Where We Excel

Developers and investors call upon Vinson & Elkins’ project lawyers to advise on all phases of the development process, from initial project contract preparation and negotiation through siting and permitting, financing, construction, and operation. Our lawyers are intimately familiar with the entire package of agreements required to implement a project.

The V&E team particularly excels in complex infrastructure and energy projects, including cross-border development and finance. We bring to bear a strong understanding of key issues in such transactions and experience in assessing and managing execution risk.

V&E lawyers frequently assist in the development of standard form subcontracts and purchase orders, and the development of warranty models to ensure appropriate warranty protection (and related assignments) upon completion of the project.

V&E’s services encompass a broad spectrum of project development, including:

  • site acquisition and leasing
  • front-end engineering and design
  • engineering, procurement, and construction
  • construction management
  • process and technology licensing
  • equipment supply
  • feedstock supply
  • offtake sales and marketing
  • asset management
  • operation and maintenance
  • joint development and shareholder arrangements
  • government support

Experience

  • Goldman Sachs’ Alternative Energy Investing Group in the formation of a joint venture with TELOS Clean Energy to develop, construct, own, and operate distributed solar power projects

  • Noble Energy, Inc. as project counsel in the development of the Leviathan natural gas field in offshore Israel, including the development, construction and financing of a 2.1 Bcf/d natural gas production platform and associated subsea and tie-back facilities

  • GTL Americas as project counsel to the Arkansas GTL Project, a $3.5 billion landmark gas-to-liquids project in Arkansas

  • BG Group in the development of a multitrain, multibillion dollar LNG project in Lake Charles, Louisiana, including involvement in the feedstock, off-take, and other project-related agreements

  • Texas Central Partners as project counsel in the development of a high speed rail project between Houston and Dallas

  • Gulf Coast Ammonia as project counsel in the development and financing of a world-scale ammonia project in Texas 

  • SemGroup Corporation in connection with commercial product transportation and construction arrangements for the development, ownership and operation of three new pipelines in the U.S. Gulf Coast region of Louisiana, collectively named the Maurepas Pipelines, with a total capital cost of approximately $500 million 

  • CenterPoint Properties Trust in all aspects of the development, and pending $240 million plus sale to Arc Logistics Partners LP and GE Energy Financial Services, of a crude oil unloading terminal in Joliet, Illinois

  • Dyno Nobel Inc. in all aspects of the development of an $850 million anhydrous ammonia plant in Louisiana, one of the first ammonia plants to be built in the United States in twenty years

  • Noble Energy in the development of a FPSO project in the Eastern Mediterranean, including negotiating EPC contract for the conversion of a tanker to an FPSO vessel 

  • A large international energy company in the formation of a 50/50 joint venture and the development of an ethylene cracker with an estimated capacity of 544,000 metric tons/yr (1.2 billion lbs/year); the project is anticipated to have a capital cost of approximately $1.5 billion

  • Mubadala Development Company in the $18 billion development and construction aspects of an aluminum smelter (EMAL Aluminium Smelter Project at Al Taweelah in Abu Dhabi); the world’s largest greenfield aluminum smelter

  • Velocys plc in a joint venture with Waste Management, NRG Energy, and Ventech Engineers International to develop gas-to-liquids plants in the United States and other select geographies

  • Santos Limited in the $18.5 billion joint venture with Petronas, TOTAL, and KOGAS, for the development of a two-train greenfield LNG facility in Queensland, Australia, including the negotiation of long-term LNG off-take agreements

Powering Progress

The accelerating adoption of AI is driving extraordinary demand for data center capacity and power, creating both opportunity and complexity for developers and investors alike.

To better understand how the market is responding, we surveyed 200 senior infrastructure developers and private capital investors to capture perspectives on power availability, infrastructure constraints, financing dynamics, and the pace of AI-driven growth.

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Project Development

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Insights

Articles

Heritage Is a Skill Set

Partner Melissa Raciti-Knapp reflects on how her Dominican heritage and Spanish fluency became a professional strength, shaping her career in …

October 21, 2026

October 21, 2026 • 1-minute read

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CLE Events

Financing and Bankability of Data Center Projects

This program will examine the key legal and commercial considerations for financing data center projects, with a focus on what makes these projects bankable for lenders and investors.

September 29, 2026

September 29, 2026 • 1-minute read

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Articles

Deep Trouble: How NORI and TOML Are Testing the Limits of Seabed Governance

On 30 May 2026, Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (“NORI”) and Tonga Offshore Mining Ltd. (“TOML”), two subsidiaries of The Metals …

June 29, 2026

June 29, 2026 • 6-minute read

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Client Alerts

FERC Streamlines Natural Gas Permitting in Support of Infrastructure

On June 18, 2026, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) announced two orders at its June 2026 …

June 22, 2026

June 22, 2026 • 7-minute read

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Podcasts

Powering Progress Episode 4 – The Power Supply Challenge: Delivering Energy for AI Growth

Artificial intelligence is driving an extraordinary surge in data center demand, but behind every server and processor is a far …

May 18, 2026

May 18, 2026 • 10-minute read

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Podcasts

Powering Progress Episode 2 – Financing at Scale: Structured Capital for AI and Data Center Portfolios

Behind every major data center development is a sophisticated capital structure. Financing these projects requires balancing construction risk, power availability, …

April 29, 2026

April 29, 2026 • 6-minute read

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Event Recaps

EPC Contracting for Behind-the-Meter Power Systems

This program explored the evolving landscape of EPC contracting for co-located power generation and storage for data center projects.

March 31, 2026

March 31, 2026 • 1-minute read

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