to be a great educational as well as excellent networking opportunities.
One of the great accomplishments for 2005 was the development and approval of a 5 year strategic business plan under the leadership of Deborah Resley and Rick Goenner, to guide the organization in its growth and to better serve its members.
By the end of 2005, AIPN's membership had grown to over 1700 members, with an annual budget approaching $900,000. AIPN moved to bigger offices, we said farewell to our Executive Director for years Luisa Neher and Assistant Executive Director Caron Scott who were instrumental in shaping and managing the organization in its critical growth years. We welcomed our new Executive Director Valerie van Lelyveld-Eyckmans and Assistant Executive Director Jennifer O’Neal. AIPN had, at the end of 2005, members residing in 75 countries, representing numerous international oil and gas companies, host governments, law firms and academic institutions.
| AIPN
Presidents have included the following: |
| Frank Mytinger |
1982-1983 |
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Sean Murphy |
1994-1995 |
| John Rosshirt |
1983-1984 |
John Campion |
1995-1996 |
| G. E. Burgher |
1984-1985 |
Marty Forte |
1996-1997 |
| Walter Mosgovoy |
1985-1986 |
Casey Olson |
1997-1998 |
| Claude Masters |
1986-1987 |
John Lindemood |
1998-1999 |
| Alfred Boulos |
1987-1988 |
Bellanne Toren |
1999-2000 |
| John Elliott |
1988-1989 |
Eric Fry |
2000-2001 |
| Timothy Sands |
1989-1990 |
David Asmus |
2001-2002 |
| Michael Coffield |
1990-1991 |
Terry Todd |
2002-2003 |
| John Vance |
1991-1992 |
Philip Weems |
2003-2004 |
| Mike Foley |
1992-1993 |
Toufic Nassif |
2004-2005 |
| Mick Jarvis |
1993-1994 |
Tim Martin |
2005-2006 |
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Rick Goenner |
2006-2007 |
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