Counsel Sr

About the role

The Senior Counsel will serve as the primary legal point of contact and provide strategic legal support for all domestic offshore exploration, development, production and decommissioning matters. They will also negotiate and draft a full breadth of upstream agreements, participate in Gulf of America executive leadership meetings, and advise company personnel and management on legal and contractual risks.

Responsibilities

• Negotiate and draft Joint Operating Agreements, Production Handling Agreements, Participation Agreements, Lease Exchange Agreements, Assignment Agreements, Joint Bidding Agreements, Confidentiality Agreements, Withdrawal Agreements and Decommissioning Agreements.
• Advise company personnel and management on legal and contractual risks associated with proposed offshore operations and activities to ensure company compliance with its legal and contractual obligations.
• Advises Gulf of America Land organization on joint interest owner communications, including operation proposals, authorities for expenditure, confidentiality requirements and cost allocation to ensure compliance with applicable joint operating agreements.
• Oversee the legal aspects of complex business transactions, negotiations and operational matters that involve analysis and interpretation of law and regulations as applied to specific facts.
• Draft, negotiate, interpret and advise clients on a variety of drilling, construction, and procurement agreements in support of exploration, production, and operations activities in the Gulf of America.
• Provide legal support for regulatory and advocacy matters, including participation on the legal subcommittees for key industry trade associations such as the American Petroleum Institute (API), the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) and the Offshore Operators Committee (OOC).
• Manage predecessor decommissioning liability portfolio, including conducting historical corporate entity research, drafting correspondence to regulatory agencies and tendering indemnification notices.
• Work with Health, Safety and Environmental Counsel to ensure compliance with applicable federal statutes and regulations and advise management on compliance status.
• Support company incident response and investigations related to the Gulf of America.
• Work with litigation counsel to coordinate dispute settlement, arbitration and litigation matters.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree and Juris Doctorate from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association
• Six or more years as a licensed attorney
• Licensed to practice law in the State of Texas
• Extensive experience handling a wide variety of Gulf of America transactional and operational matters
• Proactive approach to providing commercial-minded advice and guidance to a variety of business units
• Exceptional interpersonal skills and collaborative work style

Qualifications

• Knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors (KSAB) required of the hired individual to be successful in the position.
• The hired individual must have each of the KSABs listed in this section to be considered for the position.