Litigation, regulatory and transactional teams with deep experience assisting oil and gas firms in all phases of their operations.
As developed economies continue to transition to cleaner renewable energy sources, the oil and gas business remains critical to guaranteeing energy security and providing reliable energy at the scale necessary for economic growth. Husch Blackwell has advised industry incumbents and entrepreneurs for decades, assisting with every aspect of oil and gas operations, including exploration and production, transport and storage, and the purchase and sale of assets.
Our Oil & Gas group spans multiple legal disciplines and is capable of building customized teams that can address each client’s particular needs.
Litigation
Our team handles contract disputes (including participation agreements, joint operating agreements, purchase and sale agreements, gas purchase agreements, lease and surface access agreements, and master service agreements); product liability and warranty claims; quiet title actions; receivership proceedings; royalty and payment disputes; trespass and conversion actions; and development and waste of resource disputes.
Transactional
We routinely assist clients with assignments, deeds, and other instruments of conveyance; due diligence; financing agreements; joint development agreements; joint operating agreements; master service agreements; oil and gas leases; participation agreements; pipeline and other easement agreements; natural gas pipeline interconnection agreements; natural gas offtake agreements; pooling agreements; production sharing agreements; purchase and sale agreements; saltwater disposal agreements; sand mining leases and supply agreements; surface use agreements; title curative instruments; and water purchase and use agreements.
Regulatory
We have ample experience tackling our clients’ toughest regulatory challenges at the federal level, including administrative disputes before Interior Board of Land Appeals and rate proceedings before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. We also have guided clients through project development on federal land, including the preparation of environmental assessments and environmental impact statements. Our team is conversant with all federal law bearing on oil and gas operations and provides regulatory compliance advice in connection with the National Environmental Policy Act, Natural Gas Act, Endangered Species Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Clean Air Act, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, among others.
Reorganizations & Insolvency
Our team also has substantial experience assisting oil and gas clients—and their investors—in financial distress or those assessing strategic options for reorganizing and restaging their businesses. Our team guides clients through reorganizations and workouts and represents creditors, asset purchasers, debtors, and trustees in Chapter 7 and 11 bankruptcy cases, out-of-court restructurings, and bankruptcy-related litigation.