27/04/2026
Statement delivered by the President and CEO of NOCAL — Mr. Fabian Michael Lai at the opening of the event marking the Training for Circuit and Specialized judges on OIL and GAS Legal and Policy framework for Liberia:
“The Honorable Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia, Yamie Quiqui Gbeisay. Madam Board Chairperson of NOCAL, Her Honor Gloria Maya Musu-Scott, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia, Judges of the Circuit and Specialized courts, my team from NOCAL, members of the press, ladies and gentlemen.
I stand before you in Ganta, Nimba County, a beautiful place with very ambitious people, and a place where, for the next three days, we are going to do something that has never been done in the history of our country.
We are going to inform judges about oil and gas.
I know what some of you may be thinking. You may be asking, “Fabian, I have presided over murder trials. I have resolved inheritance disputes. I have sent armed robbers to prison. What possible relevance does a reservoir a few kilometers beneath the ocean floor have to my courtroom?
Everything. Absolutely everything, your honors.
Think about the cases that frustrate you. The land dispute where one party has a deed from 1972 and the other party has a machete and a story.
The contract dispute where one side speaks perfect English and the other side speaks only the truth. The tax case where the company shows you three different sets of books and swears on the Bible that the smallest number is the real one.
Those cases are hard enough, your honors.
Now imagine those same parties, but one of them is worth over a billion dollars, a legal team from across the Globe, and an arbitration clause that says the dispute will be heard in Paris/London/New York, not in your courtroom.
That is the future, Your Honors. And this training is your SHIELD.
Over the next three days, we are going to take you on a journey from the bottom of the ocean floor to the top of the law.
Day One: Understanding the Industry
First, our technical team will explain how oil and gas are actually formed. I am not going to pretend that you will become geologists/geophysicists/petroleum engineers. But you will learn enough to know when a company is lying to you about why they drilled a dry well.
You will learn enough to ask the questions: "Show me the seismic data. Show me the logs. Show me where the oil actually is."
Second, you will learn Liberia's exploration history. Where did we drill?. What was found? What remains. Because a judge who knows the past cannot be misled in the present.
Third, AND THIS IS THE HEART OF IT, you will learn how petroleum rights are acquired. Who grants them? Who approves them? And what happens when those rights are transferred without oversight?
These are not theoretical questions, your honors. These are tomorrow’s cases. And you will be ready.
Day Two: Following the Money and the Power
On the second day, we will get into the hard stuff.
Ownership. The Constitution says natural resources belong to the people. But what does that mean in a 300-page contract? Who owns the oil at the wellhead? At export? At sale? You will learn to read those clauses—and to spot when the people’s wealth is being signed away.
Governance and transparency. Let us be honest: oil has weakened nations. Not because the resource was cursed—but because of secrecy, weak oversight, and compromised systems.
That will not be Liberia’s story. Not while you sit on that bench.
Fiscal terms. Royalties. Bonuses. Profit sharing. Taxes. Deductions. Cost oil vs. profit oil. These words sound boring. But when a company tells you they are losing money, and you look at their spreadsheet and see they are claiming a $50 million "management fee" to a shell company in the Cayman Islands, you will know. You will know exactly what questions to ask.
Day Three: Legal Power and Protection
Finally, we focus on the law.
On the final day-you will examine key clauses: stabilization, force majeure, indemnity, assignment, change of control. These are not just legal terms—they are pressure points.
These are the places where companies hide the landmines. A stabilization clause says, "If Liberia changes its laws, we don't have to follow them." A force majeure clause says, "If we have a problem, we can stop paying you for years."
After this training, you will read those clauses and smile. Because you will know exactly how to interpret them against the company.
Then we will have a plenary discussion. I didn’t see this on the agenda but I’ve asked my team to include one. That is your time to tell us what worries you. To connect this learning to your courtroom reality.
We will listen. And we will answer. We will leave Ganta sharper, stronger, and aligned than we arrived.
Let me tell you something, Your Honors.
I have sat across the table from oil executives from London, from Houston, from Nigeria. From everywhere. They are smart. They are aggressive. And they assume that Liberia is an easy place, that our laws are weak, our judges are tired, and our people are divided.
They are wrong.
They are wrong because of you.
They do not see what is happening here. Judges choosing to prepare.
To understand. To strengthen the rule of law.
Let them underestimate us.
They do not know that the Chief Justice of Liberia has traveled to Ganta to sit in a room and learn about fiscal terms. They do not know that trial judges from across the country have given up a week of their vacation to study petroleum agreements.
They do not know that the Liberian judiciary is hungry, hungry for knowledge, hungry for justice, hungry to prove that our gavel is just as heavy as any gavel in London or Paris.
Let them underestimate us. Let them bring their fancy brochures and their expensive lawyers and their broken English translations of contracts.
By the end of this training, you will look them in the eye and say: "Counsel, article 14.2 of your agreement violates the Petroleum Law of 2016. Please explain."
And when they stammer, you will smile. And you will rule.
That is swagger, Your Honors. That is not arrogance. That is preparedness.
I want to close with something very serious.
Every judge in this room took an oath. You swore to do justice without fear or favor. You swore to uphold the Constitution. You swore to be faithful to the Republic.
That oath was not written for rubber plantations. It was not written for petty theft. It was written for moments exactly like this, when a nation stands on the edge of vast wealth and must decide: will we be a nation of laws, or a nation of men?
The oil is coming. Maybe in two years, maybe in five. But it is coming.
And when it comes, the companies will test you. They will file motions. They will appeal. They will offer hospitality. They will threaten to leave. They will do everything in their power to move the dispute out of Liberia and into a private arbitration room in Geneva.
You must say no.
You must say: "This dispute happened on Liberian soil. These resources belong to the Liberian people. And this court has jurisdiction."
That is not nationalism. That is the rule of law.
Your Honors, look around this room. You see the Chief Justice. You see the former Chief Justice. You see the team from NOCAL.
We are not here to tell you how to rule. We are here to make sure that when you rule, you rule with your eyes wide open, your mind sharp, and your conscience clear.
Go ask hard questions. Go challenge our presenters. If they say something you do not understand, stop them. If they say something you think is wrong, tell them.
This is your training. Own it!
And when you return to your courtrooms on Monday, hold your head high. Because you are no longer just a judge. You are a judge who understands oil and gas.
That is a rare thing in this world. And Liberia is lucky to have you.
God bless the Judiciary of Liberia. God bless the people of Nimba County. And God bless the Republic of Liberia.
Thank you. Now let’s get to work!”
