Overview
Edward Poitevent has practiced energy law for more than 40 years, with a concentration in the U.S. markets, the U.S. Gulf Coast, and international energy deals. He focuses his practice on all phases of domestic and international energy/mineral law and natural resources law.
Throughout his career he has counseled clients in a wide range of interests in the energy industry, including natural gas pipeline companies and domestic and international oil and gas projects.
Edward recently won a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court case concerning the non-existence of critical habitat on family land in Louisiana for an extinct frog. This ruling prompted the U.S. Department of the Interior to overhaul its critical habitat rules.
Representative Matters
- Lead outside counsel for negotiation and drafting of a Share Purchase Agreement, a Coal Supply Agreement, and related documents for an approximately $1 billion (USD) project in Turkey.
- Lead outside counsel for negotiation and drafting of a Joint Venture Agreement and related agreements and documents for a gold mine project in Turkey.
- Implement and interpret contracts for operation of a major LNG liquefaction facility (the largest in the Western hemisphere) in Trinidad and the sale of LNG from the facility.
- Assist the law department of a Trinidad liquefaction facility in numerous legal tasks, including arbitration issues, during a 6 month secondment to a company in Trinidad.
- Implement and interpret contracts for the sale of gas in a Trinidad for LNG facility.
- Draft Gas Vaporization and related agreements for a proposed floating terminal in the Gulf of Mexico for a supermajor. Analyze reserve issues for gas reserves offshore Angola.
- Drafting contracts involving the development of Indonesian natural gas reserves and gas purchase and transportation contracts for the gas.
- Draft and negotiate farmout for development of gas reserves offshore Nigeria.
- Draft and negotiate a series of contracts for development of gas reserves in Indonesia and development of pipeline infrastructure associated with the same to sell gas to major consumer of gas.
- Long-term crude oil import agreement for 1,000,000 barrels/mo. from a Latin American state-owned oil and gas company.
- Negotiate and draft an operating contract for platforms in the Gulf of Thailand.
- Negotiate, draft, and structure agreements for a joint venture to conduct seismic operations in Mexico.
- Negotiate, draft, and structure agreements for a joint venture to conduct seismic operations in Brazil.
- Negotiate, draft, and structure complicated agreements for conduct of seismic operations offshore Canada with a supermajor.
- Lead counsel for a $282 million merger of an entity with leases in Louisiana state waters and OCS (offshore Louisiana and Texas) and the production for a major Australian energy company.
- Lead counsel for $83 million purchase of producing oil and gas properties in Gulf of Mexico (offshore Louisiana and Texas).
- Farmout, participation, and development agreements for onshore Gulf Coast and offshore oil and gas fields (Louisiana and Texas).
- Natural gas volumetric production payment and prepayment transactions.
- Farmout and development of Gulf of Mexico fields for deep gas reserves.
- Acquisition and development of West Texas fields for oil and gas development.
- Participation agreement for a West Texas field.
- Acquisition and structuring of a major package of land-related assets in Louisiana (fee, mineral royalty, and working interest).
- Negotiate, structure, and finalize agreement with exploration company for development of Tribal lands in Utah.
- Mineral law issues for largest Louisiana landowner and major owner of timber and minerals in Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Alabama.
- Financing of interests in producing fields in Louisiana and Texas.
- Oil and gas development of 35,000 acres of South Louisiana marshlands, including 3-D seismic option.
- Development issues involving North Louisiana minerals.
- Litigation involving surface and subsurface environmental issues in a producing Louisiana field.
- Ownership dispute over a large mineral acreage in a Louisiana field.
- Preparation and negotiation of a Texas farmout agreement.
- Gas sales contracts, processing agreements, and a related product sales agreements in a West Texas field.
- Negotiation of a major package of Rockies gas for simultaneous prepaid gas contract sale to utility.
- Vermilion Field production payment maintenance and gas imbalances.
- Analysis and resolution of gas imbalance issues (onshore and offshore Louisiana fields).
- Throughput capacity lease for 300-mile crude oil pipeline in Mid-America.
- Storage of natural gas in a Gulf Coast salt dome (Napoleonville).
- Contracts for development and operation of a salt dome cavern storage in a Southwest Louisiana salt dome.
- Development of coalbed methane and lignite reserves in North Louisiana.
- Outer Continental Shelf operations and regulatory matters.
- Major natural gas infrastructure contracts for deepwater Gulf of Mexico operations.
- Contract for Gulf of Mexico FPSO operations.
- Development and construction of platforms and pipelines for deepwater Gulf of Mexico operations.
- Drilling contracts for Gulf of Mexico wells.
- Negotiation and drafting of seismic agreement for a Norwegian company for seismic operations in Gulf of Mexico for a major integrated oil company.
- Acquisition of Louisiana petroleum pipelines.
- Louisiana intrastate pipeline acquisitions and operations.
- Negotiation of energy supply/management services for a large U.S. Southwest utility on behalf of major integrated oil company.
- Terminal use agreement for LNG vaporization facility in the Gulf of Mexico.
- Negotiate, draft, and structure land-related documents for onshore Texas and Louisiana LNG vaporization facilities.
- Contracts for operation of Louisiana and Texas intrastate pipeline companies.
- Advise interstate natural gas pipeline on land-related issues for acquisition of rights-of-way and related agreements for a 140-mile natural gas pipeline in Southwest Louisiana.
- Contracts to build/operate Louisiana 200 MW independent power project.
- Purchase and sale of interstate natural gas pipeline.
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission certificates for Texas and Louisiana pipeline systems.
Professional & Civic Activities
Professional and Civic Activities
- American Association of Petroleum Landmen member and former Co-Chair of its Model Form Gas Balancing Agreement Committee.
- Association of International Petroleum Negotiators' Model Form Farmout Agreement Committee member and Model Form International Unitization and Unit Operating Agreement Committee member.
- American Bar Association’s Section of Environmental, Energy, and Natural Resources Law former Council Member.
- Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation former Trustee.
- Eastern Mineral Law Foundation former Trustee.
- Louisiana Mineral Institute governing body former member.
- Leukemia Society of America, Inc., Louisiana Chapter President, 1990-1991.
- Junior Achievement of Greater New Orleans Board of Directors, 1984-1990.
- Louisiana State Bar Association member.
Honors & Awards
Honors & Awards
- Best Lawyers in America 2007 - 2024.
- Louisiana Super Lawyers 2013 - 2015.
- New Orleans Magazine "Top Lawyer" 2016 - 2023.
- Edward has been listed in the Euromoney/Legal Media Group's Guide to the World’s Leading Energy and Natural Resources Lawyers and Guide to the World’s Leading Project Finance Lawyers.
- Who's Who in American Law.
- New Orleans CityBusiness 2010 Leadership in Law honoree.
News & Events
Resources
Announcements
In the News
Publications
- Author, "Post-Production Deductions From Royalty," Petroleum Accounting and Financial Management Journal, Vols. 22 and 23, Fall/Winter/Spring 2003 and 2004.
- Co-Author & Co-Chair, "State Regulation of Intrastate Oil and Gas Pipelines in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana," Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Special Institute on Oil and Natural Gas Pipelines: Wellhead to End User, January 1995.
- Author, "Post-Production Deductions From Royalty," South Texas Law Review, Vol. 44. No. 3, Summer 2003.
- Co-Author, "The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and the Concept of Adjacent State Law" and " Moving Offshore Production to Market," Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation’s OCS Short Course, Spring 2003.
- Author, "Wellhead Gas Balancing," Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Special Institute on Natural Gas, 2001.
- Co-Author, "Preferential Rights, Rights of First Refusal and Options: The Whys and Wherefores," American Association of Petroleum Landmen, June 2000.
- Co-Editor, Chapter 25, "Outer Continental Shelf Leases and Operating Regulations," The Law of Federal Oil and Gas Leases (Matthew Bender).
- Co-Author, "Recent Developments on the Outer Continental Shelf," 47th Annual Institute on Oil and Gas Law and Taxation, Southeast Legal Foundation, 1996.
- Author, "The Louisiana Mineral Code and the Civil Law Tradition," Oil and Gas Law & Taxation Review, Vol. 12, Issue 5, 1994.
Industries
Bar Admissions
- Louisiana
Education
Tulane University Law School, J.D., 1974
Tulane University, B.A., 1971