Energy & Utilities

Squire Sanders energy clients benefit from our century-plus experience in the industry. Ours is one of the world’s oldest and broadest energy practices, representing energy clients as far back as 1892. One early energy client was the Standard Oil Company, whose successor remains a firm client and which we have represented in all aspects of the petroleum business including such historic projects as the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline.

Energy industries have experienced profound change over the past two decades. Many factors – including increased awareness of the environmental implications of energy projects and fundamental changes in the marketplace – have contributed to this change. During this transition, we have been increasingly recognized for our comprehensive and innovative energy and public utility practice.

Clients are counseled by lawyers with a thorough understanding of electricity, natural gas, liquefied natural gas, nuclear power, oil, co-generation and alternative energy sources. We concentrate on the business and practical aspects of issues facing clients. For example, for large energy consumers we focus on the most efficient way to purchase energy and secure a reliable supply at a reasonable price. In licensing, enforcement and rate case litigation, our expertise extends to the legal aspects of such specialized fields as petroleum geology and the production of hydrocarbons. Some of our lawyers have engineering and government experience, allowing us to better understand and propose practical solutions to our client's energy-related problems.

Energy continues to be one of our primary practice areas. Our extensive experience and network of international offices have enabled us to respond to our clients’ growing demands for top-quality legal services wherever needed around the globe.

Practice Expertise

• Project Development & Finance
• Regulatory
• Transmission & Distribution

Representative Experience

• Advising in a US$250 million project financing for a new 120-mile, 1.5 billion cubic-foot-per-day natural gas pipeline and compression facilities project in Mexico. The project was named by Project Finance International magazine as Latin America Oil & Gas Deal of the Year. Financing was provided by a US-based international bank and a syndicate of international commercial banks led by Citigroup. Our lawyers represented the development and ownership joint venture between Pemex, the Mexican state-owned oil and gas monopoly, and another Squire Sanders client that is the largest natural gas pipeline company in the United States. Our work involved structuring, negotiating and finalizing all commercial and financing agreements for the project and applying for and obtaining all major governmental approvals. The project was the most significant energy project in Mexico of that year and represented the first time a portion of the Pemex pipeline system was financed without a Pemex corporate guaranty.
• Representing a global energy company in connection with the development of an LNG facility in Altamira, Mexico. Our work on this project included the preparation and negotiation of permit applications for the construction and operation of the terminal including the general terms of service and rate methodology; the preparation of various requests for engineering, procurement and construction contracts relating to the terminal; the preparation and negotiation of various land purchase, land assignment and right of way agreements relating to the terminal; and analysis and revision of tender documents and draft contracts issued by the Mexican Federal Electric Commission for the purchase and sale of natural gas stored and regasified in the terminal as well as negotiation of back-up gas arrangements.
• Representing Lone Star Wind, LLC and FPL Energy (now NextEra Energy Resources, LLC) in a US$700 million term loan and letter of credit project financing deal for wind facilities.
• Advising an international wind turbine manufacturer on a US$130 million loan facility.
• Representing a major power company in the development of landfill gas combustion projects in Latin America to generate greenhouse gas credits and electricity.
• Representing a US supplier of natural gas in the preparation and negotiation of a term sheet for natural gas supply with one of the bidders of the Rio Bravo IV Power Project including the negotiation of a conditional precedent agreement for transportation on the TGP South Texas Expansion Project.
• Advising the developers of a 50 MW portfolio of wind projects in Germany and France on its sale to an international investor.
• Assisting our client, an integrated energy company based in Italy, in negotiating with the LNG division of a US-based energy company to become the anchor user of its proposed LNG terminal to be located on the Louisiana coast. On behalf of our client we negotiated a contract for approximately 40 percent of the terminal's capacity over a 20-year period, as well as a long-term contract for transportation on the interstate pipeline to be built by the LNG's company's affiliate. The terminal will be the first new LNG facility to be built in the United States in more than 20 years; its projected capital cost is US$500 million.
• Counseling the developer of the world's two largest solar power projects (to be located in California) including negotiation of power purchase agreements with utility and other development-related activities.
• Serving as project counsel to an international consortium of energy companies in all aspects of the development, permitting, construction, operation and maintenance of a 1 billion cu. ft. LNG receiving and regasification terminal under development in Sonora, Mexico, including infrastructure connecting an LNG regasification terminal in Sonora with distribution points in Mexico and the United States.

Case Studies

Emulsion Fuels

The three major producers of emulsion fuels, diesel fuel with high water content, encountered significant difficulties in marketing their product within the EU. The problem stemmed from the fact that (1) there was no technical standard for such fuels...