#134 - Alex Currie (Law Firm Partner, Baker Botts): From London to Moscow to Riyadh – A Career in Global Project Finance
Sweat CapitalShow Notes
In this episode of Sweat Capital, we sit down with Alex Currie, a project finance lawyer who has spent three decades advising on some of the world’s largest and most complex energy and infrastructure projects. Alex has worked across London, Moscow, Dubai, Sydney, and Riyadh, advising sponsors, lenders, and governments on projects involving billions of dollars, geopolitical risk, and long-dated capital commitments. Early in the conversation, he shares a story that captures the stakes of this work – being detained at a Russian airport during a live deal, and getting out by calling a former client: a major Russian gas company he’d previously advised. We unpack what actually makes a project bankable, where large infrastructure projects most often fail, and why trust, credibility, and judgment matter just as much as technical modelling. Alex explains how lenders and sponsors think differently about risk, what goes wrong before projects end up distressed, and how restructurings either preserve (or destroy) value. The discussion also spans geopolitics, the energy transition, and Alex’s current perspective from Saudi Arabia, where scale, speed, and ambition in project development look very different to Europe or Australia. For lawyers, financiers, or anyone interested in global infrastructure and energy, this episode is a rare look at how careers are built in high-pressure environments where mistakes are measured in billions – and decisions really matter.
*** This episode was recorded on 15 January 2026 at the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. For more information, visit futuremineralsforum.com Follow us on Instagram & LinkedIn.
We'll see you in the next one,
Keep playing the long game.
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