Apolonio Sénobua

Apolonio Sénobua is the Founder and Managing Partner of Santa Isabel Abogados & Consultores, a boutique law firm based in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, specialising in energy, natural resources, regulatory compliance, government relations and strategic legal advisory services.

Mr. Sénobua is admitted to practice law in Spain through the Almería Bar Association and is registered within the European legal profession framework, enabling him to practise throughout the European Union in accordance with applicable European legal mobility rules. He is also registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) of England and Wales as a Registered Foreign Lawyer (RFL), authorising him to practise the law of his home jurisdiction and public international law from England and Wales in accordance with the applicable regulatory framework.

He is widely recognised as one of the few legal practitioners in Equatorial Guinea with significant experience across both the upstream oil and gas sector and the liquefied natural gas industry. Throughout his career, he has advised multinational oil and gas companies, LNG operators, government institutions, foreign investors and local service companies operating within the energy sector.

Mr. Sénobua has held senior legal and government affairs positions within multinational energy companies and has advised on a broad range of strategic matters, including production sharing contracts, process and marketing agreements, government negotiations, regulatory compliance, corporate governance, anti-corruption programmes, commercial transactions and complex cross-border investments.

He has also been involved in the management and resolution of disputes between foreign investors and sovereign states, providing strategic legal support on regulatory, contractual and investment-related matters in highly regulated sectors. His experience includes advising on negotiations involving state entities, national oil companies, foreign investors and international commercial partners.

His unique combination of private practice and senior in-house experience enables him to advise clients across the full energy value chain, from exploration and production activities to LNG operations, infrastructure development, regulatory compliance, investment protection, government relations, dispute resolution and international arbitration.

Mr. Sénobua’s professional interests include international anti-corruption enforcement, corporate compliance, energy law, international investment law, investment treaty arbitration, extractive industries governance, energy transition policy and legal risk management in emerging and frontier markets.

As both an international practitioner and a lawyer deeply familiar with the legal and commercial realities of Equatorial Guinea, he regularly advises multinational corporations, investors and public institutions on navigating complex regulatory environments, managing legal risk and developing long-term investment strategies across Africa.