Biography: Oil and Gas

Ricardo Indacochea is the founding partner of Indacochea & Asociados, Abogados. Prior to establishing his firm he acted as a senior counsel for Occidental Petroleum's investments in Peru, California and Bolivia. Dr Indacochea also worked as an associate at Dewey, Ballantine, Bushby, Palmer & Wood LLP in New York City.

Dr Indacochea has participated in the core corporate financing projects that have taken place in Bolivia. He has advised international institutions such as KfW, IDB and CAF and has acted as counsel for multinational companies. He acted as lead local counsel to the company that built the Bolivia-Brazil Pipeline and later, provided his services to the companies that acquired the hydrocarbon transportation unit of YPFB (Bolivian State company), which later incorporated Transredes SA. Shortly after, he was also engaged by foreign investors to act as lead counsel to GasTransboliviano SA, a company that transports gas to Brazil.

In 2006 the Bolivian government nationalised Transredes SA and GasTransboliviano SA, and Dr Indacochea once again acted on behalf of the investors as lead Bolivian counsel in the negotiations for payment of its expropriated shares, up until 2009.

Recently, Dr Indacochea assisted the largest Spanish engineering/management of projects and construction company in the bidding process and subsequent award and negotiation of an EPC agreement for the construction of a gas plant in the Margarita Field operated by Repsol. Its Bolivian subsidiary has been required to hire many foreign experts, and the firm has provided permanent assistance in all necessary steps under immigration dispositions for the legal performance in Bolivia for this technical support. Dr Indacochea continues to head this project for the Spanish investor.

Dr Indacochea is a founding member and board member of Fundación Boliviana para el Desarrollo Social (institution supported by the Bolivian Hydrocarbons Chamber). He is also a member of the Latin American Network. Dr Indacochea has been regularly invited as international lecturer for institutions such as the International Law Institute; the International Bar Association; and the International Association of Petroleum Negotiators.