Clyde & Co continues to expand its global energy practice with team of four in Abu Dhabi

Global law firm Clyde & Co has today announced the growth of its energy practice in Abu Dhabi with the hire of two market-leading partners, Josh McFadzen and Bryan Wilson, along with their team, senior associate Marc Penman and associate Ross Blyth.

Josh and Bryan’s practice specialises in non-contentious oil and gas project development, transactional matters and their related infrastructure. They advise clients across the full project lifecycle, acting for both operators and contractors with clients including national oil companies (NOCs), international oil companies and supermajors.

Josh is a highly regarded oil and gas lawyer with over a decade of experience in both in-house and private practice. He provides counsel to a range of industry participants in international markets across the entire value chain of the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors. Josh has an established history of acting for sovereign energy clients and some of the world’s largest NOCs, particularly in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States. He also has extensive experience in the business side of the oil and gas industry and has held senior positions at supermajor oil and natural gas operators in leading Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) countries, including the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (“ADNOC”), where he led transformational change in the drilling and oilfield services sectors.

Bryan has over 30 years of oil and gas experience advising on integrated energy and petrochemical projects, across the full life cycle of projects worldwide, from planning to constructing, developing and operating, through to refinancing, sale and decommissioning. He has successfully delivered several landmark oil and gas infrastructure projects and has been a trusted adviser on some of the highest-value onshore and offshore construction and engineering projects in the Middle East. Bryan’s previous industry experience includes senior in-house roles advising supermajor TotalEnergies and Maersk Oil.

David Leckie, Partner and Head of Energy in the Middle East and Africa adds: "Our clients turn to us for deep industry insight and commercially focused advice. The addition of Josh, Bryan, and their team significantly strengthens our ability to deliver multidisciplinary solutions across the full energy value chain - upstream, midstream and downstream sectors. Their expertise will be of great value to our clients, and we are delighted to have them on board, together with their talented associates."

Josh McFadzen comments: "Clyde & Co has an outstanding reputation, and I am excited to contribute to the continued growth of the firm's energy practice - both regionally and globally. I look forward to being part of one of the strongest oil and gas teams in the market and providing clients with commercially focused and forward-thinking legal support."

Bryan Wilson comments: “The Middle East continues to play a pivotal role as a global leader in the energy sector with significant investment in upstream and downstream oil and gas projects, alongside a clear commitment to innovation. Clyde & Co offers the ideal platform to grow my practice and support clients navigating complex oil and gas matters.”

Clyde & Co is the largest international law firm in the Middle East with over 35 years of deep market knowledge. Josh and Bryan’s appointment coincides with the firm celebrating 20 years since the establishment of its Abu Dhabi office. Clyde & Co was one of the early movers into the market and the firm’s on-the-ground team in Abu Dhabi advises the region’s largest regional conglomerates, sovereign wealth funds and multinationals across the full spectrum of their corporate and commercial needs. With a total team size of five partners and over 20 staff, the firm’s Abu Dhabi office continues to advise on ground-breaking matters impacting the region’s local economic growth and supporting government initiatives, including advising the ADGM Authority on the new Employment Regulations, Alpha Dhabi, one of the fastest growing Abu Dhabi based investment holding companies on the sale of its construction unit to ADQ and Aldar on its acquisition in the ADGM from Mubadala Investment Company.

Recognised as leaders in energy, Clyde & Co’s global energy practice has rapidly expanded with the recent additional hires of partners Alex Blomfield, Marianne Anton, Ben James and Sebastian Lea in London, Julie Cornely in Paris, Agnieszka Kulińska and Arkadiusz (Arek) Krasnodębski and a team of 20 in Warsaw.

Learn more about our global energy practice