Andrew Melsheimer
Partner
Overview
Andrew Melsheimer is an energy attorney in Holland & Knight's Dallas office, where he concentrates his practice on oil and gas investment projects and cross-border transactions and disputes in the international energy sector. Mr. Melsheimer's experience includes providing legal and strategic commercial advice on mergers and acquisitions, divestments, trades, concessions, production sharing contracts and service agreements. He represents clients in exploration, development, production and exploitation activities, and energy infrastructure projects, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), pipelines and refineries. He also advises on nationalization and expropriation, anti-corruption matters involving the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), trade sanctions issues, unitizations, boundary disputes and dispute resolution, including arbitration, conciliation, mediation and litigation. Mr. Melsheimer handles disputes before federal and state courts throughout the U.S. and internal arbitrations throughout the world.
Mr. Melsheimer lectures at conferences and teaches law school courses about matters affecting the international oil and gas industry and emerging issues in international disputes. He frequently speaks on topics such as host-government contracts and industry contracts, economic sanctions, and ethics and professionalism in dispute resolution matters.
Mr. Melsheimer also has in-house experience through his secondment to an international energy company. His responsibilities included assisting with new ventures, handling issues related to host-government contracts, joint operating agreements and unitization agreements, and negotiating service contracts.
Representative Experience
- Represents publicly traded, private, and national oil and gas companies in their global acquisition, divestment, trade and merger activities
- Assists private and public oil and gas companies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Africa, as well as national oil companies in negotiating and capturing oil and gas assets and companies
- Negotiates and drafts host-government contracts, including production sharing, concession, service and joint venture contracts
- Negotiates and drafts agreements among investors in oil and gas projects, including farm-in and participation agreements, joint operating and unitization agreements, accounting procedures, lifting and marking agreements, floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel purchase and lease, crude oil sales, pipeline and gas supply agreements
- Advises domestic and foreign companies on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) compliance and investigations
- Advises domestic and foreign companies on compliance with U.S. economic and trade sanctions
- Assists domestic and foreign companies with strategic planning for potential litigation and arbitrations, including those involving contractual disputes and disputes under bilateral and multilateral investment treaties
- Representing U.S. investors in the prosecution of claims under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the United States-Canada-Mexico Agreement (USMCA)
- Prosecuting breaches of obligations under farmout agreements in South America (Colombia) in an ad hoc international arbitration
- Defended foreign entity under a liquefied natural gas (LNG) sale and purchase agreement before the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA)
- Prosecuted claims related to hydrocarbons investments under the United Kingdom – Egypt Bilateral Investment Treaty in an arbitration before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)
- Prosecuted claims in a Cairo Centre arbitration under host-government upstream contracts
- Prosecuted preemption right provision under a joint operating agreement in West Africa (Senegal) in an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration
- Prosecuted withdrawal and preemption right provisions under a joint operating agreement in North Africa (Algeria) in an arbitration before the ICC
- Prosecuted breaches of obligations under a joint operating agreement in South America (Chile) before the ICC
- Prosecuted forfeiture provision under a joint operating agreement (California) in an ad hoc domestic arbitration
- Prosecuting enforcement of assignment of interest from defaulting party in an ad hoc domestic arbitration under American Arbitration Association (AAA) rules
- Defended challenge to an expert decision establishing ownership interests in a unitized oil and gas field offshore West Africa (Nigeria) in an arbitration before the ICC
- Defended force majeure claim under a cross-border gas supply agreement in South America (Chile-Argentina) in an ICC arbitration
- Prosecuted breach of a transportation agreement for pipeline capacity in South America (Ecuador) in an arbitration before the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR)
- Defended contract claims related to the purchase of a refinery in an ICDR arbitration
- Sought declaratory relief in an ICDR arbitration for the interpretation of a contractual right for payments under a Colombian concession
- Prosecuted a collection action for a Brazilian steel company in an ICDR arbitration on outstanding debts arising out of activities in Colombia
- Defended discovery requests for use in foreign arbitrations before Texas state courts and federal courts in Delaware and Oklahoma under Texas procedural rules and 28 USC 1782
- Prosecuted contract claims in a jury trial against a domestic sales representative of an international energy company in federal court in Ohio
- Defended enforcement of an arbitral award, claims for breach of contract, attachment, breach of fiduciary duty and equitable relief in Texas state court and federal courts in Texas and New York
- Sat as arbitrator in a corporate acquisition dispute before the ICDR
Credentials
- Louisiana State University, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, J.D.
- University of South Carolina, MIBS
- Louisiana State University, B.S.
- Louisiana
- Texas
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
- Institute of Transnational Arbitration, Advisory Board Member
- Thompson & Knight Foundation, Chair of Board of Directors
- Institute for International and Comparative Law, Center for American and International Law, Advisory Board Member
- City of Dallas Judicial Nominations Commission, 2019
- Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN), Board Member, 2016-2019; Joint Operating Agreement Revision Drafting Committee, 2019-2021; Farmout Agreement Revision Drafting Committee, 2017-2019; Unitization and Unit Operating Agreement Revision Drafting Committee, 2018-2020
- Texas State Bar, International Law Section, Chair, 2014-2015
- American Bar Association
- Dallas Bar Association
- Louisiana State Bar Association
- ChildCareGroup, Board Member, Finance Committee, Chair, 2021-2022
- Louisiana State University (LSU) Alumni Association
- University of South Carolina Alumni Association
- Tiger Athletic Foundation
- The Best Lawyers in America guide, Energy Law, 2024
- Best Lawyers in Dallas, D Magazine, Energy & Natural Resources, 2017, 2021