The Joint Study And Bidding Agreement

Where a number of parties contemplate submitting an application for the award of a new licence on a consortium basis, the Joint Study and Bidding Agreement ("JSBA") is intended to govern the relationship between them and the terms upon which their consortium application will be made. The JSBA acts as a precursor to the fully termed joint operating agreement ("JOA") in that it governs the relationship of the parties prior to the award of a licence whilst the JOA governs the relationship of the parties after the award (if the application is successful).

It is common (and recommended) for the JSBA to set out the high-level terms which will govern the consortium following the award of the licence. Agreeing those terms in the JSBA allows possible contentions between the consortium members to be identified early and addressed before the licence is issued. Investing time in the content of the JSBA helps avoid a fractious consortium and costly inefficiencies later.