João Afonso Fialho

Ranked in 3 Practice Areas

Foreign Expert

Projects

Portugal

14 Years Ranked

Expertise Based Abroad

General Business Law: International Firms

Angola

11 Years Ranked

Expertise Based Abroad

General Business Law

Timor-Leste

2 Years Ranked

Ranked in Guides

Europe 2026

Asia-Pacific 2026

About

Provided by João Afonso Fialho

Global

Practice Areas

Oil&Gas, Mining

Career

João Afonso Fialho joined VdA in 2015. Partner and Head of Practice Oil&Gas, João has been involved in the last 25 years in all sort of oil&gas projects and transactions in various jurisdictions, such as Timor-Leste, Angola, Portugal, Mozambique, Republic of Congo, DRC, Guinea Bissau and São Tomé and Príncipe. He is mainly focused on the energy (oil&gas upstream/downstream and power projects) and mining industries.

Frequent speaker in international oil&gas upstream and downstream events, he has a detailed and comprehensive understanding of all typical projects and transactions of the industry, from production sharing agreements, participating agreements, JOAs, operating agreements, field unitisation agreements, the full range of service contracts, FPSO contracts, pipeline transportation agreements, storage, gathering and interconnection agreements, engineering, construction and procurement agreements, to distribution and sale and purchase agreements. In particular as concerns the oil&gas sector, he has been involved in the abovementioned jurisdictions on behalf of both operators and a wide-range of drilling and oilfield service companies.

Professional Memberships

Admitted to the Portuguese Bar Association.

Association of International Petroleum Negotiators.

Board Member of World Initiative of Mining Lawyers (2014-2017).

Chairman of Portuguese Law Firms Association (2014-2017).

Chambers Review

Provided by Chambers

Chambers Global Guide

General Business Law: International Firms - Angola

Angola, expertise based abroad in Portugal

Individual Editorial

Lisbon-based partner João Afonso Fialho is widely viewed as a leading lawyer for commercial matters in Angola. He is often singled out for his experience advising on issues concerning the energy and natural resource sector, with particular knowledge of the mining industry. He is regularly sought out by multinational companies to assist with sophisticated corporate matters.

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General Business Law - Timor-Leste

Timor-Leste, expertise based abroad in Portugal

Individual Editorial

Joao Afonso Fialho heads the oil and gas practice at the firm. Within this area, he has considerable experience in contractual and regulatory issues, and his clients include governments and national corporations.

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Projects - Portugal

Foreign expert in Angola

Individual Editorial

João Afonso Fialho has extensive experience handling projects with cross-border elements, often involving Angola. He regularly advises clients in the energy and oil and gas sectors.

View foreign expertise table