Introduction

This paper sets out to offer some insight into dispute resolution as gained from the author's 25-year career in the oil industry, initially in managing North Sea production platform construction projects (including the revolutionary Hutton TLP), then as a legal/commercial consultant, mainly in respect of the US onshore and UK North Sea, then as Head of Legal at Cairn Energy PLC, dealing with the laws of some 30 jurisdictions, and more recently as an independent Arbitrator and Mediator in the energy and other commercial sectors.