COVID-19

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As the world unexpectedly embraced work from home models this spring, home offices and video call backgrounds have become a hot topic. Social media, business articles, and even reputable brands are all buzzing about what our new residential workspaces look like; but no one is talking about how they should perform, and the omission of that single topic could be putting our national workforce at risk.

At the height of the healthcare industry's response to COVID-19, some hospital employees gained national attention for their criticism of the lack of personal protective equipment and supposed failings by their employers. Some employers appeared to retaliate against those whistleblowers, raising questions about how such complaints should be handled.

Riyadh announced on 11 May that VAT in the kingdom would be increased to 15 per cent from the current 5 per cent from 1 July 2020. Andrej Kormuth, Partner, Bracewell, Dubai writes about the possible implications of the VAT increase on public-private partnerships in the region's largest energy ...

As warehouse and factory owners ponder how to reopen their facilities while keeping workers safe, wearables have emerged as potential solution. Could RFID-enabled goggles buzz workers if they get too close to one another other? Could a wristband provide biometric feedback to let a worker know if he or she might be sick?

Casting one’s mind back to the days before COVID-19 and the recent collapse of the oil price (at the time of writing the price of Brent crude is 60% of its price at the start of the year), the most pressing challenge facing upstream oil and gas companies
was the growing emphasis by investors on ESG (environmental,
social and governance) and, associated with that, the ‘energy transition’ (a term with no precise definition but which broadly is taken to mean the shift in the energy industry away from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy, to respond to the challenge of climate change).

In today’s markets, Islamic finance and conventional products represent well-established financial instruments for both the project finance and bank finance sectors. Although Islamic jurisprudence requires that Islamic finance transactions conform to the established principles of the prohibition of Riba (interest), Gharar (speculation) and Maysir
(uncertainty), Islamic scholars have succeeded in developing products that resemble conventional finance products and can be utilized seamlessly. However, unlike its conventional financing counterpart, Islamic fi nance usually retains strong elements of equity participation and risk-sharing.

As the oil market reels from shocks on both the demand and supply side, exploration and production (E&P) companies are reviewing and restructuring loan agreements in a bid to free up capital and ensure long-term security.

The worldwide outbreak of Covid-19 has caused global uncertainty for organisations, governments and individuals, and the legal fraternity has been busy producing client posts, dressing and redressing Covid-19 in the illusive cloak of force majeure.

Companies are suspending or terminating business agreements by relying on a common but rarely invoked escape hatch in the fine print of many commercial contracts, as the new coronavirus and government measures to slow its spread upend the economy. Known as "act of God" clauses-or "force majeure," French for "superior force"-the provision has been cited in court cases across the U.S.

The $2 trillion federal stimulus under the CARES Act will invariably attract many first-time participants to the federal marketplace. Bracewell attorneys say newcomers and smalll businesses should proceed with caution and give tips on how to prepare for compliance now.

Changing jobs is an intense process under the best of circumstances. But for lawyers making a move during the coronavirus pandemic, unexpected challenges have made for a harder landing. Here, attorneys who recently changed firms or even started new ones tell Law360 of their experience amid the outbreak.

Mike Muller, Director of Oil Business Development & Head of Trading, Vitol Asia, Dr. Leila R. Benali, Chief Economist, APICORP and Andrej Kormuth, Partner, Bracewell LLP, joined us on today's Live Daily Oil Commentary to share their insights on current market dynamics.

Federal agencies in charge of regulating the safety of oil and gas operations in the US Gulf of Mexico have stopped offering public updates on the spread of Covid-19 on offshore facilities as the number of cases continues to rise.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency headquarters building in Washington, D.C. Source: AP Images The Trump administration in recent days has signaled it could give vast swaths of the U.S. economy, including the energy sector, waivers from certain federal environmental regulations in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's chairman on Monday said that even though the commission has loosened some reporting requirements and will exercise enforcement discretion as it faces the threat of the novel coronavirus, it will continue to enforce key public health rules.

APPROPRIATIONS New spending for energy and environmental agencies not tied to the novel coronavirus could be delayed until next year - yet another way the pandemic is upending how Capitol Hill and agencies operate.

At Dr. Praeger's Purely Sensible Foods in Elmwood Park, New Jersey, as many as 125 workers dutifully come into work each day to produce its popular frozen veggie burgers, chicken tenders and other items made from plants.

The struggling U.S. oil industry got no special bailout in the huge coronavirus stimulus package signed by President Trump on Friday . But the political fight over money to help the oil sector is far from over.

With new rules expanding paid sick and family leave going into effect April 1, small businesses are scrambling to figure out which parts of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act apply to them and how to comply. Here are answers to many of the questions people are asking.

The recently enacted Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) creates new obligations for employers in an attempt to relieve economic pain felt by their employees arising from the ongoing epidemic—but it also offers tax credits to defray the cost.

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) sought an ethics review Friday of his recent sale of more than $1.7 million in stocks as he and other lawmakers faced a bipartisan uproar over whether they had used information gleaned from private congressional briefings to guide transactions before the market plummeted because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic could cause widespread disruptions in the energy sector, tightening demand, jeopardizing supply chains, diverting regulatory attention and negating previous growth forecasts for solar and storage deployment, according to financial analysts and industry experts.