Oil, Gas and Energy Regulatory

For decades, clients have come to us—because of our skill and experience—for the highest level of representation in every type of oil and gas regulatory issue onshore or offshore in Louisiana or involving federal lands onshore and offshore. We guide clients through each procedure or application. We help clients nail down the regulatory details before they begin drilling wells, laying pipe or building storage facilities.

We’re in our element dealing with federal and state regulation of the oil and gas industry. Our lawyers work with and regularly appear before federal and state regulatory agencies including the:

• Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)
• Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE)
• Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR)
• Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA)
• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
• United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
• Louisiana Office of Conservation
• Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy (LDCE)
• Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC)
• Louisiana State Mineral and Energy Board
• Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ)
• Louisiana Office of State Land

Our regulatory services to oil, gas, pipeline, storage and other energy clients include:

• Representing clients before the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and the Office of Natural Resources Revenue on Outer Continental Shelf issues, including over leases, record title and operating rights, pipelines, rights of way, right of use easements, operations, suspensions of production, unit agreements, incidents of non-compliance and penalties, royalties, bonding, oil spill financial responsibility, decommissioning and before the Interior Board of Land Appeals for appeals from decisions of those agencies.
• Handling spacing and unitization decisions and pursuing the entire process of forced unitization to conclusion, including subsequent follow-up to determine whether additional regulatory or drilling activity is necessary to solidify the client’s acreage position and in issuing or responding to accounting demands for forced units
• Preparing and advising on oil or gas pipeline tariff filings with the Louisiana Public Service Commission or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and on unregulated tariffs, such as for pipeline services on the Outer Continental Shelf
• Obtaining orders to acquire, operate or abandon gas pipelines
• Guiding clients in obtaining the numerous necessary permits to build and operate gas storage facilities, whether in salt dome caverns or in depleted underground reservoirs, and carbon sequestration facilities
• Representing clients in all matters before the Louisiana State Mineral and Energy Board, such as royalty audits, development plan reviews, force majeure incidents and obtaining operating agreements
• Assisting clients in unclaimed property audits
• Submitting bids and ensuring compliance with necessary procedures to secure leases and operating agreements from the State of Louisiana and other governmental agencies

In keeping with our industry leadership, members of the firm have served at various times on committees that have helped the Commissioner of Conservation draft revised regulations for the Office of Conservation; have worked with the Louisiana State Mineral and Energy Board in developing new lease forms and with the Louisiana Public Service Commission in developing its general order for hydrocarbon pipelines; and helped draft new statutes on the use of seismic data in conservation hearings as well as the statutes governing the expanded unitization of deep wells. Additionally, several of our attorneys are frequently called on to speak on oil and gas regulation at programs sponsored by industry groups. Our attorneys include current and former law professors and the head of the Testing Committee for the Louisiana Supreme Court’s Committee on Bar Admissions.