Prof. Thomas Kojo Stephens

Thomas Kojo Stephens is an Associate Professor at the University of Ghana School of Law and lectures in both the LLB and LLM Programs, and supervises in the PhD Program. He lectures among others, Petroleum Law, Natural Resources Law, Research Methodology and Proposal Writing, Conflict of Laws/Private International Law, Equity, and the Law of Succession.
He is a Senior Partner at Stobe Law and the Head of the Transactional, Oil and Gas Practice, as well as the Consultancy Group of the firm. He is the principal consultant to a number of high-profile entities in the petroleum industry, and a lead professional on projects for both local and international clients. He is the jurisdictional author for a number of international publications in Petroleum Law and has written on different facets of the industry. He is also an external reviewer for a number of international journals in the upstream oil and gas industry. He is an Advisory Board Member of the International Energy Law Advisory Group (IELAG – Brazil), and a Principal Trainer and Consultant at the International Energy Law Training and Research Company (IELTRC – Portugal and Brazil). He was until 2020, when he completed his term of office, the Vice-Chairman of Ghana’s Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), a statutory body with oversight over the management and use of Ghana’s petroleum revenue.

CREDENTIALS

•    PhD (Petroleum Law, Policy and Regulation) - University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
•    LLM- Cornell University, Ithaca, USA
•    QCL/BL – Ghana School of Law, Accra, Ghana
•    LLB – University of Ghana School of Law, Accra, Ghana
•    BA (Political Science and Philosophy (Highest Honours, Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa) – Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA  

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

•    Petroleum Law (Policy, Regulation, Contracts, Revenue Management, Local Content, Transactional Arrangements)
•    Natural Resources Law
•    Conflict of Laws/Private International Law
•    Equity & Succession
•    Transactional Law
•    Research Methodology and Proposal Writing
 

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

• Acheampong T and Stephens TK (eds), Petroleum Resource Management in Africa: Lessons from Ghana (McMillan, 2021) Forthcoming
• Stephens TK and Dzikunu S, “Examining Ghana’s New Exploration and Production Act and other Legislative Developments” (ed.) in Acheampong T and Stephens T (eds), Petroleum Resource Management in Africa: Lessons from Ghana (McMillan, 2021) Forthcoming
• Stephens TK and Acheampong T, “A Legal and Political Economy Analysis of Contracting Decisions and Outcomes in Ghana’s Upstream Oil and Gas Industry” Selected from the Committee of Experts on Natural Resources to Prepare and Present Report to Star Ghana Foundation and Columbia Center for Sustainable Investment (Columbia University), 2021  
• Stephens TK, “Start, Proceed, Recalibrate: The Evolution and Evolvement of Ghana’s National Petroleum Corporation” Oil, Gas and Energy Law (OGEL) 2021
• Stephens TK, “New Beginnings: The Evolution of the Regulatory Body of Ghana’s Upstream Petroleum Industry” Oil, Gas and Energy Law (OGEL) 2021
• Pereira EG, Pappa M, Stephens TK, Eiamchamroonlarp P, Elias-Roberts A, Lopes A, “Stabilization Provisions: Do They Provide the Desired Protections?” Oil, Gas and Energy Quarterly, 2021.
• Stephens TK “Ghana” in Pereira E, Wawryk A, Trischmaann H, Banet C, and Hall K (eds), “The Regulation of Decommissioning, Abandonment and Reuse Initiatives in the Oil and Gas Industry: From Obligation to Opportunities” (Wolters Kluwer 2020) 351-368
• Stephens T, “Of Stabilization Clauses, Legal Gymnastics, Variations and Everything In Between: Amendments to the Petroleum Agreement in Respect of Deepwater Tano/Cape Three Points Contract Area (Offshore Ghana)” UGLJ 2020; A version of this Article is published in the 2019 Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD) Industry Report.
• Dowuona-Hammond C and Stephens TK, “From Total Immunization to an Economic Balancing Act: The Trajectory of Stabilization Clauses in Ghana’s Petroleum Agreements” (2019) OGEL (2) pp 1-19
• Stephens TK, “Framework for Petroleum Revenue Management in Ghana: Current Problems and Challenges” (2019) Vol 37 No 1 Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law, pp 119-143
• Stephens TK and Acheampong T, “Local Content in Ghana” in Pereira E and Gormley Tonje P (ed) Local Content in the Petroleum Industry (PennWell Corp. 2018) pp 187-211, 2017
• Stephens TK and Dzikunu S, ‘Ghana’ in Pereira E and Talus K (ed), Upstream Law and Regulation: A Global Guide (Globe Law and Business, 2017) pp 103-122 2016
• Stephens TK, “In their Name and for their Welfare: Rethinking Ghana’s Constitutional Provisions for the Natural Resources Sector in the Light of Ghana’s Upstream Petroleum Industry” (2016) XXVIII UGLJ, pp 159-212
• Stephens TK, ‘The Long Meandering Journey: The Development of Ghana’s Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act, (2016) XXIX UGLJ pp 103-152 2015
• Stephens TK, ‘Ghana’ in Pereira EG and Talus K (ed) African Upstream Oil and Gas: A Practical Guide to the Law and Regulation (Globe Law and Publishing 2015) pp 181-206