IADC Contracts & Risk Management Conference

7:45 am  Registration & Coffee Service 

7:50 am  Speaker Briefing (Speakers, Moderators & Session Chairs only)

8:15 am  Welcome & Introduction

• Mike DuBose, Sr. Vice President – International Development, IADC
• Roddie Mackenzie, EVP and Chief Commercial Officer, Transocean

IADC Contracts Committee Activities Update: Tyler Smith, Chair, IADC Contracts Committee; Legal Counsel, Nabors

8:45 am  Keynote Presentation: Skip York, PhD, Nonresident Fellow in Energy and Global Oil, Baker Institute, Rice University

9:15 am  Current Issues in Global Supply Chain: Isabela Louback, Chair, IADC Supply Chain Committee; Director Supply Chain, Precision Drilling

9:45 am  Coffee Service

10:00 am  Venezuela: Industry Dynamics & Challenges
Panelists will explore the ins and outs of doing business in Venezuela’s current geopolitical environment, how businesses navigate the rapidly evolving political & regulatory risks, as well as any lessons learned.

• Rick de la Torre, CEO/Founder, Tower Strategy
• Joe Lillis, VP – Policy, IADC
• Julian Cardenas Garcia, Director, Center for U.S. and Mexican Law, U of H

11:30 am  The Invisible Asset on the Rig: Who Pays, Who Owns, Who Benefits from AI?: Bill Ambrose, Partner, McKinsey & Company
AI capability is becoming a new class of operational asset in drilling – less visible than iron, but potentially just as valuable. This discussion explores how drillers can define, protect, price, and contract for AI-enabled performance improvements, while addressing the three questions that will shape adoption: who pays for the technology, who owns the data and resulting IP, and who captures the value created through better safety, reliability, cycle time, and drilling performance.

12:00 pm  Luncheon  Sponsored by Troutman Pepper Locke

1:00 pm  Critical Issues in Contracting
Panelists will examine aging fleets, downtime, upgrade requirements, and the contractual strain associated with those requirements.

• Tim McGarity, Director, NOV
• Dustin Torkay, Director of Operations, Seadrill
• John Williams, Sr. Manager, Contracts & Marketing, Precision Drilling

2:30 pm  Loss of meaning? (A brief history of “Loss of Profits” & “Loss of Use”): Mark Walsh, Partner, Clyde & Co
This presentation will focus on two familiar aspects of the traditional ‘Consequential Loss’ indemnity clause, from an English law perspective – namely the indemnities against ‘Loss of Profits’ and against ‘Loss of Use’, asking whether the judicial meaning of these phrases may be have gone, or be going, further than originally intended.

3:00 pm  Coffee Service   

3:15 pm  Gross Negligence, Willful Misconduct, or Solo Negligence
In offshore drilling contract negotiations, the treatment of Gross Negligence and Willful Misconduct often reflects not only differing legal positions, but also the underlying risk cultures of the contracting parties. While the industry generally relies on knock-for-knock indemnity structures to allocate risk, Gross Negligence and Willful Misconduct are frequently carved out of those regimes, sometimes becoming a significant point of contention during negotiations. 

• Kerry Miller, Partner, Miller Thibodeaux Dysart Veith & Paschal
• Clare Kempkens, Parter, K & L Gates
• Kara Ellis, VP Pricing and Bid Management, HMH
• Caroline Schwing, Manager, Contracts, Precision Drilling

4:15 pm  Where Am I and Who Am I Talking to; Practice Pointers on Arbitration and Choice of Law: Phil Eisenberg, Partner, Sagar Patel, Partner, Troutman Pepper Locke 

4:45 pm  Adjournment

8:00 am  Registration & Coffee Service

8:30 am  Welcome & Introduction

• Tyler Smith, Chair, IADC Contracts Committee; Legal Counsel, Nabors

8:35 am  State of the Insurance Market: Ernie Leist, National Marine Practice Leader, McGriff /Marsh & McLennan

9:00 am  Risk Mitigation and Pollution
The panel will discuss the various ways E&P companies and oilfield technology & services companies each seek to mitigate risk in their commercial contracts and master services agreements, particularly in the context of environmental pollution risk, personal injury and property damage, compliance with laws, FCPA risk, and other issues common to the industry. The panel will consist of experienced oil & gas lawyers as well as commercial contracts professionals on the business side. 

• Glenn Kangisser, Partner, Haynes Boone
• William McMichael, Senior Associate, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman

10:00 am  Coffee Service

10:15 am  Performance Contracts
Panelists will discuss using performance based custom contracts vs. traditional commercial models or turnkey contracts, along with the risks & liabilities of adding services.

• Rhonda Faust, Director of Contracts, Nabors
• Pavin Pirom, Engineer, Well Engineering, PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited

11:15 am  Adjournment

• Tyler Smith, Chair, IADC Contracts Committee; Legal Counsel, Nabors