Guiomar Lopes is a founding partner of FBL Advogados, specializing in Financial and Natural Resource Law.

With extensive experience in Oil and Gas Law, Guiomar’s professional journey includes significant roles in Angola’s oil sector, initially with Concessionária Nacional (later Sonangol) and then with ELF Exploration Angola, which eventually became Total E&P Angola.

Currently, Guiomar’s primary focus is on Financial Law, where she has spent years assisting, both directly and in collaboration with international firms, the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Angola in government lending transactions.

She has also provided legal counsel to various international banks and financial institutions involved in transactions with Angolan public and private entities, particularly in financing Oil & Gas projects in Angola.

Guiomar has played an active role in several legislative review and reform processes, contributing to the initial oil sector laws still in effect, as well as the reforms of commercial law, business activities law, and business recovery and insolvency law.

For many years, she taught Public International Law and, more recently, has been a lecturer in the first master’s degree program in Law of the Sea at the School of Law at Universidade Agostinho Neto.

Practice Areas

• Banking and Finance Law
• Corporate, M&A, and Private Equity
• Natural Resources Law, Oil & Gas, Energy, and Mining

Languages

Portuguese, English, French

Contact

guiomar.lopes@fbladvogados.com

Experience

• Provided direct legal assistance, or collaborated with international firms, on farm-in or farm-out operations and other oil industry transactions
• Participated in the negotiation of key oil blocks still in operation, offering general legal support to major Angolan market operators and partners in national and foreign oil blocks
• Assisted Angola’s largest creditor in China with negotiating debt restructuring agreements worth over USD 15 billion
• Advised international banks on revising financing contracts following the discontinuation of LIBOR
• Offered legal counsel on Angolan law in connection with ICC arbitration proceedings valued at over USD 100 million
• Led a team of advisors for a public company on structuring and launching a debenture loan worth USD 150 million

Education

Faculdade de Direito da Universidade Agostinho Neto – Law Degree (1987)
Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Lisboa – Masters in Law (1998)