by Jessica Huseman, Staff Writer
NOVEMBER 17 — Three major law firms — Fulbright & Jaworski, Morgan Lewis and Vinson & Elkins — were involved in a $1.15 billion deal that allowed Enbridge to acquire a half stake in the Seaway Pipeline, jointly held with Enterprise Products, and to reverse its flow.
The deal involved Calgary-Based Enbridge purchasing ownership of the pipeline from Conoco, as well as the partnership agreement between Enbridge and Enterprise with respect to the reversal of the pipeline.
Vinson & Elkins M&A Partner Robin Fredrickson led the deal for Enbridge. Bill Parish of Morgan Lewis represented Conoco, and Deborah Gittomer of Fulbright & Jaworski is representing Enterprise.
The deal announced Wednesday sent the price of oil to a five month high of over $100. The reversal will send oil from Cushing, Okla. to the Gulf Coast in the hopes of alleviating the holding at the Cushing storage hub that has caused a drop in the price of West Texas Intermediate against other oils.
In a statement released today, President and CEO of Enbridge Patrick D. Daniel said the move “provides an early opportunity to offer Gulf Coast access to midcontinent producers and other crude oil shippers” and will “provide capacity to move secure, reliable supply to Texas Gulf Coast refineries, offsetting supplies of imported crude.”
Additional investment for the change in direction of the crude oil and the construction to support the move is expected to total $300 million. More information on the pipeline’s reversal can be found here.
Fredrickson recently represented CONSOL Energy, Inc. in an agreement with Noble Energy, Inc. for the joint development of CONSOL’s 663,000 Marcellus Shale acres in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. She also represented SM Energy Company in a joint venture transaction with a subsidiary of Mitsui & Co., Ltd. concerning the acquisition by Mitsui of a 12.5 percent working interest in SM Energy’s non-operated Eagle Ford shale assets.
Jessica Huseman is a staff writer for The Texas Lawbook. Her email is jessica.huseman@texaslawbook.net.