Locke Lord is one of the world's preeminent energy law firms. The Firm regularly represents major and independent oil and gas companies, private pipeline and midstream companies, master limited partnerships (MLPs), power generation companies, refineries and petrochemical operations, oil and gas service companies and other energy-related companies, both domestically and internationally. We understand our clients' businesses from a global perspective and help them develop creative solutions for every phase of the industry. Our depth and diversity of practice in the energy arena places us in the very top tier of energy lawyers.
Our lawyers are involved in all aspects of the energy value chain. Our traditional experience has deep roots that may be traced to the very beginning of the oil and gas industry. The Firm is prominent in traditional oil and gas but our lawyers are also on the cutting edge of the most current 21st century energy enterprises. We are deeply involved with exploration and production, gathering/processing/storage, natural gas, oil and product storage and pipeline transmission, oilfield services, liquefied natural gas (LNG), refining, power generation, commodity marketing and trading, and all parts in between. Our lawyers have worked on the development of some of the largest energy infrastructure assets in North America, including the largest gas pipeline development project in the last 20 years, and the largest refinery expansion ever in the United States. In addition to our strong project development experience, we have extensive experience in energy mergers and acquisitions, litigation, finance, environmental, real estate, labor and employment, intellectual property, tax and regulatory matters in state and federal agencies, including before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
We have unparalleled experience in recent trends in the energy business, including wind and other renewable energy projects (having represented the developer or the financing in many of the renewable energy projects in Texas), LNG (including representation of the sponsors on a multi-billion dollar project to construct and operate the world’s largest LNG terminal and all related natural gas facilities designed to export natural gas in foreign commerce), alternative fuels (including representation of the developer or the financing in several ethanol, biodiesel and other biofuel projects), retail energy in every deregulated market, and rejuvenated energy trading markets (including representation of many of the investment banks and financial institutions involved in trading markets).
We have one of the premier midstream practices in the United States and represent some of the leading MLPs in a broad range of M&A and project development activities, including those involving gathering facilities, processing plants, intra- and interstate pipelines, terminals and storage facilities. We also represent several of the emerging private equity-backed midstream companies as they acquire, finance and develop assets. Our work also includes a broad array of commercial and operational agreements.
In addition, Locke Lord is extremely active in private equity and venture capital transactions and fund formation engagements. We frequently represent private equity clients with interests in the energy industry, including funds, management teams, buyers, sellers and lenders, in all aspects of buyouts, portfolio company operations and strategic initiatives and exit transactions.
Locke Lord's energy practice has been consistently recognized in Chambers USA and U.S. News–Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms." Several of our lawyers have received recognition by The Best Lawyers in America and the Houston Business Journal’s “Who’s Who in Energy.”
Locke Lord has been noted as a middle market leader by The Texas Lawbook and highlighted for multiple top 10 rankings for Texas M&A over the past five years, most recently snagging a top 5 spot in the rankings for 2019 Texas M&A by deal count.
Our lawyers write and speak on a variety of energy industry topics and hold leadership positions in such industry-focused organizations as the Institute for Energy Law, the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, the State Bar of Texas Oil, Gas and Energy Resources Section, the University of Houston Energy Advisory Board, the Energy Bar Association and the Texas Journal of Oil, Gas and Energy Law.