About

Formerly in private practice at Araque, Reyna, Sosa, Viso & Pittier (now:Araquereyna), Nicolás Faillace joined Perenco (Venezuela) as legal manager in 2006. Appointed legal and administrative manager in 2008, he retained this role upon becoming regional legal advisor for Latin America in 2011. With a masters in petroleum law and policy from the University of Dundee’s renowned Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy (CEPMLP), he also sits on the board of Petowaro, the PDVSA-Perenco joint-venture that operates the Pedernales and Ambrosio fields. When not assigned to particular group projects, Faillace manages a team of 20 including eight lawyers across four jurisdictions. Moreover, he does so from the firm’s London offices, an added challenge given that ‘the values, principles and manners that regulate the activities of Anglo-Saxon lawyers differ in great measure from those of the lawyers in Latin America, differences that can generate mistrust and doubt and which, if not attended to in good time, can destroy a project’. By his own admission his career has focused upon the petroleum industry in ‘complex and challenging jurisdictions’. His current role covers countries such as Ecuador and Guatemala, as well as Venezuela. Law firm partners point out his ability to balance legal expertise and business awareness: ‘At no point does he drop his guard and lose sight of the commercial bearings his company needs to maintain; however, he can also dive into the detail and technical aspects of legal matters’. Moreover ‘he is always completely up to speed with what is happening in his and other related industry sectors and is therefore able to offer a comparative view of the market, and as a result, frame priorities’. ‘All-in-all’, say admirers, he is ‘the ideal type of in-house counsel’. Faillace is also qualified to practice in Ecuador (where he sits on the board of Oleaductos de Crudos Pesados, a $1.5bn project), and is currently studying for admittance to the Colombian bar.