The company plans to establish a strong Perth-based team for its corporate/commercial legal consultancy as well as its business ventures arm, HFI Ventures International. This team will work in tandem with HFI's international offices and network including alliances in Indonesia and Malaysia.

HFI focuses on upstream oil and gas, dispute resolution and arbitration, commercial work as well as legal matters in the shipping and admiralty, banking, insurance and corporate sectors.

Group managing partner Hugh Fraser says since its inception in 2003, HFI has focused on the Middle East, Africa and India, and establishing HFI Australasia in Perth marked a major strategic development for the company.

"I set up HFI in 2003 when I came out of the Wood group in Aberdeen and for the first five years we've focused on the Middle East based out of Dubai, but it was becoming very clear to us in the last 12 months that, what we refer to as the corridor of opportunity, was between India and Australia," he said.

"We see the corridor from India to Australia and New Zealand as offering the next major growth for the energy industry, and subsequently for HFI and our clients.

"This entry into Perth marks a major development of HFI's strategic long-term plan for growing the business, and the Australasian venture will complement our existing operations in the UK, Middle East, North America, Africa and India."

Fraser said Asia Pacific was particularly important to a number of HFI clients, many of whom have cutting edge expertise in subsea and deepwater engineering and technology, two areas where the Asia Pacific oil and gas business community was seeking both technology and experience.

According to Fraser, the establishment of a strategic office in Perth was a vote of confidence in the energy market.

"If you look at the long term projections on supply and demand in the energy sector, I think high energy prices are here to stay," he said.

The new HFI Australasian office on St George's Terrace in Perth's central business district will focus on five key strategic targets:

· Acceleration of the successful internationalisation of Australian oil and gas/energy companies;

· International acquisitions and joint ventures involving Australian businesses and investors;

· Specialist oil and gas transactions and contracts in the corridor between India and Australia;

· The internationalisation of existing HFI clients within Australasia; and

· The provision of commercial legal services in the booming WA resources market.