João Afonso Fialho > VdA > Lisbon, Portugal > Lawyer Profile
VdA Offices
Rua Dom Luis I, 28
1200-151 Lisboa
Portugal
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João Afonso Fialho
Work Department
Oil & Gas
Position
Partner, Head of Oil & Gas
Career
João Afonso Fialho joined VdA in 2015. Partner and Head of Practice Oil&Gas, João has been involved in the last 20 years in all sort of oil&gas projects and transactions in various jurisdictions, such as Timor-Leste, Angola, Portugal, Mozambique, Republic of Congo, DRC, Guinea Bissau and São Tomé and Príncipe. He is mainly focused on the energy (oil&gas upstream/downstream and power projects) and mining industries.
Frequent speaker in international oil&gas upstream and downstream events, he has a detailed and comprehensive understanding of all typical projects and transactions of the industry, from production sharing agreements, participating agreements, JOAs, operating agreements, field unitisation agreements, the full range of service contracts, FPSO contracts, pipeline transportation agreements, storage, gathering and interconnection agreements, engineering, construction and procurement agreements, to distribution and sale and purchase agreements. In particular as concerns the oil&gas sector, he has been involved in the abovementioned jurisdictions on behalf of both operators and a wide-range of drilling and oilfield service companies.
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Languages
English, French, Spanish
Memberships
Admitted to the Portuguese Bar Association.
Association of International Petroleum Negotiators.
Board Member of World Initiative of Mining Lawyers (2014-2017).
Chairman of Portuguese Law Firms Association (2017-2019).
Education
Law Degree, Lisbon University Law School.
Attended the curricular program of the Master degree in International Commercial Law by the Lisbon University Law School.
Lawyer Rankings
Portugal > Energy and natural resources
Boasting lawyers ‘specialised in different and complex topics’ across the energy and natural resources sectors, VdA provides particular expertise concerning renewable and conventional energy projects. Ana Luís de Sousa focuses her practice on M&A and financing matters, possessing demonstrable expertise in assisting power investors and operators across the wind, solar, and hydrogen segments. Vanda Cascão
is highly sought-after among Portuguese and international clients for her expertise in the development, implementation, and financing of energy transition projects. Providing further depth in the team, executive partner Manuel Protásio specialises in project finance and transactional mandates in the energy and water infrastructure spaces, while oil and gas practice head João Afonso Fialho brings longstanding experience concerning African energy assets.
Angola > Foreign firms
(Leading partners)VdA has a strong presence in the Angolan energy market and is also active across various infrastructure projects, real estate transactions and disputes. João Afonso Fialho, José Miguel Oliveira and Paulo Trindade Costa lead the ‘trustworthy and reliable’ team, with ‘excellent in-depth knowledge’ of local legislation and business practices. Fialho is an oil and gas specialist with experience across multiple African jurisdictions, acting for major stakeholders in matters involving procurement, asset acquisition and contractual disputes. Oliveira works out of Luanda and boasts a wealth of knowledge in maritime law and the Angolan shipping market. Costa is an M&A specialist, active in the real estate, telecoms and banking industries.
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Banking and finance
- Capital markets
- Commercial, corporate and M&A
- Data privacy and data protection
- Dispute resolution
- Energy and natural resources
- EU and competition
- Fraud and white-collar crime
- Insolvency and restructuring
- Intellectual property
- Porto: Leading commercial firms
- Projects and project finance
- Public law
- Real estate and construction
- Tax
- TMT