About Gerard Woods
Gerard has more than 35 years' experience advising energy and natural resources clients on some of the largest and most complex projects in Australia and the Asia Pacific region.
He is recognised by peers and clients as a 'very experienced, very commercial and proactive' adviser. He is regularly rated as a leading practitioner in Chambers and other publications. He was named as the Best Lawyers' 2017 Mining Law Lawyer of the Year for Perth; 2022 Natural Resources Law Lawyer of the Year for Perth and 2026 Oil and Gas Law Lawyer of the Year for Perth.
Gerard represents Allens on the WA State Branch of AMPLA Limited: The Resources and Energy Law Association, and is a past Branch President and AMPLA board member. He has also represented Allens on the Australia Papua New Guinea Business Council, and has been a contributing editor to the International Energy Law Review. Additionally, he is the Practice Director of the Allens Perth Office and sits on the Allens board. He heads up the Allens Perth pro-bono practice and is a former chair of the Allens Perth Office Reconciliation committee.
Gerard is admitted to practice in Western Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Papua New Guinea.
His experience includes advising:
- CITIC Group: for more than 14 years, Gerard has led the Allens team advising CITIC on the >$12 billion Sino Iron Project in Western Australia. This work has included a serious of business-critical disputes in the Supreme Courts of WA, NSW and Queensland, the Federal Court, High Court and commercial arbitrations. The disputes span a range of issues including royalties, contractual disputes, port access and operations, site remediation, the exercise of an acquisition option, judicial review and project approvals and tenure. Gerard has worked closely with the client on strategy, government engagement and pathways to resolution
- International oil company: advised on its upstream onshore and offshore oil and gas interests in Australia and PNG over almost 30 years, including project development scenarios, a gas agreement to be entered into under s184 of the Oil and Gas Act 1998 (PNG), fiscal stability arrangements and the tax treatment of current and planned LNG development projects
- International mining house: series of structural changes over more than 15 years affecting its wholly-owned and joint venture product sales, marketing and transportation arrangements for bulk minerals to customers in Asia
- Concession agreements: advising clients on numerous concession agreement with governments, including various iron ore State Agreements, the Bougainville Copper Agreement, the Ok Tedi Agreement, the Argyle Diamonds State Agreement, the PNG LNG, Papua LNG and P’nyang LNG Agreements, the Porgera and Lihir Mining Development Contracts, among others
- Ok Tedi Mining: on the BHP Billiton exit from Ok Tedi in 2001, the 2011 share buyback from Inmet, mining equipment procurement, the proposed mine life extension project and new business opportunities including farm-in and joint venture arrangements, advice on the Ok Tedi Principal Agreement and the eleven supplements to that Agreement, nationalisation by the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, erodible waste rock dumps proposal, and on associated governance, constitutional and shareholder agreement changes
- Gold Corporation and its predecessor entity, AGR Matthey: template and customer specific refining agreements, review of distributor agreements, advice on Indian refining issues, unwinding a Papua New Guinea refining joint venture, advising on its Cochlear, Panasonic and CathRX supply arrangements, on the AGR Matthey partnership dissolution, advising Treasury on metal transaction agreements and advising on the refinery lease
- Rio Tinto: proposed BHP takeover transaction, sale of the Cowal gold project, sale of the Kintyre uranium project, establishing the Beasley River (iron ore) Joint Venture, advising on its Asian marketing arrangements and advising on various procurement projects including mobile mining equipment, fuel supply and water supply
- Argyle Diamonds: restructuring its diamond sales arrangements, State Agreement advice, a large corporate simplification transaction, mine closure and decommissioning
- Barrick Gold: Porgera gold joint venture in Enga Province, Papua New Guinea, including advice in relation to its application for renewal of its special mining lease
- The participants in the PNG LNG project: on long-term sale contracts for the US$15bn PNG LNG project.
Other Australian and regional matters
- AngloGold Ashanti: US$1.1bn sale of its one third interest in the Boddington Gold Mine to Newmont
- Asian oil and gas company: proposed acquisition of shares in a participant in a joint petroleum development area FPSO operation and proposed acquisition of an interest in an advanced exploration project in offshore WA
- CITIC: Australian aspects of the acquisition by Hong Kong-listed CITIC Pacific Ltd of 100% of CITIC Ltd to become China's largest conglomerate with a market value of about $50bn. This deal was reported to be one of the largest M&A transactions of 2014
- ETSA electricity privatisation: advising the State of South Australia on the privatisation by long-term lease of its electricity assets including transmission, distribution, generation and retail
- La Mancha: advice on a range of legal issues affecting its White Foil and Frog's Leg projects in the Kalgoorlie region and its exploration interests
- La Mancha Resources Inc: acquisition by the Sawaris Group of all the shares in La Mancha Resources Australia
- Mid West Ports Authority: operations and maintenance contractual arrangements with service providers at key berths at the Port, structuring, financing and construction of a train unloader upgrade project at the Port and contract management and dispute resolution with certain port users
- Mobil Australia Resources Company: legal issues arising from its interest in the Gorgon Project and adjoining Janz-10 fields
- New participants in the mining and oil and gas sectors in Australia and PNG: investment and establishment of local operations
- Newcrest and Harmony: options for the development of the Wafi-Golpu project in PNG
- Newmont Boddington: various transactions with land and mining right holders in the region to acquire areas for increased mine infrastructure
- PTTEP: part of the team advising on the Montara class action litigation in the Federal Court of Australia
- State of South Australia: restructuring and privatisation of the state's electricity assets
- StateWest Power: bid in connection with the West Kimberley power procurement project
- Shell: on the restructure and divestment of its minerals business in Australia through the IPO of Acacia Resources Limited (now AngloGold Ashanti Australia Limited)
- Various: domestic gas sale, transportation and storage arrangements in the Western Australian market
- Various: restructurings and acquisitions and disposals of interests in oil and gas exploration and development projects in offshore WA, the Timor Gap, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea
- Various participants in the resources sector: procurement programs for major items of mining equipment and associated tender process.