Carnarvon Energy : Introducing Gavan Sproule – General Counsel

From Perth to Paris and then South Korea - Gavan Sproule's career as a senior in-house lawyer has taken him around the world.

After an extensive period of working overseas, Carnarvon's General Counsel, who has a wealth of experience in the oil and gas industry, is relishing rolling up his sleeves with a dynamic team - and enjoying the WA lifestyle with his young family.

Perth born and raised, Gavan joined Carnarvon in June 2021 and is responsible for providing commercially focused legal support to all aspects of the business.

His role includes drafting and negotiating new joint venture arrangements and other key contracts to support FIDs, and working with Carnarvon's Chief Financial Officer on financing for development of the Dorado project.

Gavan also advises on acquisitions and divestments, corporate governance, product offtake and marketing, drilling and operations and provides legal support to all other aspects of Carnarvon's business.

"Carnarvon is a respected oil and gas mid-cap with a great asset in Dorado and an experienced, hard-working team," he explains.

"The work environment is very collegiate, and I am enjoying the opportunity to take part in strategic decision-making rather than being a lawyer in a box. I'm really looking forward to getting Dorado to FID in mid-2022, as well as FID for the Company's pioneering renewable diesel venture, and playing a part in growing Carnarvon's business."

Gavan's industry experience is extensive, having worked directly on three of the largest LNG projects in Australia.

Exposed to the resources industry at a young age thanks to a mining engineer father, Gavan initially worked in private practice, before making the move in-house and working for Tap Oil Limited. He then spent eight years with Shell in Australia and overseas and six and a half years with KUFPEC Australia.

Gavan was the lead lawyer for the Prelude Floating Liquified Natural Gas (FLNG) Project, managing legal support for both project execution and asset governance for the operator, Shell. He was also a key part of Shell's legal team for the Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects.

"While at Shell I took the Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects to FID and was then transferred overseas as the lead lawyer on Prelude FLNG during the execute phase, a role I undertook for four years," he said.

Gavan then moved to KUFPEC Australia, where he was the sole legal support for KUFPEC's investment in the Wheatstone LNG Project through execute and operations.

"Being back in a listed company certainly involves more risk and the daily cut and thrust of the business is rewarding, and intellectually challenging," he says. "I feel like I am part of building something meaningful for a West Australian company whose shareholders are largely based in Australia."