Partner, Dallas

Practice Description

Andrew B. Derman is the Firm's International Energy Practice Group Leader and is Vice-Chairman of Thompson & Knight Global Energy Services LLC, a wholly owned affiliate of the Firm that provides technical, economic, and commercial advisory services to the energy sector. With a concentration on oil and gas investment projects and cross-border transactions, he focuses on providing legal and commercial support in connection with acquisitions, divestments, trades, and mergers; strategic commercial and business advice; large infrastructure projects, including LNG, GTL, and refineries; nationalization/expropriation; anti-corruption (FCPA) and sanction advice; unitizations; boundary (onshore and off-shore) disputes; exploration, development, and production operations; production sharing contracts; negotiations; and dispute resolution (litigation, arbitration, expert testimony).

Mr. Derman has assisted clients in more than 50 countries on six continents and offers clients a comprehensive understanding of oil and gas activities through experience in a broad spectrum of countries and companies. Prior to joining Thompson & Knight, he served as in-house counsel and later an executive for a large international oil and gas company for nearly 20 years. Mr. Derman's practice is equally divided between providing clients with traditional legal representation (contract negotiation and drafting) and business development/commercial counseling (the identification and capture of oil and gas opportunities).

Mr. Derman is a frequent teacher and lecturer at conferences, seminars, and universities on oil and gas related topics. For more than 20 years, he has taught host government contracts (production and sharing agreements, licensing systems, and service contracts) and industry contracts (joint operating agreements, accounting procedures, confidentiality agreements, study and bidding agreements, unitization agreements, lifting agreements, etc.) at the Advanced Financial Management Program at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Mr. Derman is Board Certified in Oil, Gas and Mineral Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Representations

• Represented numerous publicly traded, private and national oil and gas companies in their global acquisition, divestment, trade, and merger activities

• Assisted national oil and gas companies (in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America) and public and private companies expand through the identification, negotiation, and capture of oil and gas assets and companies

• Negotiated and drafted numerous host government contracts, including production sharing, concession, service and joint venture contracts

• Negotiated and drafted numerous agreements governing the relationship of investors, including operating agreements, accounting procedures, secondment agreements, lifting agreements, marketing agreements, studying and bidding agreements, service agreements, consulting agreements, and unitization agreements

• Represented clients in infrastructure projects including oil and gas development projects, pipelines, and LNG projects

Distinctions/Honors

• The Best Lawyers in America^® by Woodward/White Inc. (Energy Law, Natural Resources Law); 2005-present

• Chambers USA by Chambers & Partners (Energy: Oil & Gas (Transactional)); 2010

Presentations/Publications

• "Making Arbitration Work for You: Designing and Implementing a Cost-Effective Process," Thompson & Knight Energy Symposium, April 2010
  

• "Venezuelan Oil Seizure: Not a License to Steal," Industry Today, June 5, 2009
  

Activities

• Member, Advisory Board of the Institute for International and Comparative Law, Center for American and International Law

• Vice President Conference/Programs, Association of International Petroleum Negotiators, 1999-2000