Pipelines

Pipelines play an integral role in America and the world’s energy production, and Holland & Knight supports every facet of the ongoing operation and expansion of this industry. More than 94,000 pipelines are planned or under construction worldwide with more than 34,000 miles of projects planned in North America, according to Pipeline & Gas Journal. Natural gas production is expected to increase 44 percent by 2040, further raising the prospects of this industry. At the same time, the pipeline industry faces many challenges, especially on the regulatory front, and Holland & Knight has the experience to assist clients in bringing their projects to completion.

Our team includes former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) attorneys, a former member of Congress who served on the Energy and Commerce Committee, a former in-house senior attorney for the nation’s oldest LNG import terminal, former staff members of congressional committees, a former senior advisor to the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and a former senior official of the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Other team members have presided over client transactional and litigation matters in the energy and transportation industries with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake.

We represent:

• pipeline owners and operators
• pipeline and LNG EPC services contractors
• oil and gas utility and transport companies 
• LNG shipping companies
• operators of oil, products and LNG terminals
• exploration and production (E&P) companies
• gas processing and distribution companies
• marketing, trading and risk management firms

Transactional

Our team has extensive experience in handling transactions that are unique to the pipeline industry, and we regularly advise our clients on commercial contracts, project development, joint ventures, leases, throughput agreements, joint tariff agreements, mergers and acquisitions, purchases, sales and taxation.

Our attorneys assist commercial lenders, developers and contractors in projects across the globe. We are thoroughly familiar with BLT, BOT, BOO, BTO, BOOT, privatization, concession, RFP and IPP structures, as well as the provisions of EPC contracts, service and management contracts, operations and maintenance agreements, licenses, leases and similar arrangements. We incorporate advanced risk allocation and mitigation techniques to resolve complex issues encountered when financing infrastructure projects.

In addition, we have extensive experience in assisting private, nonprofit and governmental entities in structuring, negotiating and documenting a wide range of financial derivative products.

Our collective experience includes: 

• mergers, privatization, concessions, RFPs, actions, acquisitions and acquisition finance transactions
• providing commercial, regulatory, finance, construction, real estate and associated support for the development of new pipelines
• energy aggregation agreements and large industrial procurements
• contracts for transmission, processing, fuel supply and power offtake
• financing for oil, gas and LNG facilities, including maritime financing issues
• tax-leveraged transactions
• Rule 144A and other capital market finance vehicles
• sale/auction of oil, gas and electric generation facilities, including pipelines and transmission systems
• national, state and local taxation
• commodity trading and risk management transactions
• industrial revenue bonds (IRBs) and other “private-use” exception project conduit bond financings
• interest rate, commodity and weather contract swaps, options, and other derivative management documents 

Litigation

We provide full-service litigation and litigation support in contested matters throughout the world. Our experience includes:

• project finance and development disputes, including financial defaults
• federal False Claims Act litigation involving energy production
• utility eminent domain and condemnation
• construction and major equipment lawsuits
• contested mergers, acquisitions and RFPs
• defense of regulatory enforcement proceedings
• property damage claims and catastrophic casualty losses, included related insurance issues

Regulatory

We represent clients in compliance, declaratory order and enforcement issues before FERC, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), DOT’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Our attorneys work closely with our Public Policy & Regulation Group, which represents clients in policy-making discussions in Congress and federal agencies. Our relationships with federal and state regulatory agencies enable us to represent clients aggressively in enforcement matters and investigations.

Labor and Employment

We can guide you through common employment issues, such as policies, training and benefits as well as OSHA and workplace safety compliance. In addition, we can represent your management interests in employment disputes and labor negotiations and disputes.

Incidence Response

When incidents occur, our rapid response team will immediately advise on claims containment, civil and criminal liability, enforcement actions of state and federal agencies, and crisis management. We can help you develop and implement compliance programs that reduce incidents and develop strategies and action plans to mitigate the aftermath of incidents to protect both the environment and your business interests.

Representative Engagements

• Served as project counsel for the permitting, commercialization and development of a major cross-border refined products pipeline system
• Responded to several major oil spills in the New York and Boston areas involving barge incidents on behalf of responsible parties and their insurers in environmental cases governed by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, The Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and other environmental laws
• Served as project counsel for the permitting and development of a deepwater LNG terminal and offshore pipeline system
• Served as project counsel for the permitting and development of an offshore natural gas salt cavern storage and subsea pipeline project
• Served as project counsel for the development and commercialization of several oil and refined products import and export facilities 
• Counseled the developer of an oil import terminal and pipeline system on permitting and NEPA issues
• Represented clients in the purchase and sale of gas pipelines and collection systems, system operating agreements and joint ventures
• Represented buyer in the purchase of an inspection services company in the oil and gas pipeline industry
• Represented a gas producer/seller and a group of natural gas producers with unsecured claims in excess of $1 billion arising from take or pay contracts in Chapter 11 proceedings of an interstate gas pipeline and publicly traded parent corporation
• Represented the owner in the tender process for a deepwater LNG port, and 50-mile submarine transmission pipeline and landside facility design/build/operate/maintain (DBOM) delivery vehicle