Oil & Gas

Perkins Coie engages in a full range of legal services throughout the breadth of the oil and gas value stream.  Our clients include leading oil and gas producers, pipeline and storage companies, refiners, service companies, Alaska Native Corporations and institutional advisors and lenders.  Among other areas, our attorneys have substantial expertise in industry-related:

• Project development.

• Commercial transactions.

• Finance, mergers, acquisitions and dispositions and tax.

• Litigation and disputes.

• Environmental permitting and regulation.

• Federal and state regulatory matters.

Geographically, our lawyers have handled matters in most of the major oil and gas provinces in the United States and have been involved as well in significant international projects and disputes.  In the Western United States, Alaska and offshore, we have significant experience in dealing with the unique issues arising out of oil and gas development on federal, state and tribal lands.  In Alaska, our lawyers have long represented leading oil and gas companies on the North Slope and in the Cook Inlet and are increasingly engaged in issues related to the emerging offshore Alaska oil and gas industry.

Our experience includes:

Oil & Gas Project Development

We are regularly engaged by clients to advise on complex issues related to upstream, midstream and downstream project development.

Our involvement regularly includes drafting and commenting on the issues arising out of the full range of agreements common to industry-related project development, including joint venture, joint operating, alignment and area of mutual interest agreements; facility access and sharing agreements; transportation and interconnection agreements; throughput and deficiency agreements; capacity lease agreements; and payment-in-lieu-of-tax agreements.  We also have substantial experience in initial land, lease and right-of-way acquisitions; and achieving project permitting and regulatory approvals.  In the federal offshore and on federal and state lands in the Western United States, we have worked on the unique issues related to federal and state lease, pipeline right-of-way and unit agreements.  Internationally, we have worked on production sharing, service, benefit sharing, local impact, consultation and other forms of host government and project development agreements.  

The projects on which we have worked span the full oil and gas value chain.  Lawyers with the firm have worked on the development of new upstream projects, both onshore and offshore; the development and construction of new pipeline projects and storage projects; the expansion and operation of refineries; as well as other types of industry-related infrastructure projects, such as new LNG import and take-away facilities.

In Alaska, our lawyers have long represented the operator of Prudhoe Bay, the largest oil and gas field in the United States, and are extensively involved in ongoing efforts to develop the Point Thomson field and commercialize Alaska's vast natural gas resources through development of a pipeline to Lower 48 markets.  In Alaska's Cook Inlet basin, we represent one of the largest operators of onshore and offshore oil and gas production facilities, working closely with the operator on issues arising out of the development of fields and facilities and pipeline and storage infrastructure projects. 

Perkins Coie also has a substantial construction and procurement group, and we assist clients in all aspects of the construction of major facilities and infrastructure including the negotiation and preparation of front end engineering and design (FEED) and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) agreements; rig, platform and pipeline construction, modification and maintenance agreements; and drilling and other types of service agreements.

Commercial Transactions 

Perkins Coie lawyers are regularly engaged in drafting and advising on a broad range of industry-related commercial agreements and provisions including, among others, joint bidding agreements; lease agreements; overriding royalty agreements; joint operating and unit agreements; facility access and sharing agreements; master and individually-tailored natural gas, crude oil and product sales and purchase agreements; oil, gas and product exchange agreements; interconnection and transportation agreements; natural gas and crude oil off-take and balancing agreements crude oil, product and natural gas storage and terminaling agreements; and asset management agreements.

Financing, Mergers, Acquisitions, Divestitures and Tax

Our attorneys regularly assist oil and gas companies, Alaska Native Corporations and tribes, institutional advisors and financial institutions with industry-related agreements, due diligence, land, title and other work related to corporate formation; financing; mergers, acquisition, and divestitures; and tax issues.

For example, our attorneys are regularly engaged in developing agreements associated with industry-related corporate formation and financing, including shareholder agreements, limited liability corporations and partnerships, royalty trusts, net profits interests and production payment arrangements.  We also represent borrowers and lenders on term loans, leveraged lease transactions and revolving credit and project financings secured by oil and gas assets.  We additionally assist oil and gas companies with tax structuring and energy tax credit acquisitions; emission reduction credit purchase and sale agreements; and credit support, financial derivative and financing documents.  We further assist oil and gas producers with net profit-based and other severance and production tax issues, as well as ad valorem and other tax matters. 

Oil & Gas Litigation and Disputes 

The firm’s lawyers have extensive experience as well in handling significant administrative litigation and other disputes before major oil and gas regulatory bodies including state oil and gas conservation agencies; state public utility commissions in the course of their regulation of intrastate oil and gas pipelines and gas utilities; the Interior Board of Land Appeals in connection with disputes with federal agencies such as the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management and Minerals Management Service; and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in connection with oil and gas pipeline and gas storage facility certificate, rate and tariff regulation.  For example, our lawyers are currently involved in major administrative and appellate litigation in the State of Alaska arising out of efforts by the state to terminate a major North Slope oil and gas unit and underlying leases; and in another area of the state, to establish the terms and conditions applicable to important in-state gas pipelines.  At FERC, lawyers from the firm have represented clients both before the agency and in appellate matters in connection with significant oil and gas pipeline disputes and on matters arising out of LNG import projects.

Environmental Regulation, Permitting, and Compliance 

One of the strengths of Perkins Coie is the inclusion of both its oil and gas and environmental expertise within a single team, the firm’s Environment, Energy & Resources national practice.  Several of the firm’s lawyers practicing environmental law have a deep understanding of oil and gas issues, and combining the lawyers in a single practice results in a closely-integrated industry and environmental approach to oil and gas project development.

The firm’s environmental lawyers are integrally involved from the outset in the development of major upstream, midstream and downstream oil and gas projects.  Our lawyers work with clients and government agencies to develop permitting strategies that are achievable and, most importantly, defensible before the public and the courts.  The Firm’s environmental lawyers have advised clients on project development and permitting matters in most of the major oil and gas provinces in the Lower 48 and in Alaska.  

Perkins Coie delivers value to clients on major projects by focusing on early involvement and strategic planning regarding the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the development of innovative strategies for compliance with the Endangered Species Act and, in the case of offshore development, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and other requirements affecting wildlife and fisheries.  Whether it is an exploration project in the Alaska Chukchi Sea or a gas field in Western Colorado, Perkins Coie has the resources and expertise to move the most complex projects through the myriad requirements arising under local, state, federal and tribal laws.  And, if project permits are challenged, we vigorously represent our clients' interests before local, state and federal administrative tribunals and the courts.

Perkins Coie also has significant experience in handling compliance issues arising under federal and state environmental laws in connection with industry-related activities, in representing clients both before the relevant agencies and the courts, and in seeking resolution of complaints on appropriate terms at the earliest opportunity.  Finally, at the end of project life, Perkins Coie also has experience in handling the issues arising out of abandonment, dismantlement, remediation and restoration requirements. 

Federal and State Regulatory Matters

In addition to extensive experience in handling significant administrative litigation and other disputes before major oil and gas regulatory bodies (see “Oil and Gas Litigation and Disputes” above), the firm also has extensive experience in providing counseling, advice and representation on various regulatory matters.  These include leasing, royalty, unitization, participating area, drilling and spacing unit and compliance issues subject to the jurisdiction of   various federal and state land management and conservation agencies; and industry-related certificate, tariff and rate issues subject to the jurisdiction of FERC and, at the state level, various state public service commissions.  The firm also has experience in establishing compliance programs and defending compliance issues arising out of the FERC’s standards of conduct and market manipulation rules.

Lawyers with the firm also have represented clients in connection with the siting of LNG import terminals as well as issues that have arisen before the Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy in connection with various LNG and other import and export projects.  The firm routinely represents clients on a wide variety of other industry-related regulatory matters, including environmental, health and safety issues before EPA, OSHA, and state agencies; as well as issues and proceedings before the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and other federal and state bodies responsible for overseeing and administering industry-related safety and compliance matters.