Energy, Environment & Natural Resources

We protect the deal before risk changes hands

Our transactional work begins with the assets, obligations, and operational realities behind the agreement. We work alongside the firm’s corporate, real estate, tax and finance lawyers to conduct environmental and energy diligence, structure acquisitions and sales and help clients allocate risk with precision. When a site requires closer review, we can coordinate with geologists, engineers, and environmental professionals to investigate conditions on the ground and translate their findings into practical deal terms.

For oil and gas companies, we review title, ownership, leases, contracts, permits, enforcement history, and other asset-specific issues. We also help clients organize and evaluate data rooms, address valuation considerations, and prepare or negotiate the agreements that govern development and operations.

Our transactional counsel includes:

• Purchase and sale agreements, environmental provisions and indemnities
• Sales and acquisitions of oil and gas properties and companies
• Title requirements, ownership questions and asset-specific diligence
• Preparation and review of oil and gas contracts, including area of mutual interest agreements
• Oil and gas financing transactions and related federal, state income and gross production tax issues
• Permit transfers, compliance concerns and related enforcement actions

When energy and environmental disputes escalate, our deep experience matters

We represent clients in litigation, arbitration, and regulatory proceedings involving the full range of energy and environmental conflicts. Much of our work is on the defense side, where a command of the industry, the governing documents, and the regulatory record can shape the case from the outset. We handle matters in state and federal court as well as before the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, the Railroad Commission of Texas and other state and federal agencies.

Our experience includes:

• Claims arising from onshore and offshore production, gathering, processing and transportation
• Disputes among producers, midstream companies, refiners, retailers, operators, working interest owners, royalty owners and landowners
• Defense of class actions, lease and contract claims, joint interest and gas plant accounting disputes
• Environmental citizen suits, oilfield pollution matters and other statutory or regulatory claims.

We also guide clients through governmental inspections, investigations and requests for information, remaining prepared to carry the matter through hearing or trial if necessary.

Turning regulation into a path forward

Permitting and compliance are not side issues in energy and natural resources work. They determine whether assets can be acquired, projects can be developed, and operations can continue. We help clients secure, transfer and defend air, water and other environmental permits, respond to alleged noncompliance and address enforcement actions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state and local regulators. Our lawyers regularly advise on matters involving the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, the Railroad Commission of Texas and other agencies with authority over energy and environmental operations.

That work spans environmental compliance analysis, permit applications, underground storage tanks, Clean Water Act requirements, water use, real estate and business transactions, environmental insurance claims and reviews for hotels and other businesses. For exploration and production clients, we advise from the earliest stages of a prospect through development, including well permits, spacing, pooling, multiunit wells and the orders required to move forward. Our long-standing experience with agency processes and the people who administer them helps us identify the right questions early and keep the focus on workable outcomes.

PFAS adds another layer of urgency. As federal, state and tribal standards for these persistent chemicals evolve and litigation expands, we help businesses and municipalities evaluate potential exposure, assess compliance responsibilities and prepare for regulatory action or claims under laws such as CERCLA, the Safe Drinking Water Act, TSCA, the Clean Water Act and RCRA.

As technology drives new development, we help clients confront the challenges ahead

New development is creating new points of conflict. Data center development is a prime example. Developers may seek to prevent drilling or other oil and gas activity beneath or near a planned facility, while mineral owners may hold established rights to access and develop those resources. We advise data center clients on mineral ownership, acquisition and site-control strategies designed to reduce that risk before construction and operations are exposed.

We also represent clients in renewable and alternative energy projects, including developers, project owners, financial institutions and equity participants in wind, solar, battery storage, thermal and transmission projects.

Our renewable and alternative energy work includes:

• Land and site control: Project siting, leases, easements, title matters, mineral rights and development on tribal lands
• Development and construction: Permitting and development for wind, solar, battery storage, thermal, hydroelectric, biofuel and biomass projects, as well as construction plans and agreements
• Transactions and finance: Acquisitions, project due diligence, corporate structuring, project financing, debt and equity arrangements, tax planning, grants and economic incentives
• Power delivery and regulation: Power purchase agreements, transmission lines, Oklahoma Corporation Commission proceedings, smart and micro-grid technology, demand response, energy storage, CFTC-regulated commodities trading and federal, state, local and tribal compliance