4th Midstream Oil & Gas Law Conference

Overview

Highlights

• Federal Midstream Regulatory Update for Liquids Pipelines
• Price Fixing and Bid Rigging in the Oilfield
• Bankruptcy Issues in the Midstream Oil and Gas Sector

Download the Brochure (pdf)

For more details, download the online brochure.

Conference Co-Chairs

Amy L. Baird
Jackson Walker L.L.P.
Houston, Texas

Susan Brownlee Miller
Senior Counsel
Marathon Oil Company
Houston, Texas

Tuition

Registration includes one day Conference, all meals, Networking Reception and the course material provided online, which may be printed or saved by customer. It does not include printed binder of program material.

Regular Registration Fee

• $495 - Regular registration fee
• $395 - IEL Advisory Board Member
• $395 - IEL Supporting or Sustaining Member Employee
• $395 - CAIL Member or Member Employee
• $395 - Government Employee
• $125 - Law Student / Full-time Professors
• $125 - Materials Only (Not attending)
• $75 - Printed Binder (In addition to registration fee)

Schedule and Faculty

7:45 am

Registration

8:30 am

Welcome and Introduction to the Conference

Conference Co-Chairs

• Amy L. Baird, Jackson Walker L.L.P., Houston, Texas
• Susan Miller, Senior Counsel, Marathon Oil Company, Houston, Texas

8:45 am

Financial Reporting Implications Resulting from Drop in Price of Oil

The dramatic decline in the price of oil continues to impact many companies involved in the oil and gas industry. Budgets, operating strategies and loan agreements frequently have to be reevaluated. The results of these various economic changes and decisions will impact accounting and disclosures in the financial statements subject to scrutiny by auditors, shareholders and regulators. This session with explore these financial reporting issues.

• Gary B. Goolsby, FTI Consulting, Houston, Texas

9:30 am

Price Fixing and Bid Rigging in the Oilfield—Know the Antitrust Risks

Antitrust scrutiny in the oilfield is at a new high. Federal and state authorities in the United States are investigating alleged horizontal bid rigging in the acquisition of oil and gas leases. In Brazil, the Council for Economic Defense (CADE) is investigating an alleged longstanding bid rotation scheme among private firms bidding for lucrative contracts with Petrobras. Depressed oil prices elevate concerns that purchasers of oilfield services may collude with their competitors in an effort to obtain discounted service prices. This topic examines when these and other joint activities by horizontal oilfield competitors may cross the line to antitrust illegality, for example, when lawful joint bidding becomes illegal bid rigging.

• Alison Smith, McDermott Will & Emery, Houston, Texas

10:00 am

Break

10:15 am

Master Limited Partnerships: Building the Record You Want for Conflicts Transactions

In the past two years, Delaware courts have entered sizable monetary judgments in favor of plaintiffs following conflicts transactions. This program will address how those processes went awry and how a partnership (or corporation) can structure a transaction process to avoid the same fate.

• Michael Holmes, Vinson & Elkins LLP, Dallas, Texas
• David Palmer Oelman, Vinson & Elkins LLP, Houston, Texas
• Lande Alexandra Spottswood, Vinson & Elkins LLP, Houston, Texas

11:00 am

Federal Midstream Regulatory Update for Liquids Pipelines

A joint presentation from both the pipeline and shipper perspectives focusing on some of the most important and difficult regulatory issues now before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission concerning oil and NGL pipelines. Topics to be covered include: New Pipeline Projects and the Open Season Process, the Five Year Index Review, Page 700 Rulemaking, and FERC’s Increased Focus on Compliance and Audits.

• Elizabeth Kohlhausen, Caldwell Boudreaux Lefler PLLC, Houston, Texas
• Erica Rancilio, Edwards & Floom, LLP, Washington, D.C.

Noon

Hosted Luncheon

12:35 pm

The Changing Landscape of Energy Sustainability in the U.S. and Globally

• Honorable Secretary Charles McConnell, Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Energy, Executive Director, Energy and Environment Initiative at Rice University

1:20 pm

Break

1:30 pm

Challenges and Opportunities in Mexico’s Midstream Industry

Mexico’s government-controlled midstream sector has faced years of chronic underinvestment, and there are significant opportunities for the private sector to develop the midstream infrastructure that Mexico will need to accommodate an expected boom in natural gas and crude oil imports from the United States. Although there are currently only 9,000 pipeline miles in the entire country, the Mexican government has already announced 1,000 miles of new pipeline projects, and the country will also need new and expanded terminals, port infrastructure and storage facilities. While the 2013 Energy Reforms brought significant regulatory and structural changes to Mexico’s midstream industry, privatization was not one of them, and the sector will remain under government control. This session will explore the midstream opportunities that are available in Mexico and some of the challenges to making those opportunities a reality.

• Alberto de la Parra, Jones Day, Mexico City, Mexico
• William Prescott (Scott) Schwind, Jones Day, Houston, Texas

2:15 pm

Bankruptcy Issues in the Midstream Oil and Gas Sector

Discussion will include issues to watch for in anticipation and avoidance of bankruptcy filings by counter parties and what to do once bankruptcy has been filed.

• Monica S. Blacker, Jackson Walker L.L.P., Dallas, Texas
• Bruce J. Ruzinsky, Jackson Walker L.L.P., Houston, Texas

3:00 pm

Break

3:15 pm

Misinterpreting Machiavelli? – Where the Ends and the Means Collide with Sound Law, Science and Policy: The Impacts of EPA’s Ozone NAAQS Revision on the Midstream Oil and Gas Industry

The presentation will provide an overview of the key issues at play in EPA’s ozone NAAQS revision, followed by a closer review of the legal, scientific and policy implications flowing from the cost/benefit analysis supporting the revision. The potential impacts on midstream operations will then be discussed. Finally, we will cover the inevitable legal challenges and how that process could play out over time.

• Matt Paulson, Bracewell & Giuliani LLP, Austin, Texas

4:00 pm

Ethics: Attorney Liability and Responsibility to Non-Clients

Traditionally, the common law's requirement of privity limited liability for legal malpractice to the person with whom the lawyer had established a contractual relationship. While courts continue to honor the concept of privity, they also chip away at it by finding bases for attorney liability to non-clients. This session will focus on this developing area of law and how lawyers can protect themselves.

• Michael Rubenstein, Liskow & Lewis, Houston, Texas

5:00 pm

Adjourn

CLE Credit

MCLE Credit

This program is approved by the State Bar of Texas for a total of 7 hours, including 1 hour of ethics. Course ID Number: 901328450. Credit hours for other states will vary and are subject to each state’s approval and credit rounding rules.

For this conference, IEL will directly apply (if requested) for course accreditation in the following states: California, Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia. Some of these states may not approve a program for credit hours before the program occurs. Attorneys may be eligible to receive CLE credit through reciprocity or attorney self-submission in other states. IEL conferences are typically accredited by all mandatory CLE states.

Sponsorship Opportunities

Hosted Luncheon - $2,500 each

• Recognition in the Conference brochure, which will be mailed and/or emailed to several thousand interested counsel and business leaders and will reach many thousands more through web announcements.
• Company/firm logo prominently displayed in the Conference brochure and final program.
• Recognition on the Conference website.
• Recognition at the Luncheon.
• 1 complimentary registrant at the Conference.
• Up to 2 complimentary guests for the luncheon.
• An opportunity to display company/firm materials at the event or at the conference.

Canvas Bag - $2,500 each
(Only 3 Allowed)

• Name/Logo on one side of canvas bag.
• Recognition in the Conference brochure, which will be mailed and/or emailed to several thousand interested counsel and business leaders and will reach many thousands more through web announcements.
• Company/firm logo prominently displayed in the Conference brochure and final program.
• An opportunity to display company/firm materials at the event or at the conference.

Exhibitor - $1,500 each
(Non-law Firms only)

• Space to display company/firm materials at the conference.
• Name/logo on Conference website with link to company page

Hotel Information

The cost of housing is not included in tuition. However, rooms (in limited number) have been reserved at the Hilton Houston Post Oak, 2001 Post Oak Blvd., Houston, TX 77056. Registrants should call 1.800.445.8667 and advise them of room block "IEL - 4th Annual Midstream Oil & Gas Law Conference" to receive a reduced room rate of $199 + applicable taxes/night. The last day to obtain this special rate is November 18, 2015.

BOOK HOTEL ONLINE

Other Information

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