Darren Murphy has acted on major M&A and project development transactions in Australia and the wider Asia Pacific region for more than 25 years. He has particular experience in the upstream and downstream energy, mining, power and renewables, and technology sectors. His skills span traditional industries, in particular oil and gas and LNG (liquefied natural gas), as well as energy transition and infrastructure where he has advised on projects and transactions across solar, wind (onshore and offshore), hydrogen, biomass, geothermal, waste-to-energy, carbon, and energy storage.
Darren is involved across the life cycle of major projects, including project structuring, joint ventures, foreign investment regimes, title and tenure, upstream issues and exploration, government agreements, share and asset acquisitions, operating agreements, royalty interests, unitizations, farm-ins and farm-outs, onshore and offshore facilities, sales and offtake, power purchase agreements and derivatives, energy transportation, facility access rights, construction, abandonment and decommissioning, regulatory and operational issues, and investor protection.
He has lived and worked in the United States, Singapore, and Australia, including working in-house for a NYSE-listed energy company in Kansas City, Missouri. He is the Australia-Pacific Chapter Regional Director for the Association of International Energy Negotiators (AIEN) and previously served as co-chair of the Energy Committee of AmCham Singapore and on the Singapore AIEN Committee.
Darren has received extensive recognition with recommendations in Chambers Global, Chambers Asia-Pacific, and Best Lawyers in Australia across the areas of energy/projects and corporate/M&A. He is named the 2024 "Lawyer of the Year" Oil and Gas Law (Melbourne) by Best Lawyers in Australia.
Expérience
The following represents experience prior to joining Jones Day.
Acted for Chevron and its partners PetroVietnam, PTT and Moeco, on the development of their US$4 billion Block B Project in Vietnam.
Acted for a confidential bidder for ConocoPhillips' assets in Vietnam.
Acted for a confidential bidder for certain ExxonMobil assets in Indonesia.
Acted for Pertamina on its Central Java floating regas project.
Acted for Höegh LNG, DSME EnR and Petromin on their PNG Floating LNG Project.
Acted for a confidential SOE in developing a suite of pro forma services contracts for the Indonesian market.
Acted for Inpex on its Masela Floating LNG Project in Indonesia.
Acted for MedcoEnergi in relation to its North Sumatra Block A development.
Acted for ConocoPhillips in relation to its US$9 billion acquisition of an interest in Origin Energy’s Queensland CBM assets, and the consequent formation of the APLNG joint venture.
Acted for Tiger Energy Trading on a range of Indonesian coal sales agreements.
Acted for an international E&P company negotiating a new Production Sharing Contract in Indonesia.
Acted for Graceland (an affiliate of Wengfu) in connection with its commodities trading in Asia.
Acted for Shell on a range of upstream oil and gas matters over many years in Australia, including in relation to its Crux, Echuca Shoals, and Prelude projects.
Acted for the North West Shelf JV on both pipeline gas and LNG sales contracts.
Acted as Australian counsel to TEPCO on its participation in the Wheatstone LNG Project.
Acted for ASX-listed Central Petroleum, on a range of farm-out and joint venture transactions.
Acted for DBNGP on its acquisition of the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline, and subsequent expansion of that pipeline, which involved in excess of US$1 billion in capital works.
Acted for Aquila, Inc. for many years in relation to its acquisition of energy businesses in Australia, as well as the subsequent divestment of those businesses and other assets in Europe and the United States.
Autres publications
- December 2023
The Australian Energy chapter in Global Legal Insights 2024 edition - September 2020
The Australian Chapter in the Renewable Energy Laws and Regulations 2021 - October 2016
Oil & Gas Annual Review 2016 - Singapore
- June 11, 2024
Presenter: “Designing and Developing CCS/CCUS Projects: Conditions for Deployment, Project Structures and Risk Allocation”, Global Conference of the Association of International Energy Negotiators - January 30, 2024
Speaker and Facilitator: "Contracting for Low Carbon Hydrogen Supply" Workshop - November 22, 2023
Speaker: "Low Carbon Ammonia - Project Structuring and Offtake" Workshop - October 30, 2023
Speaker: "Energy Transition: Regional Opportunities (Asia Pacific)" - June 23, 2022
Chair and Panelist: "Energy sector developments and opportunities in Australia" - May 4, 2022
Panelist: "Gas in the Energy Transition," Energy Resources Law Association Conference - October 20, 2021
Panelist: Developments in the Australian Energy Sector and the Implications for International Arbitration - September 8, 2021
Legal Training Seminar: "Practical Issues for Nominee Directors" - August 3, 2021
Chair of Panel: "Carbon Capture and Storage in Asia Pacific" - February 11, 2021
Legal Training Seminar: "Joint Venture and Other Shareholder Disputes" - February 4, 2021
Panelist: "Joint Venture Organization and Management" - October 14, 2020
Chair of Panel: "Issues Management: Independent reviews and inquiries" - September 1, 2020
Co-author of Australian Chapter for International Comparative Legal Guide – Renewable Energy 2021 - March 4, 2020
Legal Training Seminar: "Protecting Investment Interests Abroad" - February 26, 2020
Panelist: "What you need to know about arbitration in commercial joint ventures" - July 25, 2019
Presenter: "Energy and Resources Disputes: Trends and Analysis" - March 7, 2019
Presenter: "Long-Term LNG Contracts and Market Developments, Melbourne Petroleum Club" - August 23, 2018
Chair of Panel: "Insights and Perspectives on the Australian Resources Sector" - March 1, 2018
Host and presenter: Seminar and workshop: "Negotiation Skills for Oil and Gas transactions" - January 10, 2017
Seminar Panelist: "2017: What Lies Ahead for Asia?" - September 2016
Legal Training Seminar: "Limitation of liabilities and penalties in Oil and Gas contracts" - March 6, 2016
Presentation: "Decommissioning in Asia Oil & Gas" - Seminar hosted by Society of Petroleum Engineers - May 31, 2016
Presenter: "Production Sharing Contracts in Indonesia and Malaysia" - Training Course in Upstream Oil & Gas Law hosted by Petroleum Institute of Thailand - September 2015
Legal Training Seminar: "Pre-emption and Change of Control in Oil and Gas Joint Ventures" - June 2015
Legal Training Seminar: "Director's Duties in a Joint Venture Context" - November 20, 2014
Panelist: The American Lawyer 2nd Annual Singapore Legal Summit - "Indonesia Foreign Investment: Through the Lens of Energy (Coal, Mining and Oil & Gas)" - November 20, 2014
Moderator: The American Lawyer 2nd Annual Singapore Legal Summit - "Energy, Resources, and Infrastructure Practice Trends" - August 11, 2014
Presenter: "Exploring Contracting in Floating LNG Projects", 9th Annual LNG World - March 20, 2014
Presenter: "Development of Oil and Gas Resources in SEA" - Underlying Legal & Commercial Arrangements, SMU School of Law - May 8, 2013
Panelist: Indonesia-Focused Panel, Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA) Annual Convention - July 31, 2013
Presenter: AmCham - "US Shale Gas Plays and Export LNG projects: Executive Update" - September 2013
Presenter: Indonesian Oil and Gas, Offshore Convention: Indonesia 2013 - February 21, 2012
Presenter: "Investing in Indonesia – Oil & Gas Seminar" - December 2011
Presenter: "Legal, Structuring and Regulatory Aspects of Floating LNG Projects", World Deepwater Summit & Expo China 2011 - November 30, 2011
Presenter: Outlook for floating LNG projects remain positive" - August 22, 2011
Shale gas in China and Asia Pacific - June 2011
Floating LNG – Legal, Structuring and Regulatory Considerations, 6th FLNG Asia Pacific Summit - May 2011
Commercial and legal issues – Financing and developing Oil & Gas Sector projects (Upstream and Downstream), Indonesia - China Investment Forum - March 2, 2011
New opportunities in oil and gas sector in Asia - October 20, 2010
Prudent Operator & Gross Negligence in its application in oil & gas contracts internationally and in Indonesia, Indonesian Petroleum Association - July 8, 2010
International Petroleum Contracts, E&P Sharing Contracts & Agreements 2010
- University of Melbourne (Bachelor of Laws with honours 1996; Bachelor of Commerce 1996)
- Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales; Australia (Victoria, Western Australia, and New South Wales)
Recognized in Chambers Global (2020) and Chambers Asia-Pacific (2020-2024) for Energy & Natural Resources: Oil & Gas involving transactions in more than a dozen jurisdictions and citing client feedback: "extremely knowledgeable, very diligent and easy to work with"
Recommended in The Legal 500 Australia for Energy & Natural Resources: Oil & Gas (2024)
Best Lawyers in Australia: named the 2024 "Lawyer of the Year" for Oil and Gas Law in Melbourne