Pan-African corporate law firm, Bowman Gilfillan Africa Group (BGAG), is pleased to announce the appointment of David Forfar as head of their Oil & Gas sector group.

David will be based in the Cape Town office of BGAG where his substantial experience in Africa will complement the sector group’s expertise across the continent. Having worked and travelled in Africa, he has considerable knowledge of, and experience in, the oil and gas sector throughout Africa, including international restructurings and Bilateral Investment Treaty advice on oil and gas asset holdings, advice on licence block applications and environmental regulatory regimes, as well as government regulations and HGI’s in South Africa, Mozambique and West Africa.  For the past few years, David has been based in Aberdeen, a global hub for the oil and gas industry where he has developed critical relationships in both technical and legal circles.  David worked as a Senior Legal Counsel for Canadian Natural Resources International (CNRI) for five and a half years before returning to private practice at an oil and gas team where he has spearheaded the Firm’s relationships in Mozambique.  During his time at CNRI, David worked extensively on Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) matters relating to South African assets and on assets in Gabon and Cote d’Ivoire. 

“We are delighted to welcome David as head of our Oil & Gas sector group and know that with his extensive upstream exploration and production experience, and wealth of overall knowledge, the group and our clients will benefit greatly from his appointment,” said Rob Legh, Chairman.

“David’s arrival will strengthen our offering to clients in this sector. We are already advising a number of leading players on the MPRDA and David’s upstream production skills and experience will complement our mid and downstream track record, as well as support our offices across Africa,” said Ezra Davids, Chairman of Corporate/M&A.

David trained and practiced as a lawyer within the Energy group at Ashursts in London having previously come from academia where he was in a Fellow in Modern Japanese Studies at Wadham College, Oxford.