Sameh Khodeir

Senior Partner

Sameh Khodeir, Senior Partner, is Head of the Oil & Gas Department at ZH. Having joined the Firm in 1982, he has been extending his skills and expertise to the fields of Corporates oil & gas, energy, mining, finance, litigation, international Commercial arbitration law, labour law, and the structuring of companies and transactions.

Sameh’s professional track record includes 30+ Concession agreements, 40+ deeds of assignment, and an extensive number of settlement agreements for oil & gas disputes as well as arbitrations in petroleum explorations and production (E&P). He recently handled an arbitration over the supply of crude oil with a disputed value of USD 200 million. The award ruled in favour of ZH’s client.

With a vast experience record exceeding 49 years, examples of Sameh’s expertise include advising on four mega projects exceeding the value of USD 1 up to 3 billion, namely,

  • Advising INVAP, from construction to hand-over, on the Second Nuclear Research Reactor and Radioisotopes Projects (since 1991);
  • Advising on the legal structure, EPC Contract and Financing of Damietta LNG Project – the first LNG project in Egypt (2000);
  • Advising on the USD 600 million Syndicated Loan Agreement granted by Credit Agricole Indosuez, Sucursal in Spain, the Royal Bank of Scotland PLC, and the Royal Bank of Canada in connection with Damietta LNG Project (2000 / 2001); and
  • Special Advisor to the Egyptian Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) in a USD 1.55 billion forward Sale Contract of Crude Oil arranged by Morgan Stanley (2005).

Other selected examples of experience include:

  • Special Advisor to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) in a USD 1.55 billion forward Sale Contract of Crude Oil arranged by Morgan Stanley. (2005)
  • Advising Middle East Oil Refinery (MIDOR) on the EPC Contract and Financing for the Modernization, Upgrade and Expansion of a New Refinery. (2015 – 2020)
  • Legal Advisor to Hydrocracking Project of ANOPC (ASSIUT) including legal structure, EPC Contract and Financing of around USD 2,7 Billion Project. (2019)
  • Advising the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company in its USD 1.6 billion EPC contract of the Egyptian-Saudi Linkage Project. (2019)
  • Extending Legal support to RAKTA regarding the EUR 10.5 million Tender for Rehabilitation of Machinery. (2019)
  • Legal Advisor to the National Bank of Egypt and Mashreque Bank in re-financing to EGPC – USD 835 million. (2022)

Sameh also acted as the legal advisor to a large number of multi-national Investments operating in Egypt in the sectors of: i) Exploration and Exploitation of Oil & Gas (e.g. IEOC, Apache, Sipetorl – among others); ii) Petroleum Services in drilling and Services Contracts (e.g. Schlumberger, SantaFe which became Shelf Drilling – among others); iii) Mining (e.g. Barrick Gold) and Pharmaceuticals (e.g. NOVARTIS, Otsuka – among others); iv) Trading (e.g. Cargill – among others); and v) International Organizations (e.g. JETRO, JICA, and JBIC – among others).

In addition to the above, he also acted as Special Legal Advisor to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) and the Egyptian Petrochemical Holding Company on specific transactions.

Sameh adeptly maintains solid long-standing relations with his clients. He has been the legal advisor to IEOC since 1984, to Santa Fe since 1984 (and through its merger and acquisition by Transocean), to Alitalia (Egypt) since 1983 he handled 3 changes and re-structuring of legal existence of the Italian Carrier, to Le Meridien Hotel since 1988, to the Four Seasons Hotel in Cairo since 2011, to EGPC since 1985 – among others.

Recently he is the Legal Advisor to Damietta, Alexandria, Sokhna and Red Sea Port Authorities in different Concession Agreements for new Terminals in such Ports in cooperation with the Ministry of Transportation.

He is member of the Egyptian Association for International Law; the Egyptian Association for Politics, Economics, Statistics and Legislation; the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt; the Egyptian Lebanese Business Association; and the British Egyptian Business Association. He is also a member of the BOD of the Japanese-Egyptian Business Council.

Sameh is selected to be a Board Member in the Golden Triangle Economic Zone Authority as well as in many companies.

Sameh is often sought after to lecture as a practitioner in universities and institutions such as his lectures on the legal regime of Oil & Gas regime and the Investments in Egypt delivered to post-graduate students at Harvard Law School in 2010.

IFLR1000 ranked Sameh as “Highly Regarded Lawyer” in Project Finance in 2018 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 – and as “Leading Lawyer” in the Financial and Corporate practice in 2016 and 2017. The Legal 500 ranked Sameh as “Leading Individual” in the Energy practice in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. The Legal 500 had also recommended him in the Arbitration practice in 2018 and 2019 and had ranked him as “Leading Individual” in the Oil & Gas practice in 2016 and 2017. Chambers and Partners ranked Sameh as Band 1 Lawyer in Projects & Energy in 2021 and as Band 2 Lawyer in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

Sameh achieved the LLB from Cairo University – Faculty of Law in 1975.

Email: skhodeir@hashemlaw.com

"Sameh Khodeir is a well-established figure in Egyptian projects. He is held in particularly high regard for his expertise in oil and gas matters, and has further experience acting for regulatory authorities on large-scale infrastructure matters."

Chambers and Partners

‘The team lead by Mr. Sameh Khodier, the most Senior Partner of Zaki Hashem worked with me on a Road Map to be presented to the Prime Minister of Egypt. It was a challenging project aiming at an unprecedented land acquisition for Agriculture and Industrial use in terms of size, tenure and pricing. Experts counsel members on Land Laws, State Council Practices and Commercial Terms collaborated to make this work.’

The Legal 500 (Clients Testimonials)

'Sameh has adequate experience, as flexibility in all matters, the professionalism in dealing with Midor as well as excellent follow up and commitment beside the ability of providing creative solutions for all obstacles.'

IFLR1000 (Client Testimonials)

“Sameh Khodeir is held in particularly high regard for his expertise in oil and gas matters.”

Chambers and Partners

“Sameh Khodeir is particularly well versed in matters pertaining to the oil and gas industries.”

The Legal 500

'Mr. Sameh Khodeir is able to handle all issues efficiently and diligently given his extensive legal database.'

IFLR1000 (Client Testimonials)

'He's an eminent figure in oil and gas.'

Chambers and Partners (Client Testimonials)

‘They have good knowledge of all legal issues that needed to support, a quick response for giving them legal support when needed, especially Sameh Khodeir & Essam Taha at Zaki Hashem.’

The Legal 500 (Client Testimonials)

'He has a good knowledge of both local law and international laws and supported us in the interpretation of contract articles and laws from a legal viewpoint.'

IFLR1000 (Client Testimonials)

“Sameh Khodeir is a well-established figure in Egyptian projects.”

Chambers and Partners

'Khodeir is a seasoned expert that brought along years of experience in the petrochemicals sector'

The Legal 500 (Client Testimonials)

'I dealt with Mr. Sameh Khodeir…excellent experience in all legal consultation and good knowledge in Egyptian civil law and international laws.'

Chambers and Partners (Client Testimonials)

“Zaki Hashem, Attorneys at Law has a vastly experienced partner team in practice head Sameh Khodeir, Essam Taha and Sameh Kamal. The practice advised BNP Paribas on financing agreements with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company, and assisted Engie with a wind farm project in the Gulf of Suez”

The Legal 500

“He is very focused on this area and is doing good work. He is Band 1.”

Chambers and Partners (Peer Testimonials)

“Sameh Khodeir handles major energy arbitrations“

The Legal 500

“The “excellent” Sameh Khodeir is held in high regard for his expertise in oil and gas matters, with interviewees agreeing he is "a major player" in this space. Clients appreciate that he is “well organised and very knowledgeable,” noting that "his attention to detail and vast experience enables him to assist us with decisive opinions."

Chambers and Partners (Client Testimonials)

“Senior partner Sameh Khodeir has deep experience in the oil business’”.

The Legal 500

This site is registered on wpml.org as a development site.