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Energy – Oilfield Services

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UAE Exits OPEC: Strategic Considerations for Energy Businesses

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Credentials at a Glance

RANKED

Energy: Oil & Gas: Regulatory & Litigation (Nationwide)

– Chambers USA, 2014 – 2025

Ranked

Energy: Oil & Gas: Transactional (Nationwide)

– Chambers USA, 2014 – 2025

ranked

Oil & Gas Litigation (Nationwide)

– Chambers USA, 2020 – 2025

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Where We Excel

Vinson & Elkins is a leader in the representation of participants in the oilfield services industry. The firm delivers a broad variety of transactional, regulatory, and dispute resolution services to companies providing the capital, infrastructure, equipment, intellectual property, skilled personnel, and services needed by the domestic and international oil and gas exploration and production industry. V&E’s clients range from large, multinational companies to small start-up enterprises serving local or regional markets. The firm also represents a variety of private equity funds and other capital providers investing in oilfield services companies.

V&E’s long history in the oilfield services industry gives our attorneys a unique historical perspective, as well as current insight into market trends. Whether the goal is expansion through an acquisition, promotion of a new technology, managing a specialized workforce, or navigating the complexities that arise from regulatory investigations and lawsuits, V&E helps oilfield services clients and their investors achieve their business objectives effectively and efficiently.

Experience

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C&J Energy Services in its $2.86 billion merger with Nabors’ completion and production business to create a leading diversified completion and production services provider
Patterson-UTI Energy in its $1.76 billion merger with Seventy Seven Energy
Select Energy Services, an affiliate of Crestview Partners, in its $1.3 billion merger with Rockwater Energy Solutions
Frank’s International N.V. in its $759 million initial public offering of common stock
Underwriters to ProPetro Holding Corp. in its $402 million initial public offering of common stock
Sentinel Energy Services Inc., a SPAC, in its $345 million initial public offering
Liberty Oilfield Services, Inc. in its $249 million initial public offering of common stock
Underwriters to Smart Sand, Inc. in its $148 million initial public offering of common stock

Obtained reversal from the Delaware Supreme Court of an injunction entered by Delaware Chancery Court in lawsuit arising from a proposed transaction involving C&J Energy Services, Inc. and a subsidiary of Nabors; the Court of Chancery subsequently granted defendants’ motion to dismiss, and the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal. C&J Energy Servs., Inc. v. City of Miami Gen. Employees’, 107 A.3d 1049 (Del. 2014), on remand, 2016 WL 4464274 (Del. Ch. Aug. 24, 2016), aff’d, 158 A.3d 885 (Del. 2017)
(Tex. Dist.); (W.D. La) — Represented several oilfield services companies in restrictive covenant and unfair competition litigation, including in matters involving non-competition/non-solicitation agreements and claims relating to trade secret misappropriation and employee raiding
(S.D. Tex.); (Fed. Cir.); (5th Cir.) — Represented an oilfield services client from claims of breach of a patent license agreement; after we successfully established federal subject matter jurisdiction, the case settled on favorable terms
(S.D. Tex.) — Represented an oilfield equipment company in trademark infringement; obtained agreed injunction by way of settlement after completion of expert discovery
Represented two U.S. companies in a coordinated DOJ and SEC FCPA investigation of the energy industry in West Africa and succeeded in having cases closed without the government taking any action against the clients

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Articles

UAE Exits OPEC: Strategic Considerations for Energy Businesses

On April 28, 2026, the United Arab Emirates (the “UAE”) announced its decision to withdraw from the Organization of the …

May 18, 2026

May 18, 2026 • 3-minute read

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Client Alerts

IEEPA Refunds: Protesting Liquidated Entries in the Wake of CAPE Phase 1

On April 8, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) issued guidance on the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries …

April 17, 2026

April 17, 2026 • 3-minute read

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Client Alerts

2025 Energy & Chemicals Antitrust Report

Vinson & Elkins’ 2025 Energy & Chemicals Antitrust Report details how antitrust enforcement under the second Trump administration has shifted …

January 13, 2026 •

January 13, 2026 • 1-minute read

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Client Alerts

FERC Clears the Deck on Lingering Oil Pipeline Matters and Issues New Indexing NOPR for the Next Five-Year Review

On November 20, 2025, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) issued four significant orders addressing crude oil, petroleum products, and natural gas liquids pipelines (collectively, “oil pipelines”) matters: (1) a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NOPR”) for the Five-Year Review of the Oil Pipeline Index (“2026 Index NOPR”) proposing an index level of Producer Price Index for Finished Goods (“PPI-FG”) minus 1.42% for the period (July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2031); (2) an Order denying rehearing and granting oil pipelines remedial relief related to the reinstated oil pipeline index for the period March 1, 2022 to September 17, 2024; (3) an order withdrawing the supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking that proposed to amend the index level to PPI-FG minus 0.21% on a prospective basis from July 1, 2025 until June 30, 2026; and (4) an order denying Airlines for America and the National Propane Gas Association’s petition requesting that the Commission initiate a rulemaking to establish affiliate standards of conduct regulations for oil pipelines.

November 26, 2025 • V&E Energy Update

November 26, 2025 • 7-minute read

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Client Alerts

Battle on the High Seas: Federal Court Declares President Biden’s OCS Withdrawals to Be “Unlawful”

A federal district court in Louisiana has rejected as unlawful President Joe Biden’s withdrawal in early January 2025 of historically large portions of the Outer Continental Shelf (“OCS”) from eligibility for leasing of oil and natural gas.

October 28, 2025 • V&E Environmental Update

October 28, 2025 • 4-minute read

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Offshore Rig Background Decorative Image

Client Alerts

Impact of Trump’s Tariffs on North American Energy Market

As the Trump administration continues to roll out its sweeping tariff policy, the North American energy industry is working to address the effects of the President’s tariff strategy. The Trump administration intends to “unleash American energy,”1 in part by imposing tariffs designed to remedy what the administration views as unfair trade practices and increase U.S. domestic energy production. The currently imposed and threatened tariffs will inevitably impact the energy industry and its consumers. The particularly relevant tariffs can be defined in two broad categories: (1) sectoral tariffs, in this case, imposed under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, and (2) the country-specific and “reciprocal tariffs” that the Trump administration has imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

July 30, 2025 • Published by RiEnergia, July 2025

July 30, 2025 • 4-minute read

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FERC Seeks Comments on Major Reforms to Regional Transmission Planning and Generator Interconnection Processes to Bolster Renewables Background Image

Client Alerts

Unleashing American Energy: Energy-Focused Executive Orders

On April 8 and 9, 2025, President Donald Trump issued five Presidential Actions (four Executive Orders and one Proclamation, collectively “Presidential Actions”) for the purposes of ensuring adequate and reliable energy generation, meeting growing energy demand, and addressing the national energy emergency declared on January 20, 2025 (EO 14156).

April 11, 2025 • V&E Energy Update

April 11, 2025 • 6-minute read

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