Uisdean Vass

Uisdean has some 35 years of experience in the world oil industry.  

After finishing Scottish legal studies in 1983 (University of Edinburgh 1978 – 1983) he went on to study Petroleum Law at Louisiana State University (LSU), Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  After qualifying to practice in Scotland and Louisiana, Uisdean went on to work with a top New Orleans law firm for five years mainly doing US oil and gas (1987 – 1992).  

In 1992 he joined City of London law firm Clyde & Co, spending short periods in London and Buenos Aires before starting a new oil and gas transactional practice in freshly opened Clyde & Co, Caracas.  This coincided with the very significant Venezuelan Oil Opening (Apertura) which began in 1992 and lasted throughout the nineties until the assumption of power by Hugo Chavez in 1999.  In 1997, Uisdean became the founder of the new Caracas office of Canadian law firm Macleod Dixon.  From four lawyers in 1997, Macleod Dixon became a dominant law firm in Venezuela.  Leaving Caracas in 2001, Uisdean was sent to open the new Macleod Dixon office in Rio de Janeiro.

After two years in Brazil, Uisdean returned home to Scotland to begin a new oil and gas practice.  He became Head of Oil & Gas at Maclay Murray & Spens LLP (MMS) in 2004.  From a standing start, Uisdean had created a formidable oil and gas team by the time he left MMS in 2013.  While Uisdean did very significant North Sea (and onshore UK work) during the MMS years, his broader focus was again international, with numerous projects in Africa, Asia, and even Australia and North America. Uisdean continued this dual UK and international emphasis in Bond Dickinson LLP (2013 – 2017) and he joined Aberdeen-based Ledingham Chalmers LLP as Head of Oil & Gas in early 2018.

He founded VassPetro in September 2020. VassPetro is pleased to offer various cutting-edge petroleum training programmes given by Uisdean. Visit our Oil & Gas Training page for more details. Uisdean will continue to comment on oil industry interests through this site. Uisdean is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.

You can access VassPetro here.

In 2007, he won the accolade of Scottish Corporate Lawyer of the Year.

Uisdean is presently the Scottish co-ordinator for the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN), the worldwide professional association for those who negotiate international petroleum contracts.

Uisdean is a frequent writer and commentator on matters of importance to the UK and international oil industry. He maintains close relations with several universities and is an international advisor to his American alma mater, Louisiana State University Law School in Baton Rouge.

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