Porter Hedges provides clients with a cross-practice team of attorneys who have handled more than $30 billion in energy transactions. The practice combines transactional experience and true industry knowledge from attorneys who routinely counsel clients on corporate transactions, tax, environment, benefits, and project financing.
Our clients benefit from our knowledge of a wide range of energy industries and our background managing and negotiating complex transactions in upstream, midstream and downstream oil and gas, LNG, gas transportation, electric power, power transmission, and renewable energy projects.
Our clients include public and private exploration and production companies, oilfield service companies, reservoir engineering firms, commercial banks, mezzanine lenders, private equity companies, natural gas pipelines and gathering systems, and natural gas storage companies, among others.
Energy Industry Knowledge
Oil and Gas
Our energy transactional attorneys have deep experience in acquisitions, dispositions and joint ventures with respect to upstream oil and gas properties, pipelines, gathering systems, processing and treatment facilities, LNG facilities, drilling and service company assets and renewal energy assets. In addition to traditional oil and gas, we have extensive experience in all of the legal aspects of the development, acquisition and sale of unconventional hydrocarbon resources with a particular focus on domestic oil and gas shale plays.
Renewable Energy
Porter Hedges assists individuals and companies responding to the critical need for alternative energy sources by helping them assess opportunities available and developing and implementing their projects in the renewable energy industry. Our cross-disciplinary team of lawyers provides counsel to emerging and established companies throughout the energy sector. We advise our clients from the initial stages of investment and tax strategies to the development, acquisition, financing, construction and operation of renewable energy projects.
Power
We advise owners, developers, operators, marketers, and construction contractors on power related transaction issue. Our lawyers have represented industry players, lenders and investors in the development of their projects. Additionally, our transactional attorneys work with construction, environmental and the litigation team to assist power industry clients with such issues as construction and procurement contracts, regulatory guidance, permitting, tax, joint venture structuring and any associated disputes arising in both state and federal court.
Master Limited Partnerships
Porter Hedges energy transactions partners have significant experience representing clients in transactions involving Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs). Our work in this area focuses on representation of conflicts committees in affiliated party transactions, including the “drop down” of businesses and assets. We advise clients both the midstream and upstream energy markets.
Practice Experience
Acquisitions, Dispositions and Joint Ventures
Our energy transactions attorneys have deep experience in acquisitions, dispositions and joint ventures with respect to upstream oil and gas properties, pipelines, gathering systems, processing and treatment facilities, LNG facilities, drilling and service company assets and renewal energy assets. We have particular experience advising oil and gas companies on the formation of joint venture agreements in the domestic shale plays.
Energy Finance
We work with around the world to develop, finance, restructure, purchase and sell energy assets and projects. We advise banks on financing pipelines, offshore production platforms, and oil and gas properties, and have been especially active in advising various foreign and domestic banks as agents in syndicated reserve-based credit facilities. For industry borrowers we have structured a wide range of sophisticated financing arrangements. Our experience encompasses a full range of syndicated and structured financing options, and we have worked with the development of renewable and alternative energy projects, as well as more conventional oil and gas refining, storage and transportation construction.
Project Finance
We represent clients in the financing and development needs of the key players in large-scale infrastructure projects. We offer full capabilities in project and infrastructure finance, capital market access, structured finance and tax law to design alternative financial/legal structures, draft financing models and project documents, and manage even the most complicated transactions. We perform diligence and coordination functions in projects from early development and construction planning phases to the later phases involving turnkey startup and operation. We have worked with lenders, investors, production and exploration companies, developers and contractors in infrastructure projects throughout Texas, across the country, and around the globe.
Environment
Environmental concerns are no stranger to the oilfield which must address emerging issues such as climate change-related regulation, persisting issues such as those related to hydraulic fracturing, operational issues such as permitting and waste disposal, and historical soil and groundwater contamination issues often resulting in cleanup requirements or litigation. Our lawyers have represented clients involved with these issues in matters ranging from counseling to agency investigations to litigation.
Tax
We represent clients in a wide range of transactions including structuring joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions. Our tax lawyers routinely work on complex energy transactions, assisting some of the largest companies in the industry achieve significant tax advantages in their transactions. |