Ryan K. Carney

Partner

Tax

“I enjoy partnering with my clients to help them understand complex tax issues and solve tax problems in creative ways. The added bonus of my practice is that I get to work with great people both inside and outside the firm.”

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Overview

Ryan Carney serves as Head of the firm’s Tax practice. He is a leading tax lawyer who advises partnerships (public and private), MLPs, and corporations on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, divestitures, public offerings and other domestic and international transactions. Ranked in Chambers USA since 2011, Ryan is known for his practical approach and his ability to reduce the complexities of tax law into language any professional can understand.

Ryan is among the country’s best-known tax legal advisors to MLPs. In addition to representing numerous MLPs, he served as tax counsel to the Master Limited Partnership Association (MLPA) during its lobbying efforts with respect to tax reform that resulted in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

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Experience

  • NALA Renewables and Buckeye Partners in connection with the acquisition of and joint venture structuring for, the Swift Current Energy portfolio, a US portfolio of development wind and solar assets in excess of 10GW, including the construction and term financing and tax equity investments in the portfolio assets

  • Buckeye Partners, L.P., as special tax counsel, in its $10.3 billion sale to IFM Investors to take the company private 

  • Marathon Petroleum Corporation, the controlling owner of MLPX LP and Andeavor Logistics LP, as special tax counsel in MPLX LP’s $14 billion acquisition of Andeavor Logistics LP, creating a combined midstream and logistics MLP with an estimated $55 billion enterprise value

  • Devon Energy Corp. in the $3.125 billion sale of ownership interests in EnLink Midstream Partners and EnLink Midstream to Global Infrastructure Partners

  • Oasis Midstream Partners LP in its $147 million initial public offering of common units

  • Rice Energy in its $6.7 billion unwinding of its Up-C structure and associated merger with EQT Corporation

  • Special Tax Counsel to Hess Midstream Partners LP in its $391 million initial public offering 

  • Quintana Energy Partners in its acquisition of Cimarron Acid and Frac, a portfolio company of Annapurna Capital Management

  • Underwriters to Shell Midstream Partners, L.P. in its $1.1 billion initial public offering of common units

  • Columbia Pipeline Partners LP in its $1.2 billion initial public offering of common units

  • Westlake Chemical Partners LP in its $311 million initial public offering of common units

  • Devon Energy Corporation in the $8.84 billion contribution of substantially all of its U.S. midstream business to Crosstex Energy and Crosstex Energy to form a consolidated midstream business controlled by Devon

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Credentials

Education

  • Southern Methodist University School of Law, J.D. magna cum laude, 2005 (Order of the Coif; Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity; Associate Managing Editor, SMU Law Review)
  • Texas A&M University, B.B.A., 2001

Admissions

  • Texas

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Recognitions

  • Chambers USA, Tax (Texas), 2011–2026
  • Legal 500 U.S., Tax Controversy, 2014 and 2015; International Tax, 2014, 2020, 2023, 2024–2026; Domestic Tax, 2015; Tax: U.S. Taxes: Non-Contentious, 2020, 2022–2026; Tax: U.S. Taxes: Contentious, 2025
  • Selected to the Texas Rising Stars list, Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters), 2009−2012, 2014−2019
  • The Best Lawyers in America© (BL Rankings, LLC), “Lawyer of the Year,” Tax Law (Houston), 2023
  • The Best Lawyers in America© (BL Rankings, LLC), Tax Law (Houston), 2016−2027
Insights

Events

Vinson & Elkins Sponsoring and Speaking at the 23rd Annual EIC Conference

Vinson & Elkins is a platinum sponsor of the Energy Infrastructure Council’s (EIC) 23rd Annual Energy Infrastructure CEO & Investor …

May 18, 2026

May 18, 2026 • 1-minute read

Events

Ryan Carney to Speak at the 2026 IFA Canada International Tax Conference

Partner Ryan Carney will speak at the 2026 International Fiscal Association (IFA) Canada International Tax Conference in Alberta, Canada. He …

May 12, 2026

May 12, 2026 • 1-minute read

Client Alerts

One Big Beautiful Bill Act: Key Tax Impacts for Businesses

On July 4, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (the “OBBBA”) into law. Congress passed the OBBBA through budget reconciliation, a special legislative process that allows Congress to advance certain tax, spending, and debt limit legislation with a simple majority vote in the Senate so long as the legislation does not increase the federal budget deficit outside a 10-year budget window.

July 8, 2025 • V&E Tax Update

July 8, 2025 • 10-minute read

Biden Administration Raises Minimum Wage for Federal Government Contractors As Congress Mulls $2 Billion Infrastructure Plan Background Image

Client Alerts

Tax Law (and Controversy) Under the Trump Administration

As it releases executive orders with unprecedented speed, the Trump administration has begun executing its vision for the United States and the world. This article addresses some of the tax-related topics likely to be the focus of the Trump administration in the coming months, including the extension of certain expiring provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “TCJA”), changes to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IRA”), increased tariffs, and changes to enforcement priorities at the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”).

March 6, 2025

March 6, 2025 • 10-minute read

Highlights of Key Financial Assistance Programs and Tax Benefits for Businesses Under the CARES Act Background Decorative Image

Client Alerts

Impacts of Trump’s Tariffs on North American Energy Markets

For more than twenty years, the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”), and later, the United States‑Mexico-Canada Agreement (“USMCA”), have facilitated cross-border trade and investment among the United States, Mexico, and Canada through the elimination of virtually all financial barriers to trade.

February 12, 2025 • V&E Energy Update Published by Energy Intelligence and Hart Energy, March 2025

February 12, 2025 • 7-minute read

ETE Defeats Effort To Rescind Convertible Unit Issuance Background Decorative Image
News & Achievements