Enrique Barrios

Practice Areas

Practice areas

• Energy

• Oil and Gas

• Arbitration

• Banking and Finance

• Corporate

• Mergers and Acquisitions

• Mining

Sectors

• Energy

• Construction

• Project Financing

• Venture Capital and Corporate financing

• Mining

• Technology

Career

Enrique Barrios joined the Firm after leaving law school and immediately after a short tenure in the Bolivian public service where he acted as head legal counsel to the Bolivian Statistics Institute.

Professional Memberships

• Ilustre Colegio de Abogados de La Paz

• Ilustre Colegio de Abogados de Santa Cruz

• Ministry of Justice, Bolivia

• International Bar Association (IBA)

Publications

• Co-contributor, “Global Practice Guide: Energy: Oil & Gas trends and Developments in Bolivia”, 2020-2023, Chambers & Partners

• Co-contributor, “Global Practice Guide: Energy: Oil & Gas Law and Practice in Bolivia”, 2023-2024, Chambers & Partners

Education

Languages Spoken

• English

• Spanish

• German

Experience

Based out of the Santa Cruz office, partner Enrique Barrios specializes in financing, corporate law, M&A international arbitration and complex cross border legal structures, with special focus in the Oil & Gas sector, where he has over 25 years of experience.

Enrique has participated in complex operations and negotiations of contractual structures with YPFB, the state-owned entity dedicated to the exploration, exploitation, refining, industrialization, distribution and commercialization of oil, natural gas and derived products on behalf of foreign investors. He has also led the defense of investors’ interests in expropriation procedures in the electricity, mining and hydrocarbons industry, and subsequent arbitration before international tribunals, such as the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the Inter-American Commercial Arbitration Commission (IACAC) and the Permanent Court of Arbitration. He also led the negotiation of all the amendments to the Bolivia – Brazil GSA between YPFB and Petrobras.

Enrique has also worked extensively in international commercial transactions and contracting, financing structures involving several jurisdictions, and the negotiation of complex loan structures between multilateral credit institutions and Bolivian companies.

Enrique is the only lawyer in Bolivia with a Band 1 rating for the Energy and Natural Resources sector in the Chambers & Partners ranking.

Industry Sector Expertise

Energy and Petrochemical company: Representing in an administrative appeal against 22 resolutions that deny our client the “incentive to oil exploration". Drafted all the administrative and due process arguments of the appeal.

Petrobras: Advising on the negotiation of several amendments to the Bolivia – Brazil GSA and gas transportation contracts with the Bolivian state-owned entity YPFB. The Bolivia – Brazil GSA is the largest gas transportation project in Bolivia and vital for Bolivia´s exports efforts.

Petrobras: Advising on the sale to YPFB of Petrobras’s’ equity in the major refining facility in Bolivia. Negotiations took place as part of the nationalization process undertaken by the Bolivian government.

Repsol: Drafting of the client´s form drilling contracts as part of a multinational team effort that included additional client´s offices in Latin America and Europe.

Confidential Client: Advising on the negotiation of new gas sales agreements to Brazil with YPFB, as part of Bolivia´s new strategy to sell natural gas to electricity generating companies in that country.

YPF E&P Bolivia S.A. Advice on complex transfer contracts between YPF E&P Bolivia S.A. and YPFB and YPFB Chaco, through which YPFB Chaco acquired an interest in the Charagua Services Contract. The services included drafting the agreements, negotiating them, monitoring the required congressional approval, and legalizing them before the Government Public Notary.

Confidential client: Acting as leading counsel in a lawsuit filed by Xuanwu Overseas against our client for the alleged breach of contract and damages.

Cement manufacturer: Representing in an administrative appeal, where our client challenged sanctions for the alleged violations of the Regulation of Operations with Controlled Substances and Precursors of Industrial Use. According to the sanctioning resolution, limestone is a controlled substance and is therefore regulated. Beyond the sanction, which is not representative, our client is fighting the qualification of limestone as “a regulated substance”. The regulations of controlled substances make the procedure of obtaining and transporting limestone, an essential asset in cement manufacturing, difficult, expensive and bureaucratic.

Morgan Stanley: Advising on their activities in Bolivia including matters related to regulation of offering and extending credit, contractual issues, taking security or receiving a guarantee, enforcing pre-insolvency, enforcing post-insolvency and tax matters.

Awards

Expert in these Jurisdictions

Enrique Barrios is the LAC -Latin America and the Caribbean Co-Leader for the Energy Sector

Work Highlights

Enrique is the only lawyer in Bolivia with a Band 1 rating for the Energy and Natural Resources sector in the Chambers & Partners ranking.