Corporate and Operational Oil and Gas Counsel

Our lawyers have hands-on knowledge and top-to-bottom experience of how the energy industry works. Clients benefit from our practical perspective and integrated approach on all aspects of exploration, production, development and operation of oil and gas properties. In new and emerging markets, we help clients manage complicated risks while creatively addressing their complex commercial and financing challenges, even across multiple jurisdictions.

From the initial seismic and exploration activities through product marketing, refining and storage, clients seek our guidance on all aspects of the oil and gas industry, including:

• Contracts and Agreements—Negotiating and drafting exploration and production concessions, seismic licenses, drilling contracts, participation agreements, pooling and unitization agreements, joint operating agreements, farm-in and farm-out agreements, master service agreements, and site access agreements.
• Interest Payments—Structuring overriding royalty interest, net profits interest and production payment arrangements.
• Production Agreements—Preparing arrangements for oil and gas gathering, transportation, shipping, treating, processing and production handling.
• Storage Facilities—Developing reservoir and salt dome storage facilities and arranging for product storage.
• Agreements and Sales—Documenting natural gas, crude oil and petroleum product sales agreements, swap agreements, hedge agreements and other derivatives.
• Risk Mitigation—Providing project structuring advice and addressing indemnity, insurance and risk management issues. 

Pipeline and Storage Representation

We frequently work in the specialized regulatory environment of interstate and intrastate pipelines and storage facilities. Our firm advises clients on such matters as:

• Condemnation and eminent domain proceedings
• Easement and right-of-way agreements
• EPC contracts, equipment sales and rental agreements, pipeline installation and pipeline interconnect agreements
• Governmental licensing, permitting and approvals at the state and federal level
• “Open seasons” for pipeline development or expansions
• Rate and tariff hearings, including those involving LNG
• Title review

• FERC, US Department of Transportation and US Environmental Protection Agency compliance 

Liquefied Natural Gas Counsel

Our counsel on LNG projects is global and comprehensive. We have successfully completed LNG projects in the United States, Asia, Africa and Latin America, taking our clients from initial structuring to financial closure and from construction to operations. We address every issue across the full value chain of LNG projects, including those involving upstream and offshore gas and oil development and processing; gas liquefaction facilities; LNG sale and purchase arrangements; LNG ship transportation; LNG regasification, downstream gas transportation, distribution and storage; and associated environmental, regulatory, tax, and corporate matters.

Our environmental and safety teams are second to none in terms of oil, gas and LNG sector experience, ranging from project execution and delivery on day-to-day compliance advice under the environmental and safety regulatory frameworks applicable to oil, gas, and LNG facilities. In new and emerging markets, we help clients manage complicated risks while creatively addressing complex commercial and financing challenges, even across multiple jurisdictions. We carefully monitor and manage contract and agreement details for our clients. We prepare and negotiate the full range of project and commercial contracts and address all regulatory and permit issues for sponsor and developer clients. For our lender and credit support provider clients such as commercial banks, financial institutions, ECAs, multilateral and bilateral agencies, we conduct full review and due diligence as well as prepare and negotiate all financing documents. Our work on LNG projects has earned several Project Finance Deal of the Year Awards from leading publications like Project Finance International and Infrastructure Journal.