AIPN Approves 2020 Offshore Drilling Contract
The Board of Directors of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN) is pleased to announce the publication of its 2020 Model International Offshore Drilling Contract.
The 2020 AIPN Model International Offshore Drilling Contract is intended to work in most offshore areas and countries around the world. It is intended to be a fairly balanced contract with the risks, rights, and obligations being about equal for both parties. This contract may be used in conventional shelf operations, or in deepwater operations, and may be utilized for jack-up, semi-submersible, and drillship type drilling units. The contract contains various optional and alternative provisions. Some of the optionality is required due to different drilling environments, countries of operations, and types of drilling unit to be used, while some options will facilitate negotiation of commercial and risk allocation provisions depending on the risks, legal systems, and drilling operations involved.
This 2020 model form is generally consistent with the 2002 AIPN Model Well Services Contract, and there is a robust section of definitions, a revamped insurance section, and enhanced corruption and anti-bribery compliance sections. Finally, the Schedules of the Contract will provide a helpful framework, but the details will need to be provided by the parties to accommodate tremendous variation of such provision in current drilling contracts. In addition, Guidance Notes are provided to assist the user.
The publication of the 2020 Model International Drilling Contract concludes a substantial industry-wide effort. Co-chairs William Pugh (Liskow & Lewis), Tom Schmid (Chevron, Retired), Buford Pollett (University of Tulsa) and their drafting committee held numerous meetings over many years to prepare the 2020 form. The drafting committee included broad industry participation comprising more than 100 representatives from several continents.
The 2020 Offshore Drilling Contract set is available for download free for AIPN members and $185 for non-members.