About

With over 25 years’ worth of global corporate and transactional experience in the oil and gas industry, Douglas Barrie is one of the most seasoned counsel practicing in India today. In his current role, Barrie manages approximately 60 lawyers and oversees all legal work for Reliance’s hydrocarbons businesses, from refining and marketing to exploration and production. Additionally, Barrie’s broad role sees him oversee a diverse group of businesses and report directly on strategic matters to the company’s board and chairman. As Barrie puts it, ‘a lot of decision making filters through the top team and my role has been to look at key things [and] get owner’s attention’. He began his in-house career in 1985 as counsel for Occidental Corporation’s UK North Sea operations. He subsequently worked for Occidental’s Middle East division before joining the London offices of Enterprise Oil in 1995. Here he was responsible for managing the legal affairs of the UK business until its take-over by Shell in 2002. Following a return to private practice as an energy sector specialist at CMS Cameron McKenna, he became group general counsel and company secretary for South East Asia focused Salamander Energy. Barrie’s long and distinguished career has taught him that the biggest challenge GCs face is, as he puts it, ‘seeing the wood for the trees’. The GC’s key challenge, he continues, is ‘managing highly sensitive matters at board level and ensuring that advice is given on key issues and is heard in the context of a huge volume of business matters, each with legal implications. It requires focus and dedication to do this’.