Energy and Natural Resources

Over the years, McAfee & Taft lawyers have represented clients involved in virtually every aspect of the energy and oil and gas industry. In many instances, they truly pioneered the field, such as when founder Kenneth McAfee filed to establish the first public drilling fund with the SEC in the early 1950’s, and when Richard Taft filed the first registration statement of a foreign drilling fund, and the two of them developed many novel approaches to oil and gas tax planning. Early on they were joined by Eugene O. Kuntz, noted author of the multi-volume Kuntz: A Treatise on the Law of Oil and Gas and generally considered to be the expert on oil and gas law nationwide. The firm’s leadership in finding creative solutions to legal issues in the energy business has quite naturally continued since those early innovative years.

Today, many of the firm’s attorneys continue to devote a considerable portion of their practice to various aspects of the energy industry.  While the firm has a long-standing tradition of representing companies engaged in oil and gas exploration and production, our energy practice has expanded over the years to encompass midstream and downstream operations, renewable and sustainable energy projects, and all aspects of regulatory and environmental compliance.

As one might expect in a largely energy-based economy, the firm’s clients include numerous small and medium-sized independent oil and gas companies as well as large publicly held energy companies and Fortune 500 corporations, oil and gas operators, drilling contractors, oilfield service companies, equipment designers and manufacturers, investors and lenders in energy-related transactions, crude oil and petroleum products pipeline companies, natural gas transmission and distribution pipeline companies, refineries, transportation and marketing companies, alternative energy companies, wind farm developers, and landowners of property on which wind farms are located. Clients of the firm are involved in a wide spectrum of energy operations throughout the United States and Canada, offshore and overseas.