Dual-qualified in England and France, Evelyne Girio advises clients on energy and natural resources transactions governed by English and French law.

Ms. Girio counsels key participants in the energy sector on a range of matters, with a particular focus on M&A transactions in the upstream and midstream oil and gas sectors. She regularly represents private equity firms, strategic clients and investors, commodity traders, independent exploration and production (E&P) companies, international oil companies (IOCs), and national oil companies (NOCs).

Drawing on her broad industry experience, Ms. Girio advises on:

  • M&A transactions
  • Project developments
  • Day-to-day petroleum operations
  • All forms of upstream oil and gas contracts, including production sharing contracts, joint operating agreements, offtake agreements, gas sale and purchase agreements, transportation agreements, and capacity agreements

Ms. Girio brings particular experience handling complex, cross-border matters, including within the African Franco-phone and Lusophone region. She is multi-lingual and negotiates confidently in French, English, and Portuguese.

In addition to her commercial practice, Ms. Girio regularly advises clients on a pro bono basis. Her work includes advising Eden Reforestation Projects, a nonprofit organization that rebuilds natural landscapes destroyed by deforestation in developing countries with a view to reducing carbon emissions and generating carbon credits for sale on international markets.

Ms. Girio's experience includes advising:

Upstream Oil and Gas

  • The Carlyle Group on its:
    • US$825 million acquisition of Occidental’s entire onshore portfolio in Colombia
    • US$900 million acquisition of Shell Upstream Gabon and a 75% stake in Shell Gabon by portfolio company Assala Energy Holdings
  • Chevron North Sea on the sale of its interest in the Rosebank field UKCS to Equinor
  • NOCs / States on revamping their existing upstream contractual regimes by conducting a comparative analysis of the regimes applicable across various jurisdictions
  • Indian Oil Corporation on the acquisition of a 17% participating interest in Mukhaizna Oil Field via an acquisition of a 100% equity stake in Shell Exploration & Production Oman Ltd.
  • Uniper Exploration & Production on the sale of a 25% stake in the Yuzhno-Russkoye gas field to OMV
  • An independent E&P company on a unitization process in the Eastern Mediterranean 

Midstream Oil and Gas

  • Chevron Nigeria Limited on its acquisition of Sasol, a South African oil company, out of a joint venture relating to the Escravos gas-to-liquids plant in Nigeria
  • Chevron Nigeria Limited and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on a settlement and restructuring in connection with the Escravos gas-to-liquids project

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)

  • Glencore on its acquisition of the LNG business of Ørsted S/A

Power

  • Africa50, an infrastructure investment fund founded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and African States, in relation to an indirect investment in the 461-megawatt Azura Edo independent power project in Nigeria
  • CPCS Transcom and the Nigerian Bureau of Public Enterprises in relation to the privatisation, through share sales or granting of concessions, of 17 of the electricity industry assets and companies which are successors to the Power Holding Company of Nigeria*

*Matter handled prior to joining Latham 

Bar Qualification

  • Avocat (Paris)
  • England and Wales (Solicitor)

Education

  • Legal Practice Course, BPP Law School, London, 2010
  • LL.M. in Global Business Law, Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, 2007
  • LL.M. in Private & Public International Law, Université Paris II, Panthéon-Assas, 2006
  • LL.B. in European Law & International and Comparative Law, University of Sheffield, 2004