Bustamante Fabara

Environmental, Energy and Natural Resources

Rafael, Partner at the Firm, advises oil and gas companies on various strategic matters to channel their investments through viable legal structures. He is an expert in drafting and negotiating contracts in the oil and mining industry, corporate structuring, project financing, operational agreements, and local and cross-border mergers and acquisitions.

He works with major clients in the oil and mining industry in Ecuador, advising International Oil Companies (IOCs), independent companies, and service companies on project structuring and implementation in Ecuador, Cuba, Venezuela, and Guatemala. Rafael has advised several mining companies on their entry into Ecuador and the development of exploratory projects.

He has been recognized by leading law magazines in the Energy and Natural Resources area for several consecutive years. In 2016, he won the Latin Lawyer’s Deal of the Year (Regulatory) award. Rafael was also appointed Director of the Ecuador chapter of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN), where he led and organized various events with different government authorities in recent years. He is an expert in Administrative Law and has extensive experience in telecommunications regulation matters. Currently, he leads the Energy and Natural Resources department at BUSTAMANTE FABARA.

Partner, BUSTAMANTE FABARA. 2022 – Present

Partner, Robalino. 2020 – 2022

Senior Associate , FERRERE Abogados. 2015 – 2020

Associate , PAZ HOROWITZ ROBALINO GARCES, Abogados. 2012 – 2015

Spanish, English

Center for American and International Law, Member of the American and International Law Academy

Lawyer, San Francisco University of Quito – Ecuador

Law Studies, University of Salamanca – Salamanca, Spain