5th Annual University of Houston Law Center Denney L. Wright
International Energy Tax Conference
and
The Houston Business and Tax Law Journal's 23rd Annual Symposium

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ONEKA ARCHER-CAULDER

Oneka Archer-Caulder is a Guyanese and Caribbean trained lawyer with over 10 years practice experience. She has worked as a litigation and transaction Attorney in private practice and with the Government of Guyana, within the Attorney General’s Chamber and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At the Foreign Ministry, she headed the legal division and was part of the legal team advising on Guyana’s border dispute with Venezuela currently before the International Court of Justice. Presently she is a Latin America Fellow at White & case LLP in their Energy, Infrastructure, Project and Asset Finance Group.

MARIO BARRERA

Mario Barrera is a tax attorney in Holland & Knight’s Mexico City office. Mr. Barrera focuses his practice on domestic and cross-border tax advisory, planning and strategy. He represents clients before tax authorities in procedures such as tax examinations, administrative appeals, settlements and mutual agreement procedures. Mr. Barrera also has broad experience handling tax treaties, transfer pricing matters and corporate reorganizations. In addition, Mr. Barrera has authored numerous papers for specialized journals, including Tax Notes International, Puntos Finos, IDC and Practical Mexican Tax Strategies, and is a frequent speaker and lecturer on tax law.

GREGORY BEAN

Greg Bean is the Executive Director of the Gutierrez Energy Management Institute in the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston. In this position, he is responsible for energy-related curriculum, student experiential learning, research, industry events and industry outreach at Bauer. He is also the Faculty Director of the Master of Science in Global Energy Management Degree Program and an Adjunct Faculty member. His teaching and research focus is on the transition to a sustainable energy system. Greg has over forty years of energy-related experience in industry, management consulting, and higher education.

CRAIG BOALS

Craig Boals has 25 years of experience in the oil & gas industry and was and continues to be closely involved in bp’s renewable energy activities including onshore wind, solar, offshore wind and various bio-energy projects.  Craig’s particular areas of expertise are within the various federal tax incentive programs underpinning renewables and bioenergy, as well as tax equity financing structuring alternatives

JOHN BRIDGES

John Bridges is the Executive Director of the Association of International Energy Negotiators, an independent not-for-profit professional membership association that supports international energy negotiators around the world and enhances their effectiveness and professionalism in the international energy community. His extensive career in the oil and gas industry has encompassed leadership roles in exploration, production and operations in multiple US locations from Texas to Alaska, and international roles including explorations, negotiations and business development in SE Asia, Africa, and Europe.

John began his career with Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO). His experiences included working in the Anaconda mining division in Denver, and then moving into Oil and Gas in Bakersfield and Midland; following this, he spent seven years in Alaska working at Prudhoe Bay and Alpine, as well as exploration in the National Petroleum Reserve and North Slope Foothills area. 

He joined Anadarko in 2001 and most recently, John served as Manager of International Negotiations – North Africa and Europe in the UK for Anadarko Petroleum Corporation. John’s career with Anadarko allowed him the opportunity to work and contribute directly on three of these major efforts including Alaska, Algeria and Mozambique while also conducting Business Development efforts in SE Asia.

John earned his MBA with a concentration in Finance from California State University - Bakersfield and his BBA in Petroleum Land Management from the University of Texas – Austin.

JULIAN CARDENAS GARCIA

Julian Cardenas Garcia is a research assistant professor in the Environment, Energy & Natural

Resources Center at the UH Law Center and is Director of the UHLC Center for U.S. and Mexican Law. He specializes in International Oil and Gas Law and Latin American issues with a particular focus on Venezuela. Cardenas Garcia is fluent in English, Spanish and French.

CHANTAL CARRIERE

Chantal Carriere is an associate in the Houston office of Latham & Watkins, where she advises clients on energy and infrastructure project development, including upstream oil and gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), power, pipelines, and petrochemical facilities. Chantal is a graduate of the International Energy Lawyers Program, through which she earned law degrees from the University of Houston Law Center and the University of Calgary. She currently serves as a member of the AIEN Young Negotiators Committee.

ERIC CASSIDY

Eric Cassidy is a partner at the Houston Office of Curtis. He is an experienced commercial litigation and international arbitration lawyer. He is recognized by Thomson Reuters as a litigator in the top 5% of business trial lawyers in Houston. Mr. Cassidy frequently represents clients in the energy, oil and gas, and tech sectors, as well as corporations and high-net-worth individuals, in complex commercial disputes including energy litigation, business litigation, international arbitration, construction, fraud, and white-collar defense.

Mr. Cassidy is recognized as one of the top white collar criminal defense attorneys in Texas. He represents clients in public corruption cases, financial crimes cases, and other white collar matters. He also represents companies and individuals subject to criminal and civil claims under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and False Claims Act. His white collar practice includes extensive experience with internal investigations for companies and representation of both companies and individuals before U.S. federal law enforcement agencies.

JULIE CHAPEL

Julie Chapel is a Director in KPMG’s Washington National Tax – Credits and Incentives group. Julie has over 14 years of experience working on tax issues involving the oil and gas, energy, chemicals, and natural resources industries. Her practice is focused on assisting clients with the tax issues present in the energy and natural resources industries, as well as the tax credits involved in the energy transformation.  She is one of the primary authors of the I.R.C. § 45Q credit for carbon oxide sequestration regulations. 

Prior to joining KPMG in 2021, Julie was a Senior Attorney at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Office of Chief Counsel, Large Business & International (LB&I) Division where she served as the IRS, Office of Chief Counsel, subject matter expert for the petroleum and chemical industries.  Julie is also a frequent speaker on energy and natural resources taxation matters, and an author of the BNA Portfolio 512 Tax Incentives for Production and Conservation of Energy and Natural Resources.

JAMES COLE

Jim Cole, a partner in the Houston office of Latham & Watkins, practices transactional tax involving mergers, acquisitions, financings, restructurings, and capital markets transactions. Mr. Cole regularly advises publicly traded partnerships, master limited partnerships (MLPs), corporations, developers, private equity firms, lenders, and investment banks on transactions across the energy industry, including the upstream, midstream, downstream, oil field services, and alternative energy sectors. His practice includes a focus on energy tax incentives for wind projects, solar projects, and the section 45Q federal income tax credit for carbon capture projects. Mr. Cole was named to Turnarounds & Workouts’ 2020 and 2021 lists of Bankruptcy Tax Specialists in the Nation’s Major Law Firms. 

Mr. Cole currently sits on the Board of the Renewable Energy Alliance of Houston.

Prior to law school, Mr. Cole practiced as a Certified Public Accountant in the tax practice of an international accounting firm.

BARBARA de MARIGNY

Barbara de Marigny is a partner with Baker Botts LLP in Houston.

Barbara focuses her practice on tax structuring for transactions, with a particular emphasis on federal income tax issues arising in partnership, joint venture and alternative investment structures, including the use of partnership structures for strategic acquisitions by corporate groups, in IPOs, securities offerings and for tax equity financing. Her practice has an energy industry concentration, including transactions involving Fortune 50 corporations, master limited partnerships (MLPs), private equity investors and portfolio companies in all aspects of the energy industry, upstream, midstream, and downstream, oil field services and petrochemicals. Barbara has a particular focus on the taxation of climate and clean energy initiatives, such as the section 45Q federal tax credit for carbon capture, use and sequestration ("CCUS"), tax incentives for hydrogen energy, alternative fuel vehicles and carbon pricing proposals. She is a frequent speaker and author on section 45Q topics, including the provision of comments and testimony to the IRS on the proposed regulations and regularly advises clients on credit-maximizing structures.

LEANDRO DUARTE ALVES

Leandro Duarte Alves is an associate and a member of the Global Energy group at Mayer Brown (Rio de Janeiro office). He focuses his practice on advising domestic and foreign oil and gas companies in Brazil and Africa. Over the years, he has been engaged in the analysis, review, and negotiation of upstream and downstream contracts, including concession contracts, production sharing agreements, and general service contracts. His work includes arbitrations and transactions (acquisition and divestitures). He also advises oil and gas companies on complex regulatory issues before national petroleum agencies.

Prior to joining Mayer Brown’s Rio office in 2017, Leandro worked at a large Brazilian law firm where he developed his skills regarding corporate law. Leandro holds an LLM from the University of Texas School of Law and a LLB (JD equivalent) from Rio de Janeiro State University School of Law (UERJ).

SHEILA SLOCUM HOLLIS

Sheila Hollis is the Acting Executive Director of the United States Energy Association. Prior to her appointment in August 2020, Hollis served as USEA Chairman since June 2019. Hollis is Of-Counsel with the firm Duane Morris LLP, served on its executive committee, was managing partner and is Chair of the Washington, D.C. office. She specializes in energy and environmental law and policy, domestically and internationally.

She was the first woman president of the Federal Energy Bar Association (EBA), chaired the Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources of the American Bar Association (ABA), and serves on the ABA Board of Governors. Hollis is the first energy lawyer to be honored as one of the Top 100 Lawyers and Top 50 Women Lawyers in Washington, D.C. by Super Lawyers.

She serves on the board of the American Friends of the Royal Society and holds several other honorary positions. She is an honorary North American member of the Commercial Bar of England and Wales. Hollis is a Fellow of the American College of Environmental Law and has received multiple honors and awards, including lifetime achievement awards from Platts Energy in 2011 and the Petroleum Economist in 2018.

A Colorado native, Sheila is a graduate of the University of Colorado in Boulder. She graduated cum laude in general studies and with honors in journalism. She received her J.D. from the University of Denver College of Law, and studied international law at Exeter University, Exeter, England.

DAN JANKOVIC

Dan practices corporate income tax law and advises on domestic and international tax planning matters, with a particular focus on M&A, corporate reorganizations, financings, debt restructurings, resource taxation and investments by private equity and pension funds. He also advises international clients looking to invest, commence or acquire business operations in Canada, especially in the oil and gas, renewable and emerging energy, technology, infrastructure, and service industry sectors. He has provided structuring advice in respect of numerous complex and customized joint venture and partnership arrangements. Dan frequently represents domestic and international clients in tax disputes with Canadian revenue authorities. His practice encompasses all stages of tax dispute resolution, from dealing with tax audits to litigating in court.

DIANE KRAAL

Diane is a research member at Monash University, Australia. Her research concerns taxation law and policy for battery electric vehicles, and the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy in Australia. Diane led a Monash University team at the ‘Just Transition to a Low Carbon Economy’ conference in March 2018, Edinburgh, and in 2019 in the West Indies. Diane was a member of the 2018 Monash University delegation to UN Climate Change Conference COP24 in Poland. In 2019 she was Co-Head of the Monash delegation to COP25 in Madrid, Spain, and a delegation member in 2022 for COP27 in Egypt. Diane is a Visiting Professor for collaborative research for the ‘Energy Justice and the Social Contract’ project at the Université de Pau and des Pays de l’Adour (UPPA), France.

JOHN LEHRER

John serves as the Tax Group Leader for the D.C. office of Baker & Hostetler LLP. He regularly provides domestic and international federal income tax advice on a wide variety of topics including M&A structuring, bankruptcy planning, and tax loss and credit planning to taxpayers around the world in the energy sector and outside of the energy sector.  John also previously served as in-house counsel for an international energy management and consulting company that was responsible for the development of synthetic fuel manufacturing facilities in connection with tax credits available under IRC Section 29.

YULIYA MARCER

Yuliya Marcer, Associate General Counsel at 8 Rivers Capital, is currently supporting the development and commercialization of  sustainable, infrastructure-scale net zero technologies for the global energy transition and the delivery of first-of-a-kind domestic and cross-border projects deploying technologies for clean hydrogen and ammonia (8RH2), transformative zero-emissions power cycles (Allam-Fetvedt Cycle), direct air capture of CO2 (DAC), H2S sour gas to sweet gas (TartT), and other advanced clean energy systems. Before coming to 8 Rivers, she provided legal support to BP’s Gas & Low Carbon business and Global Projects, working on gas to power, offshore wind, hydrogen, digital energy and major upstream, LNG and power projects globally. Yuliya supported international operations of Nabors Drilling, the world’s largest onshore drilling company, advised on exploration and new ventures at Apache Corporation, and practiced international business transactions at Vinson & Elkins LLP. She received her J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Houston Law Center and holds a red diploma from Moscow State Linguistic University. She is past Chair of the International Law Section of the State Bar of Texas, former US Regional Director and Vice President, Model Contracts for the Association of International Energy Negotiators (formerly AIPN), and current co-chair of the joint AIEN-IBA Working Group developing model contract clauses for the energy transition.

GREG MATLOCK

Greg Matlock is Ernst & Young’s Americas Energy Transition and Renewable Energy Leader, Houston.  Greg helps domestic and international energy companies evaluate and capitalize on complex challenges and opportunities across their tax and finance functions.

Greg has significant experience through the energy transition spectrum, including carbon capture use and sequestration (and Section 45Q), waste-to-energy, hydrogen (blue, green, and other variants), biomass and biofuels, geothermal, and certain other energy efficient sources.  Greg teaches Energy Taxation and Energy Transition at the University of Houston Law Center.  Greg is also a frequent speaker and writer on energy and energy tax issues. 

ELIZABETH MCGINLEY

Elizabeth McGinley leads Bracewell’s Carbon Capture Utilization & Storage (CCUS) team and is chair of Bracewell’s tax department. She advises strategic and financial investors on tax issues arising in connection with the energy transition including federal tax credits and investment structures. Her recent representations include Navigator CO2 Ventures LLC in the development of an industrial scale carbon capture pipeline system of more than 1,200 miles of new carbon dioxide gathering and transportation pipelines across five Midwest states, and Talos Energy in its lease and development of over 40,000 acres located offshore in Texas state waters in the Gulf of Mexico for carbon sequestration. 

As part of her traditional energy transactional practice, Liz regularly advises clients on acquisitions, dispositions, project development, joint ventures and debt and equity investments in the upstream and midstream oil and gas and conventional and renewable power industries. She represents both public and private energy companies as well as private equity funds. Liz is recognized by Chambers USA among America’s leading lawyers for tax (2012-2022).

LUÍS MIRANDA

Luís started his career in 2008 working in Timor-Leste for an international NGO, where he had the opportunity to participate in the closing of camps for displaced persons and provide legal assistance to local populations in administrative formalities. He then worked for an international law firm in Macao (China), mostly dealing with commercial and litigation matters. Luís then moved to France, where he joined Siemens’ legal department in Paris. He was responsible, among other tasks, for advising employees on compliance with a variety of French criminal laws and regulations, assisting in preparing and implementing internal policies on data protection, confidentiality, use of mobile phones, IT and information security, and advising and handling internal employment issues.

In 2012, he joined Miranda & Associados in Lisbon, a leading Portuguese law firm, which heads the Miranda Alliance, an international association of law firms and lawyers with a presence in 19 countries. Luís is currently the Head of Miranda Alliance’s Houston Office. Prior to moving to the United States, Luís gained significant experience advising oil companies and living in West Africa, including in Gabon and Cameroon, where he was based at Miranda’s local offices.

Luís completed his law degree and LL.M. in International Comparative Law at the University of Toulouse (France). He also obtained an LL.M. in Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Law at the University of Houston. He is fluent in Portuguese, French, and English and has a good knowledge of Spanish. He is currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Association of International Energy Negotiators. In addition, Luís is a member of the Institute for Energy Law (also currently serving the organization at the Executive Committee level) and of the American Bar Association (where he is the current Co-Chair of the International Anti-Corruption Committee and the Immediate Past-Chair of the International Energy & Environmental Law Committee).

GRETEL ECHARTE MORALES

Gretel is a senior associate in Mayer Brown's Washington DC office and a member of the Export Control & Sanctions subpractice of the International Trade group. She focuses on US law and policy related to sanctions and export controls across a wide range of industries including the financial and energy sectors, manufacturing, and professional services, among others. Gretel’s practice covers all aspects of these key regulatory areas from enforcement to deal work and compliance.

NORMAN NADORFF

Norman Nadorff, Counsel, Mayer Brown - Houston/Rio de Janeiro and Adjunct Professor, University of Houston Law Center. His practice centers on international energy law and transactions and ethics law compliance. For 30 years, Norman served as in-house counsel for major oil companies with primary focus on Latin America, West Africa and Indonesia. He was Senior Counsel for BP in Angola from 2006 to 2015 as well as Legal Manager for BP Brazil and ARCO Indonesia, where he held two expatriate assignments in the 1990’s.

Norman has drafted and negotiated a wide range of legal instruments, including host government, farmout, joint operating, joint study and bidding, EPC, drilling and drilling services, gas sales, shareholder, joint venture, and project finance agreements.

Norman has been Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Houston Law Center since 2012 and has taught International Petroleum Agreements in several US and foreign law schools. In 2006, he played key roles in the creation of a pioneering international oil and gas master’s program at Angola’s national law school, which is now in its sixteenth year.

Norman is fluent in Portuguese and Spanish, proficient in French, and has experience negotiating in all three languages. He is currently a Director of the Brazil-Texas Chamber of Commerce and former Director of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators in which he is active in several capacities. Norman lectures frequently on anti-corruption laws, effective contract drafting and development of local talent.

STEVEN OTILLAR

Steven is a Partner at White & Case, Houston.  For nearly three decades, Steven Otillar has been a trusted advisor to clients seeking to develop, finance, buy and sell energy projects worldwide. He has an outstanding track record of handling high-profile and complex projects and transactions under Texas and English law, in both English and Spanish. Steven approaches legal challenges with a commercial mindset, believing that a lawyer's primary responsibility is to find solutions that help bring a transaction to close, rather than merely raising legal risks and obstacles during a deal. His clients appreciate his broad experience across the entire energy value chain in well-established and emerging markets, which enables him to provide creative, market-driven legal advice in a dynamic industry.

He has deep experience in offshore energy projects, LNG-to-power, cross-border unitization, and helping traditional E&P companies expand into low-carbon ventures. Steven is a frequent lecturer and author on energy-related topics. He is the former President of the Association of International Energy Negotiators (formerly AIPN) and currently serves on the Executive Committee for the Institute for Energy Law in the Center for American and International Law.

MICHAEL RODGERS

Michael Rodgers is a counsel in White & Case’s Tax practice and is resident in the Houston office. Michael specializes in advising sponsors, lenders, and investors in connection with renewable energy projects in the wind, solar, hydro fuel cell and carbon capture spaces. In particular, he has experience in structuring, planning and negotiating infrastructure and renewable energy transactions, with an emphasis on flip partnership structures, repowering transactions, and the qualification of projects for federal income tax credits, including the credit for electricity produced from certain renewable resources under Section 45 of the Internal Revenue Code (PTC), the energy investment tax credit under Section 48 of the Internal Revenue Code (ITC) and the credit for carbon oxide sequestration under Section 45Q of the Internal Revenue Code (Carbon Capture Credit).

JEFF ROMERO

Jeff Romero is an Associate in Skadden's Houston office. Mr. Romero advises public and private companies on a broad range of U.S. federal income tax matters, with a concentration on domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, dispositions, spin-offs, joint ventures, financing transactions, restructurings and internal reorganizations. He also advises on tax matters related to the structuring, financing, development, acquisition and disposition of renewable energy projects, including the qualification for tax credits and other tax benefits associated with such projects.  

Mr. Romero graduated cum laude with his B.B.A. from Texas A&M University in 2010. In 2015, he obtained his J.D. from The George Washington University Law School, graduating with High Honors and as a member of the Order of the Coif. He received his LL.M. from New York University School of Law in 2020.

SEAN SHIMAMOTO

Sean Shimamoto, head of Skadden’s West Coast Tax Group, represents clients on a wide range of U.S. federal income tax matters, including mergers and acquisitions, partnership transactions, various types of public and private debt and equity financing transactions, initial public offerings and restructuring transactions. Mr. Shimamoto represents both purchasers and sellers in connection with partnership acquisitions and dispositions and taxable and tax-free corporate transactions. Mr. Shimamoto also represents clients in connection with private letter ruling requests submitted to the Internal Revenue Service. 

In particular, Mr. Shimamoto advises clients in the energy sector on a variety of tax matters involving the structuring, development, acquisition and/or disposition of renewable energy projects, and the related project financing, including the qualification for and monetization of tax credits and other tax benefits associated with such projects. 

Mr. Shimamoto is recognized in Chambers Global and Chambers USA as a leading practitioner in the area of Projects: Renewables and Alternative Energy. He frequently writes and lectures on tax-related topics, including in programs sponsored by the American Bar Association, Federal Bar Association, Practising Law Institute, Tax Executives Institute and other organizations.

AARON VERA

Aaron D. Vera is a counsel in the Dallas office of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.

Aaron focuses his practice on resolving complex United States federal income tax issues related to domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, tax credits, restructurings, financings and investments for public and private companies, as well as private equity funds. Aaron also has extensive experience in legislative advocacy and United States federal income tax planning related to cross-border corporate finance as well as climate-focused tax credit incentives including carbon capture and sequestration.

Prior to joining Akin Gump, Aaron worked as tax counsel at Exxon Mobil Corporation. Aaron provided tax advice to various company affiliates across the globe on cross-border, corporate, tax credit and partnership tax issues. Aaron earned his Bachelor of Science in Economics from Texas A&M University in 2009 and his J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center in 2012.

DENNEY WRIGHT

Mr. Wright retired from Exxon Mobil Corporation in November 2016 after over forty-two years of service and was appointed a Professor of Practice at the University of Houston Law Center in 2017. In his role as a Professor of Practice, Mr. Wright has been teaching Oil and Gas Tax and International Petroleum Transactions. Mr. Wright also teaches Oil and Gas Tax at the Bauer School of Business at University of Houston. He has organized and implemented continuing education programs, including this Annual University of Houston Law Center Denney L. Wright International Energy Tax Conference. Mr. Wright is serving as advisor to the Houston Business and Tax Law Journal and the Association of International Energy Negotiators UHLC Chapter.

Mr. Wright is a member of the Texas Bar, a member of the American Bar Association and has been a participant in many oil and gas industry groups during his long career with ExxonMobil.  Mr. Wright has been a speaker at many conferences addressing oil and gas tax issues. Mr. Wright is on the Advisory Board of the Texas Federal Tax Institute and has been a member of the planning committee and a speaker at the Parker Fielder Oil and Gas Tax Conference, American Petroleum Institute Federal Tax Forum, and many other conferences over the years. Mr. Wright has taught Oil and Gas Tax at UHLC for over twenty-five years, and he has taught the class at New York University Law School, Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University as well as University of Texas Law School. Mr. Wright published “Understanding the Windfall Profits Tax Act” in the Petroleum Landman in 1980 and Co-Chaired with the Chinese Director of Taxation the United States/China Oil and Gas Tax Joint Government/Industry Biennial Conference in Beijing, China in 1998.  Mr. Wright published revisions to Bloomberg Bureau of National Affairs Tax Portfolio Series Tax Incentives for Production and Conservation of Energy and Natural Resources (Portfolio 512-2d) in 2019 and 2020 as well as in 2023, and will continue editing the portfolio annually in co-authorship with Julie Chapel of KPMG. 

Mr. Wright’s oil and gas tax casebook, Oil and Gas Tax: A Comprehensive Study, was published by Wolters Kluwer/CCH in 2019.  The casebook has received extremely positive reviews (5.0 out of 5.0) and has been adopted as the required casebook for the subject in both business and law schools.  In addition to its use in oil and gas tax classes, the book serves as an invaluable resource to the oil and gas tax practitioner.