Mediating Oil, Gas, Engineering & Construction Disputes
The fluctuating oil price has generated a significant number of disputes as projects get cancelled prematurely. Informed parties are aware that there are 7 dispute resolution procedures available to them: besides arbitration and court litigation there is (in appropriate cases) adjudication under the CIPAA 2012 , and also expert determination for specific technical and financial issues, dispute boards where the FIDIC form is used, early neutral evaluation and, most interestingly, mediation. This presentation by Dr Robert Gaitskell QC, C.Eng, of Keating Chambers, London, commences with a mock mediation, and then moves to an overview of how mediation fits into the range of procedures from which parties may choose when tackling a dispute. The pay-off for choosing the right procedure is enormous: a mediation costs a tiny fraction of the expense of an arbitration, and takes only a day or two, and there is a success rate of 70 – 80%.