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James English

Member
fax +1 832.397.3511

James English helps clients navigate the complexities of growing energy infrastructure projects. He focuses his practice on the development, financing, and operation of infrastructure projects in the midstream and downstream oil & gas, mining, and petrochemical sectors as well as electrification and EV projects, including EV charging, battery storage, and fleet conversion; and acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, and upstream transactions globally.

PROJECT DEVELOPMENT

James routinely advises clients regarding project development in oil and gas, LNG, clean fuels, petrochemicals, and transportation infrastructure. He drafts and negotiates the project documents required for every stage of a project’s life cycle from the initial investment, construction, commercial operations, and decommissioning. James’ experience covers a wide range of complex development and commercial contracts, including host government instruments, joint ventures, supply, offtake, tolling, acquisitions, divestment, trades, credit support, site services, facility sharing, transportation, and numerous other industry-tailored agreements. Projects have ranged in capital requirements from approximately $10 million to $2 billion. He also has an industry-leading on-the-ground international background, having worked in upwards of fifty developed and developing countries across Africa, Asia, Australasia, and Latin America.

EVS AND ELECTRIFICATION

James also guides clients in EV and electrification charging station infrastructure, fleet conversion, battery storage, and behind-the-meter solar. He has served as lead counsel in conjunction with multiple rollouts of EV charging to a combined 3,000 retail locations, including negotiation of power purchase agreements, EPC arrangements, REC trading, warranty structuring, SaaS licensing, and vendor legal strategy. With fleet electrification, James has assisted companies in all stages of program rollouts, including vehicle purchase, leasing, facility installations, and warranty structuring. He also assists operators of greenfield generation and shared site behind-the-meter battery solar projects and battery storage amounting to approximately 1020 MW of installed capacity.

ACQUISITION DIVESTITURES AND UPSTREAM TRANSACTIONS

James has notable experience in the acquisition, divestiture, and upstream transactions, emphasized on the buying, and selling of assets and joint ventures. He regularly assists companies on cumulative transactions over $10 billion, focusing on domestic and international upstream transactions, pipeline and midstream assets, downstream petrochemical infrastructure, industrial materials, and mining assets. Notable representations include acting as lead counsel to an Insurance company in the $4 billion Fieldwood Energy reorganization, serving as local counsel to a global industrial holding company on its $3.2 billion acquisition of a well-known American food company’s assets, and negotiating more than $1 billion in deep water and unconventional upstream oil and gas transactions for a Petroleum company.

Prior to joining Clark Hill, James earned industry experience as an international negotiator. His responsibilities included deepwater transactions and new ventures in Asia Pacific, Africa, Australasia, Canada, and the Caribbean. James also worked extensively with natural gas commercialization and marketing projects in West Africa, East Africa, Central Asia, Trinidad, Australia, and New Zealand.

Education

J.D., University of Illinois College of Law, Champaign, Illinois
M.A., Baylor University, Waco, Texas
B.A., Baylor University, Waco, Texas

Memberships

Association of International Petroleum Negotiators

Houston Bar Association

Denver Bar Association

Co-chair for the LNG SPA model contract drafting committee

State Bar Licenses

Texas, Colorado

Experience

International Upstream Transactions

  • Led negotiation for Anadarko Petroleum Corporation on a completed Participation Agreement with a major Canadian Oil Company in Newfoundland for approximately $260 million in total consideration.
  • Led negotiations for Anadarko Petroleum Corporation in a multi-stage investment agreement and production sharing agreement with Uzbekneftegaz to explore fields in the Amu Darya Basin of Uzbekistan.
  • Led negotiations for Anadarko Petroleum Corporation in New Zealand; including a Farmout in the Canterbury Basin, a Farmout in the Taranaki Basin (both amounting to over $200 million in drilling commitments), multiple Joint Operating Agreements, multiple Joint Study and Bidding Agreements, multiple data trades, renegotiation of host government instruments, and the successful acquisition of new permits.
  • Led negotiations and handled all aspects of a data room process for Anadarko Petroleum Corporation in connection with its sale of a 50% working interest in exploration assets in South Africa to Shell amounting to over $90 million in seismic and drilling commitments.
  • Participated in a large deal team securing the sale of Anadarko China Company to Brightoil Petroleum (Holdings) Limited for $1.075 billion with primary holdings in a producing field in the Bohai Bay, and exploration assets in the South China Sea.
  • Led negotiation for Anadarko Petroleum Corporation in Cote d’Ivoire, including the divestment of a 30% interest, the acquisition of a 10% interest (both amounting to over $100 million in drilling commitments), and the management of pre-FEED procurement.
  • Negotiated all aspects of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation’s new venture activities in Asia Pacific, Africa, Australasia, the Caribbean, and Canada; including the negotiation of production sharing contracts, licences, seismic licensing, seismic acquisition, facility tolling arrangements, purchase and sale agreements, farmin’s, confidentiality agreements, joint operating agreements, analysis of oil & gas laws, natural gas infrastructure laws, joint bidding and bid rounds.

U.S. Upstream Transactions

  • Represented Atlas Energy in connection with its $180 million acquisition of Black Raven Resources in the DJ Basin; including the negotiation and review of the carry agreement, the leasehold, NAESB, interconnect agreements, joint operating agreements, COGCC field rules, and WOGCC field rules.
  • Represented Atlas Energy in connection with its attempted acquisition of Diversified Operating Company with operations in the DJ Basin; including the negotiation and review of the purchase and sale agreement, exploration agreements, leasehold, joint operating agreements, and NGL lifting agreements.
  • Represented Bri-Chem Supply in connection with its $50 million purchase of 100% of the outstanding membership units of Striker Transportation with operations throughout the SW United States.
  • Represented Comet Ridge Resources in connection with the acquisition of leases in Colorado’s Florence Field from various sellers, rendering of title opinions, and the resolution of several commercial disputes with other upstream companies.
  • Represented a private company in the Permian Basin and Midland Basin in connection with its purchase of a portfolio of leases from a Chinese Company.

Natural Gas Projects, Marketing, Midstream, and LNG

  • Represented FDL Energy on all aspects of their gas trading and sales program in the Barnett Basin, including NAESB, fractionation, processing, transportation, blending, and treatment.
  • Advised a U.S. LNG Trading Company on LNG MSAs with Freeport LNG, Port Arthur LNG, Galveston Bay LNG, Magnolia LNG, and a regas facility in eastern China.
  • Participated in the negotiation of a long-term Gas Sales Agreement with CI Energies and the Government of Cote d’Ivoire on behalf of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation as part of its effort to commercialize offshore discoveries in Cote d’Ivoire.
  • Developed drafting standards and guidance for Gas Sales Agreements, LNG SPAs, Gas Processing Agreements, and LNG MSAs for use by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation marketing teams.

Purchase & Sale of Goods, Commodities, and Heavy Products

  • Led negotiation for turn key contracts for the manufacture, sale, and purchase of U.S.-made heavy products for use in the international offshore services industry.
  • Drafted and structured affiliate transfers in the industrial safety industry, for the joint development, licensing and long term sale of specialized patented chemicals.
  • Represented a U.S.-based healthcare provider in its acquisition of medical products from manufacturing facilities in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province in central China.

Chemicals, Mining, and Power

  • Assisted a gulf coast petrochemical project developer on a range of issues related to plant site services, facility sharing, O&M, offtake, real property, utilities, and associated acquisition/divestment activity.
  • Advised a range of Rocky Mountain region and international mines (including sand, gravel, vermiculite, polymetallic, gold, gemstones, and copper) and companies in new ventures, project development, land acquisitions, investment agreements and offtake.
  • Negotiated power purchase agreements for both retail and wholesale power buyers with EDF Energy and EDF Renewables.
  • Assisted a number of renewable energy project developers (wind, solar, and geothermal) in land acquisition, implementation, supply, purchase and sale of infrastructure equipment in the Rocky Mountain region, Hawaii and Mexico.

Technology

  • Assisted a middle market SaaS and IaaS vendor on transactions and commercial agreements, including product development, licensing, distribution, outsourcing, information technology (IT), vendor agreements, cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), customer information systems (CIS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), and customer relationship management (CRM).
Articles
  • Author, “The AIPN GSA, MSA, and Long-Term LNG Sales” (2018)
  • Author, “7 Natural Gas Industry Agreements in 10 Minutes” (2018)
Presentations
  • Presenter, AIPN Model Contracts Workshop, “Gas Sales Agreement, LNG Master SPA, and New Supplemental Gas Focused Agreements” (September 2018)
  • Presenter, NAPE Business Conference, “Deal Making in a Changing Market” (March 2017)
  • Webinar, AIPN University CLE Course, “Joint Venture Management,” (2016)
  • Moderator, AIPN International Petroleum Summit (May 2016)
  • Guest Lecturer, Thurgood Marshall School of Law, “Upstream Oil and Gas Agreements” (2015)
  • Guest Lecturer, Colorado School of Mines, “Business Development and Negotiations” 2015
  • Presenter, AIPN National Oil Company Conference, “Structuring Unconventional and Deepwater Oil & Gas Contracts,” (2013)
  • Guest Lecturer, University of Denver College of Law, “Damages in International Arbitration” (2010)