Biography
Jesse S. Lotay is the Chair of Jackson Walker LLP’s Commodities and Derivatives Practice and is the incoming Chair of its firm-wide Energy Practice.
Jesse counsels a broad spectrum of energy and non-energy clients in transactional matters, with particular expertise in the renewable, midstream, infrastructure, trading, marketing, and hedging industries. His clients include producers, service providers, gatherers, transporters, processors, interstate and intrastate pipelines, marketers, storage and terminalling operators, chemical manufacturers, local distribution companies (LDCs), municipal electric utilities, industrial gas and power suppliers and end users, power generation companies, universities, borrowers, and lending institutions. He strongly believes in working with each client as a strategic partner to provide proactive legal solutions, accomplish business objectives, address specific challenges, and maximize results.
Jesse represents clients in all aspects of physical and financial trading, marketing, and hedging transactions across commodities, including environmental and other “green” attributes (e.g., RINs, RECs, NOx allowances, LCFS credits), crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), refined products, water, electricity, metals, and interest rates. His experience includes negotiating and navigating disputes on various purchase and sale and other master-type agreements, including the EEI Master Power PSA, GasEDI Base Contract, ISDA Master Agreement, LEAP Master Agreement, and NAESB Base Contract. He is a frequent speaker on trading, marketing, and hedging matters and has authored numerous nationally and internationally published articles on these subjects.
He regularly represents oil and gas producers, oilfield service providers, midstream companies, operators, and end users in infrastructure development and across each aspect of the oil, gas, NGL, and water value chains. These transactions include gathering, transportation, and/or processing agreements; interconnect agreements; easement and right-of-way agreements; master service agreements (MSAs); storage agreements; terminalling agreements; engineering, procurement, and construction agreements (EPC), and acquisition and disposition agreements.
Education
B.S., Trinity University
LL.M., University of Houston Law Center
J.D., University of Tulsa College of Law
- Editor-in-Chief, Tulsa Law Review
Bar Admissions
Missouri, 2006
Kansas, 2007
Texas, 2009
Castleton Commodities International
Jesse lead the team representing global commodity merchant, Castleton Commodities International LLC (CCI), in its acquisition of Enstor Energy Services LLC, the natural gas trading business of Avangrid Inc., a $32 billion diversified energy and utility company. CCI ranks among the top marketers of natural gas in the U.S., transacting on approximately 100 pipelines and over 60 storage facilities to create a geographically diverse portfolio of natural gas assets. News release
NuStar Linden
Jackson Walker successfully represented NuStar Energy L.P. in its acquisition of full ownership of a refined products terminal in Linden, N.J., which is located in the New York Harbor. The terminal was previously operated as a joint venture with Linden Holding Corp., and NuStar had 50 percent ownership of the facility. NuStar purchased the remaining ownership interest from Linden, a subsidiary of NIC Holding Corp., for $142.5 million. News release
NuStar Refinery
Jackson Walker successfully represented client NuStar Energy L.P. in the sale of its San Antonio refinery and related assets to Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. for $100 million, plus closing date inventory of approximately $15 million. The related assets included a terminal in Elmendorf, Texas, and a pipeline connecting the terminal and refinery. News release
- Commodity Purchase and Sale Agreements
- Prepaid Natural Gas Purchase and Sale Agreements
- Intercreditor Agreements
- EEI Master Power Purchase & Sale Agreements
- Engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contracts
- Gas gathering and processing agreements
- Interconnection agreements
- ISDA Master Agreements
- NAESB Base Contract for the Sale and Purchase of Natural Gas
- Pipeline, right of way and other easement agreements
- Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Fellows Program, 2021
- Lawdragon 500 Leading Environmental & Energy Lawyers – Energy & Natural Resources, 2021
- “Best S.A. Lawyers” for Energy & Oil & Gas, San Antonio Scene, 2015-2020
- “Top Attorneys” List, Energy Oil and Gas, San Antonio Magazine, 2019
- Leadership Class of the Institute for Energy Law (IEL), 2018
Publications
- Co-Author, “A Primer on Understanding Oil and Gas Transportation Agreements and Identifying Key Issues,” The University of Texas School of Law Continuing Legal Education (March 2020)
- “Hedging Oil and Gas Production: Issues and Considerations,” Thomson Reuters Practical Law Finance (March 2016)
- “Commodity Repo Agreements for Crude Oil Inventory” (E-Alert; May 7, 2014)
- “Drafting Tips: Securities Lending Authorization Agreements” (E-Alert; May 6, 2014)
- “Recent Case on Safe Harbor Provisions in Swap Agreements: Michigan State Housing Development Authority v. Lehman Brothers Derivative Products Inc., et al.” (E-Alert; January 10, 2014)
- “Quench My Thirst: Water Rights in the Context of Water Treatment Technologies,” Section Report of the Oil, Gas & Energy Resources Law Section of the State Bar of Texas (Vol. 37, No. 2) (Winter 2013)
- “Water Recycling and Fracking: Finding Solutions,” Texas Lawyer (Vol. 29, No. 16) (July 15, 2013)
- “Subprime Carbon: Fashioning An Appropriate Regulatory And Legislative Response To The Emerging U.S. Carbon Market To Avoid A Repeat Of History In Carbon Structured Finance And Derivative Instruments,” 32 Houston J. Int’l. Law 459 (2010)
Speeches
- “Legal Lessons Learned from the 2020 Oil Crisis,” Jackson Walker webinar (June 2020)
- “Midstream 101: A Primer on Understanding Midstream Contracts and Identifying Key Issues,” 46th Annual Ernest E. Smith Oil, Gas and Mineral Law Fundamentals, The University of Texas School of Law & The Oil, Gas and Energy Resources Law Section of the State Bar of Texas (March 26, 2020)
- “Blockchain 101,” 17th Annual Gas and Power Institute, The University of Texas School of Law & The Oil, Gas and Energy Resources Law Section of the State Bar of Texas (Houston; September 20, 2018)
- “Hedging Oil & Gas Production,” UT Law 41st Annual Ernest E. Smith Oil, Gas and Mineral Law Institute (Houston; March 27, 2015)
- “Understanding the ISDA Master Agreement: Frequently Negotiated Provisions” (Houston; December 16, 2014)
- “Understanding the ISDA Master Agreement & The Basics of Dodd-Frank Derivatives Compliance” (Austin; May 22, 2014)
- “Understanding the ISDA Master Agreement: Derivatives 101 & Structure of the ISDA Master Agreement” (Dallas; February 26, 2014)
- “Understanding Oil and Gas Leases, Lorman Education Services” (Webinar; July 30, 2013)
- “Quench My Thirst: Water Rights in the Context of Water Treatment Technologies,” TexasBarCLE 35th Annual Advanced Real Estate Law Course (San Antonio; July 12, 2013
In the News
- “Oil Prices Go Negative For 1st Time As Slump Worsens,” Law360 (April 20, 2020)
- “Experts: Companies with strong ‘hedge books’ will survive oil war,” Houston Chronicle (March 10, 2020)
- “Experts: Hedging a ‘double-edged sword’ at $30 per barrel prices,” San Antonio Business Journal (April 5, 2016)
- “Jackson Walker LLP attorney offers advice for surviving in trying times of energy sector,” San Antonio Business Journal (March 25, 2016)
- Boys & Girls Clubs of San Antonio, Board Member & Committee Chair
- International Energy Credit Association (IECA)
- Institute for Energy Law (IEL) Leadership Class
- Leadership San Antonio
- State Bar of Texas: Oil, Gas and Energy Resources Law Section
- University of Texas School of Law Gas and Power Institute Planning Committee
- World Affairs Council of San Antonio, Board of Trustees