In April 2019, Joel Saltsman, Vice-Chair of ISM’s Board of Directors and upcoming Pitch in Paris judge, presented a paper titled, “Oil and Gas Lease Block Crossings - A Wider Role for Contracts” at the SubOptic 2019 conference. The conference was held from April 11-18 in New Orleans, Louisiana and is a triennial conference for the global subsea optical fiber cable industry. In addition to presenting a paper, Saltsman also moderated the masterclass: Legal and Regulatory Developments.
Saltsman's paper addressed the need to broaden formal agreements between parties when new cables are laid through offshore oil and gas blocks. Currently, most agreements are extremely informal, with some considering a non-response to messages as a non-objection to laying offshore cable. He is advocating for a more standardized approach with detailed agreements becoming the norm. Saltsman was also invited to present his paper at the annual European Subsea Cable Association in September. Read the full paper here.
