Energy Transactions

Agreements built for the life of the asset. 

For E&P operators, private equity sponsors, land departments, non-operators, and mineral and royalty buyers. 

How do we help energy companies turn a negotiated deal into terms that hold up for years? 

In energy, the agreement outlasts the deal. A PSA allocates risk at closing. A JOA, a farmout or a gathering agreement governs how capital, costs and revenue move between parties for years after that. 

Feighny Hartle drafts and negotiates those agreements with the long run in mind. We make sure the indemnities, representations and governance terms reflect the commercial deal your team actually struck. We also keep negotiations focused on the terms that move value, not on boilerplate. 

The terms you sign today decide the disputes you have later 

Most energy disputes trace back to a clause someone didn’t think through: an ambiguous non-consent provision, a loose area of mutual interest, a minimum volume commitment that didn’t account for a production decline. We draft for what happens after closing, so the agreement works when the asset, the partners or the market change. 

What we draft and negotiate 

• Acquisitions and divestitures: purchase and sale agreements (PSAs), term sheets, letters of intent, confidentiality agreements 

• Development and joint ventures: joint operating agreements (JOAs), exploration agreements, farmouts and farmins, DrillCo and participation structures 

• Leasing and surface: oil and gas leases and amendments, surface use agreements, easements and rights-of-way 

• Conveyancing: mineral and royalty deeds, working interest assignments, overriding royalty interest (ORRI) conveyances, memoranda of operating agreements 

• Midstream and commercial: gathering, processing, transportation, marketing and gas purchase agreements 

Risk allocated the way your deal team priced it 

• Every transaction trades off speed, risk and upside. We draft indemnities, representations, caps and survival periods to match the risk your team agreed to take, and we tell you plainly where the draft departs from it. 

Negotiation that keeps the deal moving 

We separate the terms that affect your economics from the ones that only add friction. We hold firm on the first and propose practical drafting fixes for the second, so the deal moves toward signing. 

Connected to diligence and financing 

Purchase price adjustments, title defect remedies and environmental caps only work if they fit what diligence actually finds. We assemble a team for each engagement, drawing on our A&D, title and energy finance attorneys, so the contract, the diligence and the financing stay aligned. 

Agreements for emerging subsurface energy

The same land and contract questions now apply to geothermal and other subsurface energy projects. These include subsurface rights, surface site control, and agreements with mineral and surface owners. We bring oil and gas contracting experience to developers building in this space.  

“A good agreement isn’t about winning every argument at the table. It’s about locking in your economics and making sure the risk matches what your team actually agreed to buy.”