Brandon E. Durrett

Representative Transactions and Negotiations

• Negotiated and closed $87MM Purchase and Sale Agreement for publicly-traded oil company in sale of Williston Basin producing leasehold assets in North Dakota and accompanying repayment of 1L credit facility and restructuring of 2L creditor position in debt-for-equity exchange
• Represented mid-cap E&P company in multi-seller $90MM Purchase and Sale Agreement for sale of Delaware Basin producing leasehold assets in Texas and New Mexico, including transition agreement and separate sellers’ agreement
• Negotiated and closed $60MM company sale of private equity-funded South Texas midstream gathering company and accompanying $33MM Earnout Agreement
• Negotiated and closed $68MM Purchase and Sale Agreement for private equity-funded E&P company for sale of producing Barnett Shale leasehold properties
• Negotiated and closed two parallel Purchase and Sale Agreements totaling $48MM for independent oil company in sale of Midland Basin non-operated leasehold assets
• Represented Chapter 11 debtor E&P company in virtual bankruptcy auction and sale of Bakken assets
• Represented mid-cap E&P company in negotiation and closing of $18MM Exchange and Sale Agreement with concurrent arbitration agreement in settlement of leasehold title dispute
• Negotiated and closed $40MM Purchase and Sale Agreement for publicly traded E&P company in purchase of producing and PUD leasehold package in Delaware Basin
• Negotiated and closed $8MM Asset Acquisition and Development Agreement for independent oil company for sale of producing leasehold properties in Delaware Basin involving exchange and settlement of complex operating agreement rights, detailed development obligations, and a series of carried interest reservations and put options
• Negotiated and drafted 45,000-acre Joint Development Agreement for major Texas E&P company for joint exploration and development of tribal leasehold in the San Juan Basin, plus associated agreements governing joint operations, tribal participation, confidentiality, and surface management
• Negotiated and closed $8MM Asset Sale Agreement for independent operator in sale of stake in conventional East Texas producing properties, with associated exploration agreement, operating agreement, and mezzanine financing instruments
• Represented independent operator in creation and later sale of shares in “DrillCo” conventional redevelopment project in South Texas leasehold block, reserving carry obligations and AMI rights
• Represented publicly traded E&P company in sale of large network of SWD facilities and negotiation of custom commercial disposal services agreement with buyer
• Negotiated and closed sale of real property and facilities for package of SWD wells and plugged wellbores in the Permian Basin for independent Texas operating company
• Negotiated and closed 18,000-acre “DrillCo” investment and participation agreement and related operational and service contracts for conventional development of 18,000 leasehold acres in Montana

Representative Litigation and Disputes

• Won summary judgment motion for large-cap E&P company in dispute over termination of term royalty interests involving over $85MM in allegedly mispaid production revenue
• Won single-brief arbitration ruling for mid-cap E&P company in lease termination dispute in $18MM Delaware Basin acreage block
• Authored successful summary judgment motion for a South Texas electric cooperative in dispute over primacy of client’s rights under vintage surface mining lease over subsequent pipeline easement that would have made stranded over 1MM tons of recoverable lignite
• Authored successful summary judgment motion for large-cap E&P company against former leasehold cotenant’s challenge to operation of title forfeiture or “blackout” clause in JOA
• Favorably settled dispute over leasehold title and subsurface trespass for independent producer in which publicly traded E&P company agreed to buy client’s top lease for above-market price
• Favorably settled litigation for private equity-backed E&P company in dispute over operatorship of 11,000-acre Eagle Ford prospect and related claims for indemnity and breach of representations
• Participated in defense of mid-cap E&P company in litigation regarding exercise of preferential rights under multiple operating agreements in context of package sale of 40,000 leasehold acres
• Represented offset operator protesting Rule 37 spacing exception and substantial compliance application before Railroad Commission of Texas involving survey errors and deviated wellbore in associated-prorated oil field with complex technical testimony regarding structure geology
• Successfully defended applicants for SWD well permits before Railroad Commission of Texas in protest by offset landowners and mineral estate owner for injection into non-productive strata
• Defended independent operator in enforcement action by Railroad Commission of Texas regarding liability for cleanup of oil blowout from legacy wellbore that had been plugged and abandoned by operator and reconditioned by landowner as water well
• Negotiated several Production Sharing Agreements for major international energy company among dozens of leasehold, mineral, and non-participating interest owners for compliance with permitting rules
• Represented independent E&P company in settlement of disputes with prior lessor regarding application of density and proration field rules to size and location of retained acreage

• “San Antonio’s Top Attorneys” – Oil & Gas, San Antonio Magazine, 2019-2020
• “Best S.A. Lawyers,” San Antonio Scene, 2016, 2022
• Who’s Who in Energy, San Antonio Business Journal, 2015

• Speaker, “Recent Developments in Deductibility of Post-Production Expenses,” Energy Law Section CLE, Dallas Bar Association (March 2023)
• Speaker, “Case Law Update,” Mid-Winter Seminar, San Antonio Association of Professional Landmen (January 2023)
• Speaker, “Texas Case Law Update,” American Association of Professional Landmen (November 2022)
• Speaker, “Case Law Update,” 2022 Spring Education Seminar, Permian Basin Landmen’s Association (April 2022)
• Author, Turn Around, Don’t Drown: A New Generation of Oil and Gas Lease ‘Washouts’ in Texas and How to Avoid Them, Texas Tech Law Review (Vol. 53, Book 3) (Summer 2021)
• Speaker, “Fast Closings and Delayed Due Diligence: Doing Oil & Gas Deals With Limited Access to County Records,” 23rd Annual Permian Basin Oil & Gas Law Seminar, Texas Tech University School of Law (April 2021)
• Speaker, “Turn Around, Don’t Drown: A New Generation of Oil and Gas Lease ‘Washouts’ in Texas and How to Avoid Them,” 47th Annual Ernest E. Smith Oil Gas and Mineral Law Institute, UT Law CLE (March 2021)
• Speaker, “Case Law Update,” Mid-Winter Seminar, San Antonio Association of Professional Landmen (January 2021)
• Speaker, “Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells,” Current Issues in the Practice of Geoscience Seminar, HalfMoon Education Inc. (October 2020)
• Speaker, “Fast Closings and Delayed Due Diligence,” 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting, American Association of Professional Landmen (June 2020)
• Speaker, “Retained Acreage Clauses,” Oil, Gas & Mineral Title Examination Course, TexasBarCLE (June 2020)
• Speaker, “Fast Closings and Delayed Due Diligence: Doing Oil and Gas Deals With Limited Access to County Records,” Presented to the American Association of Professional Landmen (May 2020)
• Author, Ready! Fire! Aim! Two Drafting Traps to Avoid in Papering a “Rush” Deal, Rocky Mountain Mineral Legal Foundation Journal (Vol. 56, No. 2) (Fall 2019)
• Speaker, “Ready! Fire! Aim! Two Drafting Traps to Avoid in Papering a ‘Rush’ Deal,” 45th Annual Ernest E. Smith Oil, Gas and Mineral Law Institute, UT Law CLE (March 2019)
• Speaker, “Retained Acreage Update,” 21st Annual Live Oak Permian Basin Oil & Gas Law Seminar in Midland, Texas (March 2019)
• Speaker, “Plugging Liability: A Framework for Risk and Financial Security,” 44th Annual Ernest E. Smith Oil, Gas and Mineral Law Institute, UT Law CLE (April 2018)
• Speaker, “Fun New Ways for Density and Proration Rules to Bust Your Lease: Retained Acreage Clauses and ‘Governmental Authority’ Language in the Wake of Three Recent Texas Cases,” 43rd Annual Ernest E. Smith Oil, Gas and Mineral Law Institute, UT Law CLE (April 2017)
• Author, Fun New Ways for Density and Proration Rules to Bust Your Lease: Retained Acreage Clauses and ‘Governmental Authority’ Language in the Wake of Three Recent Texas Cases, Section Report of the Oil, Gas & Energy Resources Law Section, State Bar of Texas (July 2016)
• Speaker, “Three Ways Density and Proration Rules Will Bust Your Oil & Gas Lease,” Presented to the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Balcones Section (February 2015)
• Author, A Primer on Oil and Gas Regulation in Texas: Spacing, Density, Permits, and Exceptions, Landman Magazine, American Association of Professional Landmen (December 2013)
• Speaker, “Title Examination Fundamentals,” Presented to the San Antonio Bar Association, Natural Resources Section (September 2012)
• Speaker, “Nuts and Bolts of the Division Order Title Opinion,” Presented at Half Moon Seminar’s Agreements and Disputes in Oil and Gas Production (July 2012)
• Author, “The New Organic ‘Texas Tea’?: National Energy Security Implications of a ‘Clean Fuel’ Regulatory Ban on Texas Biodiesel,” Texas Tech Law Review (June 2008)

• San Antonio Association of Professional Landmen
  • Education Chair, 2014-Present
  • President, 2018-2019
• Annual Ernest E. Smith Oil, Gas and Mineral Law Institute, Planning Committee, 2020-Present
• State Bar of Texas – Oil, Gas and Energy Resources Law Section
• Boy Scouts of America: Eagle Scout Rank; Assistant Scoutmaster, Troop 669, Alamo Area Council