Overview
Dykema lawyers are active participants in the oil and gas business. Clients come to us because we understand the industry, and we are comfortable dealing with company presidents, landmen and other technical specialists, and landowners. Many of our client relationships extend back decades, and our firm has represented independent oil operator and successor organizations for more than 40 years in virtually all aspects of upstream and midstream operations.
We regularly provide transactional counsel for buyers and sellers of large-scale oil and gas production properties. Dykema oil & gas lawyers also know the legal and regulatory infrastructure in which these properties are operated, and understand the various instruments used in the field, such as engineer’s reports on reserves and the details of a land title. We bring a sense of perspective to these transactions because we have done so many of them, and never let unimportant details get in the way of completing the deal.
Oil & Gas Acquisitions, Sales and Operations
We negotiate and draft the necessary documents for facilitating joint operating agreements, participation agreements, and joint ventures designed to minimize risks and tax consequences. We advise on royalty issues and other disputes concerning allocation of revenues and expenses and all varieties of surface use contracts and disputes.
We help clients acquire and dispose of producing and non-producing oil and gas properties by structuring and closing purchase and sale agreements and letter agreements. We can also structure the full range of production agreements (farmout, exploration, master service, drilling, gas sale and purchase), and facilitate transportation, gathering and processing arrangements. We handle oilfield and drilling services contracts and master service agreements, form joint ventures and other project-specific business entities, and resolve risk allocation and indemnity disputes. Our lawyers are knowledgeable in all aspects of oil, gas and mineral leases, and regularly work with seismic licensing, data acquisition and use agreements.
Oil & Gas Finance
We understand lender concerns about confirming borrower ownership of oil and gas interests, and about the details of a title review to confirm that ownership. Our lawyers have represented financial institutions for more than 25 years in oil and gas loan transactions, including funding of gathering and transportation pipeline construction projects by joint ventures.
That kind of experience on the lender side means we can also help production companies secure the financing they need, even under the most time-sensitive conditions. We have helped independent producers arrange conventional mortgage and bond financing, production payment transactions, tax credit sales, like-kind exchanges, commercial mezzanine and derivative-based financings, equity-based financings, and private equity and venture capital funding.
Oil & Gas Litigation
Our familiarity with the energy industry enables us to try, settle, arbitrate or mediate disputes to a conclusion, including those that involve:
- Lease termination
- Unauthorized pooling and bad faith pooling
- Disputes with royalty and working interest owners
- Oilfield service and other operating contracts
- Trespass and surface damage disputes
- Gross negligence claims
- Debt offset issues
Our experience in energy-related litigation reflects our knowledge of the industry, and because we understand our clients’ business we can often devise creative business transactions that resolve an acrimonious situation by helping the parties work together as partners.
News
- November 16, 2020
- June 16, 2020
- June 8, 2020
- May 18, 2020
- May 4, 2020
- April 2, 2020
- March 12, 2020
- Thomas Sanders and Deborah Williamson Named 2019 Outstanding Lawyers by San Antonio Business JournalAugust 12, 2019
- May 31, 2019
- March 1, 2019
- July 17, 2018
- June 21, 2017
- March 8, 2017
- October 30, 2016
- St. Mary’s University School of Law to Honor Marty Truss as a Distinguished Law GraduateOctober 20, 2016
- June 28, 2016
- June 13, 2016
- Deborah Williamson Quoted in Reuters and CFO Magazine Articles on Energy Industry Bankruptcy FilingsMay 18, 2016
- April 28, 2016
- April 28, 2016
- April 14, 2016
- April 12, 2016
- December 11, 2015
Press Releases
- November 5, 2020
- August 27, 2020
- August 20, 2020
- November 1, 2019
- October 24, 2019
- August 15, 2019
- January 28, 2019
- January 8, 2019
- November 1, 2018
- August 15, 2018
- January 9, 2018
- August 15, 2017
- June 12, 2017
- September 6, 2016
Publications
- Intellectual Property MagazineJanuary 30, 2019
- "Fun New Ways for Density and Proration Rules to Bust Your Lease: Retained Acreage Clauses and ‘Governmental Authority’ Language in the Wake of Three Recent Texas Cases"Section Report of the Oil, Gas & Energy Resources Law Section, State Bar of TexasSpring 2016
- When Gushers Go Dry: The Essentials of Oil & Gas Bankruptcy, Co-AuthorAmerican Bankruptcy InstituteJanuary 2016
- Reagan Marble & Brandon Durrett, Vaquillas Unproven Minerals: Maybe You Didn't Retain That Acreage,120 PBLA Takeoff 110January 2016
- Landman MagazineNovember/December 2013
- "Constructive Termination and Nonrenewal under the Petroleum Marketing Prices Act," Author David Vanderhider, posted on the American Bar Association Energy Litigation Committee website
- James M. "Marty" Truss & Reagan M. Marble, Texas Oil and Gas Case Law Update, 2 Tex. A&M L. Rev. 353 (2015).
- “Oil Slowdown Won't Stop Enviro Fights Over Eagle Ford,” Marty Truss and Rene Ruiz Interviewed by Law360February 12, 2015
- “Eagle Ford Attys Gear Up For Gush Of Lease Disputes,” Marty Truss Interviewed by Law360February 11, 2015
- “Sinking Oil Prices Drive Fresh Legal Work in Eagle Ford,” Katy Moore and Marty Truss Interviewed by Law360February 10, 2015
- Katy Moore, David Roth, Marty Truss and Corey Wehmeyer Named Among "2014-2015 Who's Who in Energy" by San Antonio Business JournalDecember 5, 2014
- James M. “Marty” Truss & Benjamin Robertson, Texas Oil and Gas Case Law Update, 1 Tex. A&M L. Rev. 347 (2014).April 1, 2014
- Tobin Olson, David Roth and Marty Truss Named to San Antonio Business Journal’s 2013-2014 Who’s Who in Energy ListNovember 25, 2013
- "Basics of Oil and Gas Leases," Oil, Gas & Energy Resources Law 101 Course, State Bar of TexasOctober 3, 2013
- Reagan M. Marble, The Last Frontier Regulating Factory Farms, 43 Tex. Envtl. L.J. 175 (2013).
- April 1, 2013
- August 21, 2012
- When Gushers Go Dry - A Guide to Oil and Gas Bankruptcy, by Deborah D. WilliamsonJanuary 1, 2012
- "Lessons from Energy Bankruptcies and Workouts" by Deborah Williamson, Texas LawyerNovember 28, 2011
- Lindsay Scaief Riley, Upping the Ante in the Oil Industry: Why Unlimited Liability for Oil Companies Will Deal America a Bad Beat, Student Comment, 43 TEX. TECH L. REV. 1319 (2011).August 1, 2011
- "Regulation of Water in the Oil and Gas Extraction Process," by Rene Ruiz, UTCLE 37th Annual Ernest E. Smith Oil, Gas, and Mineral Law InstituteApril 8, 2011
- "Oil and Gas Case Law Update," Authors Marty Truss and David Vanderhider, San Antonio Association of Professional Landmen 2011 Mid-Winter SeminarFebruary 12, 2011
- "The New Organic 'Texas Tea'?: National Energy Security Implications of a Regulatory 'Clean Fuel' Ban on Texas Biodiesel"Texas Tech Law Review, Volume 40, No. 4Winter 2008
Events & Speaking Engagements
- October 14, 2020
- Drilling Down: The Oil & Gas Industry and Bankruptcy Collide, ABA Business Law Section Spring Meeting, New Orleans, LAApril 7, 2017
- Energy Bankruptcies: What Have We Learned So Far?, San Antonio Association of Professional Landmen, San Antonio, TXMarch 13, 2017
- February 9, 2017
- Insolvency in the Resource and Oil & Gas Sectors, CBA National Insolvency Conference, Chicago, ILSeptember 30, 2016
- Commercial Session: Boom Times Gone - What Bankruptcy Practitioners and Professionals Can Expect in Oil, Gas and Energy Chapter 11 Cases and Restructurings, 2016 Midwest Regional Bankruptcy Seminar, Cincinnati, OHAugust 18, 2016
- May 24, 2016
- May 18, 2016
- Outlook for Restructuring/Insolvency in Several Sectors, Including Retail, Healthcare and Energy - Specifically Address Energy (Oil and Gas), 2016 Bankruptcy Outlook with Bloomberg Law, New York, NYMarch 29, 2016
- Oil and Gas Issues in Bankruptcy, ABI Southwest Conference, Las Vegas, NevadaSeptember 11, 2015
- A Primer on Oil and Gas Regulation in Texas, Part I: Spacing and Density, Permian Basin Landmen's Association Education Seminar, Midland, TexasApril 22, 2015
- "Water for Drilling," speaker Rene Ruiz, Permian Basin Oil & Gas Law Seminar, Midland, TXFebruary 22, 2013
- Nuts and Bolts of the Division Order Title Opinion, Half Moon Seminar’s Agreements and Disputes in Oil and Gas ProductionOctober 12, 2012
- "Whose Water is it?," speaker Rene D. Ruiz, UTCLE 37th Annual Ernest E. Smith Oil, Gas and Mineral Law Institute, Houston, TexasApril 8, 2011