Statoil is an international energy company with operations in 36 countries. Building on more than 35 years of experience from oil and gas production on the Norwegian continental shelf, we are committed to accommodating the world's energy needs in a responsible manner, applying technology and creating innovative business solutions. Statoil is headquartered in Norway with 20,000 employees worldwide, and is listed on the New York and Oslo stock exchanges.

In just a few years Statoil has positioned itself as one of the largest lease holders in deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Our GoM portfolio consists of over 400 leases which are managed by our Exploration, Field Development and Operations groups. The company is also serviced by our Global Business Services (GBS) group, which consists of office & facilities, IT, human resources and finance functions.

The company has invested more than USD $11 billion to date and looks forward to further developing the GoM as a core area. We have US offices located in Houston, Stamford and Washington D.C., and are looking for talented people to contribute to our growing activity base.

Job description

  • The appointed Legal Counsel will provide high quality, operations and business-oriented legal advice to Statoil’s business units, principally in relation to onshore and offshore exploration and production projects, with a particular focus on litigation management and support of human resources and health, safety, and environment
  • Legal advice on all aspects of operations will be required
  • Case value will vary, however it is likely that the job-holder will advise in high value projects with a value of hundreds of millions of dollars
  • Statoil lawyers must:
  • Be high-quality service providers of business-oriented legal advice
  • Focus on compliance with applicable laws, ethical guidelines, anti-corruption and HSE
  • Proactively seek to be involved in projects at an early stage
  • Together with the client, identify the clients need for legal support
  • Give firm and clear advice
  • Be commercially involved and result-oriented
  • Cooperate with clients to get the best result for the Statoil Group
  • Drilling rigs and related activities
  • Engineering, procurement and construction
  • Confidentiality and non-disclosure
  • Upstream exploration and production activities including farm-outs, unit agreements, seismic, pipeline and other related contracts
  • Service and transportation
  • Business development opportunities; and leasehold agreements including joint operating agreements, production handling agreements and other related contracts
  • In addition to these operational issues, there will be exposure to other corporate matters including:
  • Human resources
  • Litigation management
  • Health, safety and environment
  • Integrity Due Diligence (IDD)
  • Regulatory matters
  • Emergency response and communication/media relations
  • Compliance with corporate directives and governing documents
  • Representing the business unit in various meetings and committees as required and engaging and directing outside counsel when necessary

Qualifications

  • Juris Doctorate (law degree)
  • 6+ years of experience in upstream U.S. Oil and Gas industry
  • Job knowledge requirements and most critical job skills:
  • U.S. law license required
  • Pragmatic approach to legal advice, with emphasis on ensuring ethical, legal, and safe operations and contracting practices
  • Extensive experience advising on and negotiating onshore U.S. and/or offshore Gulf of Mexico exploration and production activities and agreements
  • Extensive experience with mineral leasehold agreements, including joint operating agreements, production handling agreements and other related contracts

We offer

  • Statoil offers a competitive salary and a comprehensive benefit package
  • Statoil is an equal opportunity employer

Personal qualities

  • Flexibility in task management, ability to relate well to demanding clients
  • Our values are to be courageous, open, hands-on and caring. We believe in these qualities, which are essential for building an even stronger Statoil. If you can identify with them, you could be the one to strengthen our team
  • Candidates are expected to openly offer all relevant information about themselves during the recruitment process