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About John

John Stavinoha is a transactional lawyer who represents both public and private clients in a variety of domestic midstream and upstream oil and gas transactions. He regularly represents clients in the purchase and sale of oil and gas properties, pipeline systems, and related infrastructure. John also advises his clients on operational arrangements, such as gathering, transportation, processing and storage agreements; farmout and participation agreements; development and joint operating agreements; produced water disposal and recycling agreements; pore space lease agreements; carbon sequestration services agreement; and surface use agreements.

Experience

Recent Notable Matters

Subsidiary of a publicly-traded midstream company — negotiation of an anchor shipper arrangement with a large publicly traded exploration and production operator for the buildout of a gathering system in the Utica Shale

MB Minerals L.P. — $143.1 million sale of Midland Basin mineral and royalty interests to Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP

Fortune 500 O&G operator — carbon sequestration project in the Permian Basin involving analysis of land rights on approximately 25,000 acres and drafting pore space lease forms for the various land rights needed from land owners for the project

Driftwood Energy Operating, LLC — sale of assets in the Midland Basin to Vital Energy, Inc

Sable Offshore Corp. — purchase from Exxon Mobil Corporation of the Santa Ynez field in Federal waters offshore California and associated onshore processing and pipeline assets, including pipeline assets acquired by Exxon Mobil from Plains Pipeline L.P. and the merger with Flame Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition entity

King Ranch, Inc. — negotiation of a pore space lease and surface use agreement covering approximately 106,000 acres for the development of an industrial scale direct air capture carbon sequestration project in Kleburg County, Texas

Talos Low Carbon Solutions LLC — development of the Gulf Coast carbon capture and storage projects along the US Gulf Coast and Texas state waters in the Gulf of Mexico, including the project offshore Jefferson County, Texas with a lease from the Texas General Land Office as well as the projects with Freeport LNG and the Port of Corpus Christi

Aris Water Solutions, Inc. — acquisition of seven saltwater disposal wells and related infrastructure from Delaware Energy Services, LLC for approximately 3.37 million of Class A shares of Aris stock plus a small, volumetric-based contingent consideration paid over five years

Aris Water Solutions, Inc. — negotiation of long-term full cycle water management agreement with Chevron U.S.A. Inc. for properties located in the Permian Basin

Titus Oil & Gas Production, LLC and Titus Oil & Gas Production II, LLC — $627 million divestiture of New Mexico assets located in the northern Delaware Basin owned by Titus Oil & Gas Production, LLC, Titus Oil & Gas Production II, LLC, and their affiliates to Earthstone Energy, Inc. (NYSE:ESTE). The aggregate purchase price consists of $575 million in cash and approximately 3.9 million shares of Earthstone’s Class A common stock valued at $52 million based on a closing share price of $13.51 on June 24, 2022.

Entity affiliated with GeoSouthern Energy Corp. — upstream joint venture with a subsidiary of The Williams Companies, Inc. for the acquisition of an interest in and development of Williams’ South Mansfield Assets in the Haynesville Shale

Sabalo Energy, LLC — sale of Midland Basin assets to Laredo Petroleum Inc. for $606 million in cash and 2.507 million shares of Laredo’s common stock

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. — as administrative agent for the first lien lender group in the Alta Mesa Chapter 11 bankruptcy case

Sabalo Energy, LLC — divestiture of produced water gathering and recycling infrastructure assets in the Midland Basin to H2O Midstream LLC, including negotiation of long-term produced water gathering, disposal and recycling agreements

WaterBridge Resources LLC — $125 million acquisition of produced water assets from PDC Energy, Inc. and negotiation of water services agreements

Titus Oil & Gas, LLC — negotiation of produced water gathering and disposal agreement and source water supply agreement for properties located in the Delaware Basin

Titus Oil & Gas, LLC — negotiation of gas gathering and processing agreement for properties located in the Delaware Basin  

WaterBridge Resources LLC — acquisition of salt water disposal assets from NGL Energy Partners LP for $238 million

WaterBridge Resources LLC — acquisition of produced water assets in the Delaware Basin

Permian Basin H2O LP — divestment of fresh and produced water solutions company in the Permian Basin to GlobeLTR Energy Inc.

Three Rivers Operating Company III LLC — sale of 59,000 net acres in the Delaware Basin for an undisclosed cash consideration to Admiral Permian Resources, LLC

GEP Haynesville, LLC — exchange of non-operating working interests located in the Haynesville Basin with Vine Oil & Gas LP

Parsley Energy Inc. — $2.8 billion acquisition of certain entities holding undeveloped acreage and producing oil and gas properties in the core of the Midland Basin from Double Eagle Energy Permian LLC and certain of its affiliates consisting of approximately $1.4 billion in cash and approximately 39.8 million units of Parsley Energy

Sabalo Energy, LLC — negotiation of several produced water connection agreements in the Permian Basin containing acreage dedications and minimum volume commitments

Group of commonly owned private equity-backed portfolio — sale of an undivided 25% non-operated position in their Delaware Basin assets for approximately $179 million along with the negotiation of a joint operating agreement with extensive joint development mechanics

Independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company — acquisition of Clayton Williams Energy, Inc. for $2.7 billion in stock and cash

American Resource Development (Ameredev) — sale of undeveloped acreage and producing oil and gas properties in the Delaware Basin (27,552 gross (16,098 net) surface acres), for a total consideration of $615 million in cash to Callon Petroleum Operating Company

Private equity-backed company — series of acquisitions of mineral interests in the Midland Basin region from a private equity backed seller

Publications and Speeches

“There’s Floodin’ Down in Texas,” Oil & Gas Investor, April 2020.

“Mineral Transactions Require Careful Attention,” Oil & Gas Investor, Who’s Who in Minerals, January 2018.

“Texas Affirms The Promise of Off-Site Drilling,” Law360, June 2017.

Credentials

Education

The University of Texas School of Law,
J.D.
2016
The University of Texas at Austin,
B.A.
2012

Bar Admissions

Texas

Affiliations

State Bar of Texas
Houston Young Lawyers Association
Houston Bar Association
LegalLines Co-Chair
Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program
Volunteer

News

News

Insights

Noteworthy

Noteworthy

BL Rankings
Best Lawyers
Ones to Watch, Energy Law, 2023 - 2024
The University of Texas School of Law
Texas Journal of Oil, Gas and Energy Law
Editorial Board
Houston Bar Association President’s Award Recipient: 2018, 2021
Lawdragon Inc.
Lawdragon 500 X - The Next Generation
Corporate & Securities, especially Energy & Infrastructure, 2023