Trade sanctions and export controls: A multi-jurisdictional analysis for the energy sector

Abstract

Supplying goods, technology or services for use in oil and gas projects often raises significant compliance challenges under export control, trade sanctions and antiboycott laws of the supplying jurisdiction. Such laws may restrict the export of goods or technology to specified countries, prohibit trade and financial transactions with specified parties, or impose licensing or other government approval requirements, including conditions on the use of government-issued licenses, before the transaction may proceed. Increasingly, goods or services destined for a single project may be sourced by suppliers from multiple sources around the world, often triggering export control and related compliance issues under the laws of multiple jurisdictions. Historically, compliance with US export control and related laws has been viewed as the most challenging (relative to similar laws of other jurisdictions) by US and non-US companies alike due to the breadth of these laws, their extraterritorial application and aggressive US government enforcement. While US export control and related laws continue to be the most restrictive in many respects and distinctly extraterritorial in their reach, other jurisdictions have in recent years strengthened their export controls and committed significant resources to the enforcement of those controls. Consequently, suppliers of goods, technology or services for the energy sector need to be aware of potential compliance issues not only under the laws of their home jurisdictions but also those of other jurisdictions that participate in the supply chain.