Practice Areas

Energy, Environmental & Natural Resources

Fellers Snider possesses a wealth of talent and experience in energy, environmental and natural resources matters. Our attorneys in this practice area come from diverse backgrounds, including the judiciary, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission and Fortune 500 companies. This diversity provides us with unique insight and practical problem-solving abilities when it comes to tackling our clients’ complex energy and environmental problems.

Energy Transactions

We support our clients’ ongoing business activities by negotiating and drafting agreements in connection with the lease, purchase or sale of properties, equipment, facilities and business entities. We also provide advice and counseling on pre-transaction activities, such as due diligence and environmental assessment, as well as post-transaction activities, such as remediation of contamination and correction of noncompliance and deficiencies. This group also represents clients in negotiating and drafting service contracts, purchase and sale agreements, access agreements, and agreements related to the treatment, storage, disposal, handling, transportation or remediation of wastes and hazardous substances.

Litigation

Our attorneys’ litigation expertise encompasses energy, environmental and toxic tort litigation for the petroleum and petrochemical industry. Their work in this field has included:

• Natural gas transportation, gathering, purchase and sale disputes
• Litigation, management and assessment of exposures from discontinued or divested operations
• Royalty disputes
• Environmental suits, including numerous class actions, arising from the operation of water floods, exploration and production activities, production pipelines, disposal facilities, and surface-damage disputes
• Damage to reservoir and drainage suits
• Right-of-way, franchise, and condemnation of royalty and working interest disputes
• Oil-and-gas-related class-action and shareholder derivative claims
• Defending claims alleging personal injury or death as a result of exposure to toxic substances in the environment
• Claims arising from indemnity and other contractual provisions allocating environmental responsibility in multimillion-dollar acquisitions and divestitures
• Oil-and-gas-related business tort litigation

This area includes the litigation of enforcement actions by federal and state regulatory agencies, natural resource damage claims, citizen suits, and other actions involving common law, CERCLA, RCRA and other statutory provisions for remediation and cost recovery related to exploration and production, refining, processing, retail, transportation, storage, and disposal facilities. This group also uses its energy and environmental litigation experience to help clients evaluate their operations and practices to avoid situations that might lead to regulatory enforcement actions or litigation.

Administrative/Regulatory

Interpretation and application of the various federal, state and local environmental statutes and their associated regulatory requirements is another important aspect of the firm’s service to our clients. Aspects of this practice include representing clients in administrative proceedings, negotiating with administrative agencies, determining the applicability of regulatory requirements to a client’s facilities or activities, advising clients on how to structure their activities to avoid costly or burdensome regulatory requirements, and assisting clients in proactively affecting legislative enactments and rule-making that may impact their activities. This practice area also involves working with new or expanding facilities to identify applicable environmental permitting requirements, or to renew, modify or avoid permits; assisting clients in preparing for and conducting environmental audits, and in implementing related corrective action; and advising clients on the management and remediation of existing contamination.