Sherif ElAtfy

Biography

Dr Sherif leads the Firm Energy Department in Egypt, bringing with him over 30 years of extensive experience in the Egyptian energy sector. He advises a broad range of clients, including major international corporations and mid-sized enterprises, across the full spectrum of the oil and gas industry—upstream, midstream, and downstream—as well as in the rapidly growing renewable energy sector. He provides strategic legal counsel throughout all stages of the project lifecycle, from initial investment and regulatory approvals to project execution, operations, and compliance. His deep sector knowledge and commercial acumen enable him to deliver tailored, high-quality legal solutions that address the complex challenges of energy projects in Egypt.

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Recent Experience

Key highlights of Dr Sherif’s experience as General Counsel and in- house Counsel includes:

• Advising on the legal structuring and negotiation of multi-asset concession consolidations in Egypt, including the amendment and unification of existing (and new) concession agreements , alignment of fiscal terms, and engagement with government authorities on regulatory approvals and ministerial consents.
• Advising on the legal aspects and negotiation with the governmental authorities and petroleum companies’ partners and Jo ventures on agreements and arrangements related to the onshore/offshore upstream business/operations which include but not limited to joint operating, farm out/in, utilization, seismic survey, pipeline construction, gas sale, gas export, biding, concession, merged concessions, partnership, and tolling agreements.
• Providing day to day legal support to the downstream business/operations/agreements related to service stations, fuel terminals, lubricant blending plants, lubricant sales, aviation jet fuel terminals, aviation (wing- tip) ,Into -Plane, Throughput , marine bunker operations, fuel supply, Natural Gas supply, EGPC fuel supply, wholesale, and fuel transportation (on road/Nile) transactions/projects.
• Responsible for all litigation matters filed by/against the company(s) in relation to its business/ operations, with responsibility for managing external counsel and directing strategy in complex commercial and administrative proceedings before different court/arbitration jurisdictions.
• Serving as the legal resource in the teams/committees formed to implement the mergers that took place between bp and Amoco and Exxon and Mobil in Egypt.
• Advised and handled the legal aspects for the ventures related to the following major projects: Local Distribution Company (LDC), Natural Gas Liquids (NGL), Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), downstream market entry in Egypt, upstream market entry in Egypt.
• Advised business lines and project teams on the interpretation and application of Egyptian laws and on a wide range of regulatory, corporate, real estate, environmental, local content, and employment matters, with a particular focus on their implementation in the petroleum industry.
• Providing legal support in relation to submitting auction bids to the local authorities for acquiring new concession areas and amending held concessions, which included negotiating the fiscal and technical terms in particular and the legal related terms in general of the concessions.
• Advised the Business lines on spot and long-term sale and purchase agreements for crude oil, natural gas, petroleum products, chemical products and refinery.
• Preparing and advising business lines and procurement teams compliance guidelines applied to the upstream/downstream operations for the requirements needed to be carried out by the business to be in line with signed concessions, applicable laws and oil industry standards and Environmental Impact Assessment.

• Advising business lines on the investment benefits and incentives when applying the trade treaties concluded in the region i.e., the Arab League Treaty and the EU investment treaties.
• Monitoring regulatory developments and providing compliance training to Business Lines and Management regarding i.e., Anti-Trust, Anti-Corruption, Trade Sanctions , incident root system cause analysis and data privacy.

Key highlights of Dr Sherif’s experience as a practicing lawyer at Law Firms includes the following:

• Advised on Carbon Capture and Storage implementation requirements in Egypt regarding a potential project.
• Advised and negotiated for a major oil company with EGAS two concession agreements.
• Provided legal support for Chinese Energy company regarding a hydrogen upstream facility.
• Representing multinational companies before the local authorities and Courts.
• Preparing due diligence reports in relation to the acquisition/merger of companies.
• Counselling clients in different business field including investment, civil, commercial., labour, administrative, tax, export/import, customs, industrial safety, environment, and intellectual property with regard to their investments in Egypt.
• Formation and registering companies before the local authorities and obtaining permits to carry out operations.
• Handling litigation filed by/against the clients before the Courts/Arbitration.