Thomas (Tom) M. Hillebrand is an associate in the Houston office. He advises clients on a variety of transactions and developmental projects in the energy industry.

Mr. Hillebrand advises clients on joint ventures and development projects as well as transactions at the entity and asset level. He has particular knowledge in upstream and midstream energy, as well as commercial contracts in the oil, gas, and energy space: He specifically advises on:

  • Public and private company mergers and acquisitions
  • Joint ventures
  • Project development, with particular focus in the energy transition industry, supporting investors, strategics, and startups in carbon capture and other green technology fields
  • Acquisitions and divestitures of midstream and upstream oil and gas assets
  • Negotiation of complex commercial agreements
  • Private equity investments

Mr. Hillebrand is an adjunct professor at The University of Texas at Austin School of Law, where he co-teaches “Doing Deals,” a course on the modern transactional law firm practice.

Mr. Hillebrand’s experience includes advising:

Energy Transition

  • A public industrial gas company in its US$1 billion investment in connection with the engineering, design, and construction of a renewable diesel plant
  • Chevron U.S.A. in connection with the deployment and ongoing financing of a ground-breaking bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration (BECCS) project designed to produce carbon negative power in Mendota, California
  • Various private entities in the acquisition of CARB registered entities in connection with ongoing CCS projects

Infrastructure

  • Sasol in its US$2 billion sale of a 50% stake in its Lake Charles Chemical Plant to form a joint venture with LyondellBasell
  • The conflicts committee of Shell Midstream Partners in connection with its acquisition of Royal Dutch Shell plc’s interest in Mattox Pipeline Company and certain logistics assets at the Shell Norco Manufacturing Complex, totaling US$4.4 billion
  • Riverstone Holdings in its US$2.685 billion acquisition of International-Matex Terminals from Macquarie Infrastructure Corporation
  • A midstream company in connection with commercial agreements for the utilization of fiber optic communications infrastructure (including the fiber optic cables and associated equipment) for use in leak detection equipment associated with oil and gas pipelines

Midstream

  • Equitrans Midstream in entering into a 10-year mixed-use water services agreement with EQT Corporation covering operations in southwestern Pennsylvania with a yearly minimum revenue commitment of US$35-$40 million
  • Equitrans Midstream Corporation in transformative actions including its acquisition of EQM Midstream Partners, a share buy back from EQT, and entrance into a gas gathering and compression agreement with EQT (and various affiliates) providing EQM with a minimum volume commitment of 3 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day during the term
  • Blackstone Energy Partners in its investment of up to US$500 million in Waterfield Midstream (produced water gathering and disposal in the Permian Basin)*
  • Enterprise Products in US$2.15 billion acquisition of EFS Midstream LLC, including negotiating and drafting an extensive suite of commercial midstream operations-level agreements*

Upstream

  • Diamondback Energy in its US$745 million sale of Williston Basin assets to Oasis
  • Vencer Energy in its acquisition of Hunt Oil Company’s Permian Basin oil and gas business
  • Occidental in its US$1.33 billion sale of Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah land grant assets to Orion Mine Finance
  • Alta Mesa Resources in its sale of assets in connection with its chapter 11 restructuring
  • Ascent Resources in its equity investment by Riverstone and the simultaneous acquisition of Utica Shale assets from Salt Fork Resources, a Riverstone-backed company*
  • LLOG Bluewater Holdings in its US$1.4 billion sale of offshore Gulf of Mexico assets to Murphy Oil Corporation*

Downstream

  • A public company in a cross-border transaction for the offtake and supply of more than 5,500 bpd of recycled lubricating oils in partnership with a supermajor oil company

*Matter handled prior to joining the firm

Bar Qualification

  • Texas

Education

  • JD, The University of Texas School of Law, 2014
    with honors
  • BA, University of Michigan, 2011

Languages Spoken

  • English