Experienced international oil and gas lawyers in our offices in Beijing, Houston, Hong Kong, London, Mexico City, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Singapore and Tokyo allow us to staff oil and gas projects anywhere in the world with lawyers who are highly-skilled and fluent in the local language and customs in the region where a project is located.

Our Global Energy lawyers regularly advise national and international oil companies, E&P independents, energy services companies, natural gas and liquids pipeline companies, LNG project developers, petrochemical companies and refiners, as well as lenders and investors in a wide range of industry matters:

• Exploration and production operations
• Contracts with drillers, service providers and equipment contractor suppliers
• Construction contracts
• Joint operating agreements, foreign concessions and production sharing contracts
• Upstream and midstream development
• LNG project development and financing
• Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs)

We advise on industry matters both domestically, in the many jurisdictions in which we are located, as well as on cross-border matters. We regularly act in jurisdictions as diverse as the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, South and Central America, the Caribbean, Africa, Central and Southeast Asia and the Middle East. 

Adding Value at Each Level of the Value Chain

• Upstream. We have extensive experience in the development and operation of projects for the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, including the negotiation of exploration and production leases, licenses, production payments, net profit interests, concessions and participation agreements with governments and state-owned natural resources companies. Our lawyers have experience in many of the major operating basins of the United States, the North Sea, the Middle East and Western Africa as well as in Southeast Asia, Russia, the Caspian and other areas of the former Soviet Union.
• Oil and Gas Contracts. We are experienced with the types of contractual arrangements that are unique to the oil and gas industry. With this background, we are able to advise our clients on their most complex issues, such as concession contracts, production sharing agreements, participation agreements, royalty agreements, joint bidding agreements, farmouts, field unitization agreements, JOAs, LNG projects, turnkey and other construction contracts, contracts for the construction of FPSOs, semi-submersible and other rigs, refining contracts, local content arrangements, equipment and service purchase contracts, and other matters that require wide-ranging multi-disciplinary experience.
• Liquefied Natural Gas. We have represented host governments and the sponsors of LNG liquefaction projects and the developers and users of land-based and floating regasification terminals. We have represented the purchasers and sellers of LNG under long-term supply contracts and in the spot market; owners, charterers and lenders in the acquisition, chartering, construction and financing of LNG vessels, FSRUs and FSUs; lenders in the financing of LNG projects; and buyers and sellers in the acquisition and disposition of interests in LNG projects. The number of firms with broad proficiency in the LNG industry is limited, and we believe that our experience puts us in the very top tier of firms which are able to serve the LNG industry efficiently and effectively anywhere in the world.
• Shale Plays. We have substantial experience in unconventional oil and gas shale projects. We regularly represent industry participants in the acquisition, disposition and operation of shale assets, with a particular emphasis on these transactions in the United States, where shale activity has been most mature. Our lawyers have worked on some of the largest shale-based joint ventures, and in particular on foreign investors seeking to participate in the US market opportunity. We represented the largest private mineral owner in the State of California to review and revise its form of lease agreement (equivalent to the concession/ granting instrument in some foreign jurisdictions) to make it suitable for shale gas developments in California.. We have a lengthy resume of experience representing producers in the major US shale gas and oil areas of the US.
• Oil Field Services and Equipment. Our lawyers are regularly called upon to assist clients involved in the service and supply side of the industry. From the drafting and negotiation of complicated drilling service and supply agreements to arbitration of contentious disputes, our lawyers have worked extensively with oil field services and equipment companies on some of the most challenging engagements worldwide.
• Midstream and Transportation. We have experience in representing pipeline companies and others involved in midstream transportation and the processing of natural gas and liquids. We are involved in everything from the construction and regulatory proceeding stage to the financing and sale and/or acquisition of natural gas pipelines and crude oil pipelines, gas storage facilities, gas processing and fractionation plants, and gas gathering systems around the world. 

We regularly represent clients in fuel supply agreements, construction related, operation and maintenance and transportation agreements and with environmental regulation, project development, project finance and merger and acquisitions. We are experienced in the use of master limited partnerships in acquisition and investment opportunities, and the tax issues that these entail.

• Petrochemical and Refining. We have assisted in the design, construction, commissioning and operation stages of multi-million dollar petrochemical and refining projects in the USA, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. We have advised local and international lenders and borrowers in relation to the various government regulations, including requirements on both environmental regulatory compliance as well as licensing requirements.