About

A highly skilled energy lawyer with 15 years of experience in different sectors of the energy industry, Müge Önal heads all Eurasian legal activities of Lukoil, Russia’s second largest oil company. Before assuming this role in 2014, Önal was manager of legal affairs at Zorlu Energy which is part of Zorlu Group, one of the largest conglomerates in Turkey. In her current role she is responsible for the area covering Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia and she has nine team members reporting directly to her. As a female lawyer in a male dominated industry she passionately supports equality: ‘I make choices supporting equal opportunity; the number of male lawyers and female lawyers in my team is equal’. Since joining Lukoil Önal has contributed some important changes in the legal department. She established a system which promotes transparency and knowledge sharing, ensured the team’s professional growth and made them an important part of the decision making process. She has closed many successful dealings in her career and in 2009 her team was awarded with the Euromoney’s European Onshore Wind Deal of the Year for successfully completing the project financing of the biggest wind farm in Turkey (at the time of closing). With regards to external law firms, Önal believes that they should focus more on client satisfaction rather than focusing on invoices, ‘since a happy client would mean a long term investment’.