Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s cat and mouse game with the west over exactly what large gangs of white-coated scientists are doing with vat-loads of enriched uranium is rattling the cages of governments from Washington to Moscow – but on a more mundane level, it’s hitting western motorists and home-owners squarely in their wallets.
Oil prices have rocketed to their highest levels since June 2011 over the last few days, with US light crude rising to $105.01 a barrel, and brent crude futures breaking the $120 mark at $120.72 a barrel.
Driving the price increases was the announcement from Tehran’s oil ministry that it had stopped selling to British and French companies, in a tit-for-tat response to the lead role of those two countries in convincing the EU to ban oil imports from Iran. Indeed, tensions in the Persian Gulf have been rising as fast as its summer mercury, with Iran, the US, UK and France creating a rush-hour-style bottle-neck with warships in the Strait of Hormuz.
But while consumers squeal in the west, the regional upheaval and corresponding commodity price rises are not necessarily bad news for ‘big oil’. Shares in BP – the London-based third largest oil company in the world – surged above 500 pence for the first time in more than a year. The company’s stock had been struggling to recover since the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico two years ago.
So on to a quick look at leading global roughneck lawyers, who appear as noted specialist in both the Chambers and Legal 500 directories. According to Chambers, the lead global players are:

Clifford Chance

London-based Andrew Grenville leads on global energy and infrastructure work; Anthony Giustini handles large projects, banking and finance and privatisation from Paris; and Huw Jenkins advises on power and infrastructure in Hong Kong.

Baker Botts

Stuart Schaffer chairs the global projects group from the firm’s Houston base, with George Goolsby providing expertise on the Russian market and liquefied natural gas projects generally. Steven Miles chairs the energy sector and heads the project development, finance and LNG practice in Washington.

Linklaters

London-based Bruce White heads the global project practice, while Richard Ginks focuses on energy and infrastructure in Singapore.

Vinson & Elkins

Douglas Bland and Glenn Pinkerton are the lead players at the firm’s Houston headquarters, while London-based Alex Msimang is cited as the firm’s main lawyer in Europe.

On the ground in the Gulf, Dubai is centre of the oil legal sector. The Legal 500 gives the nod to Bimal Desai of Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling’s Philip Dundas. While Chambers cites Clifford Chance’s Robin Abraham, Neil Brimson of Herbert Smith and Linklaters’s Sarosh Mewawalla.