JON R. RAY

Jon R. Ray is an oil and gas exploration and production lawyer, representing oil and gas operators, investors in the energy sector, mineral owners, ranchers and those who are responsible for managing minerals. His legal practice is devoted to delivering very practical advice and agreements that capture the essence of the client’s transaction in simple, straightforward terms that are not overdone or overwhelmed with paper.

 

Jon has a wide range of experiences in both up and down cycles of the energy business, and he follows and stays current in the science of the industry and the economics that make a transaction work. Jon is always looking for opportunities to add value to a deal, whether through avoiding petty legal issues or contributing his judgment and understanding of the business. While Jon handles large transactions, he also is proficient at the smaller deals and “trades” that make up an oil and gas company’s core focus. He makes it a point to be easily accessible by phone, and he provides a fast turnaround on work projects. This is why Jon thinks his clients tend to be repeat customers.

EXPERIENCE

Jon began his energy experience working with an oil and gas producer while obtaining his undergraduate education and during law school. During this time, his responsibilities involved support of the engineering and geological professionals, beginning his continuing fascination with these sciences. Over the years of his law practice, most of which has been at larger law firms, Jon has had the opportunity to handle or supervise most types of projects likely to be encountered by parties involved in the upstream energy sector. Some of the matters he is more frequently asked to handle fit within these descriptions:

 

•  Representation of buyers and sellers in the purchase or sale of producing and non-producing oil and gas and mining assets

 

•  Shale plays and unconventional resource development

 

•  Representation of operators and investors in participation and exploration agreements, options, operating agreements, crude oil and natural gas sales, processing and transportation agreements, farmins and farmouts, areas of mutual interest, pooling agreements, unit declarations, seismic contracts, facilities and platform sharing arrangements, master service agreements, and drilling contracts

 

•  Representation of lenders and borrowers in energy credit facilities involving conventional and borrowing base loans, mezzanine financing, net profits, and production payment structures and derivatives

 

•  Saltwater disposal transactions and agreements

 

•  Agreements for the sale and purchase of water for drilling and fracture stimulation

 

•  Drafting and negotiation of oil and gas leases, seismic agreements, easements, assignments, mineral and royalty transfers, and surface use contracts for producers and landowners

 

•  Litigation involving lease termination claims, bad faith pooling, deed and contract interpretation, drainage and development covenants, surface damages, royalty accounting, and lease payments

 

•  Insolvency and workouts involving energy debt; substantive energy law advice and secured claims assessment for oil and gas bankruptcy debtors, creditors, and trustees

 

•  Land titles, title examination, drafting of curative documents, interpretation of mineral conveyances, and title litigation

 

•  Hunting and agricultural leases

 

•  Custom (non-form) industry trade agreements