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As head of the firm’s offshore oil and gas practice group, Mr. Hunter advises federal lessees on all aspects of their relationship with the Department of the Interior and its sub-agency, the Minerals Management Service.In more than 100 administrative appeals, he has represented federal lessees in defending and resolving MMS orders to pay royalties, orders to pay civil penalties and orders to comply with operational requirements. In addition, Mr. Hunter has represented federal lessees in numerous judicial proceedings, including actions for judicial review of final Interior Department decisions requiring payment of royalties, challenges to Interior’s offshore regulations and actions to obtain immediate injunctive relief.He routinely represents federal lessees before the MMS concerning lease maintenance issues, unitization, qualification to own and operate leases, obtaining approval of assignments and satisfying bonding requirements.His representation of oil and gas producers includes counseling them in their acquisitions and divestitures of federal offshore properties and he renders title opinions on offshore federal leases.Mr. Hunter’s guidance of these energy producers also extends to issues arising under Louisiana law, including payment of royalties, lease maintenance, lease development, assignment of lease interests, requirements of the Louisiana State Mineral Board, interpretation of joint operating agreements and intrastate pipeline regulatory matters. He has tried royalty, excess royalty and expropriation matters in Louisiana state courts.Mr. Hunter has provided advice and counsel to federal lessees on the major statutes and regulations affecting their operations. These include the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the Deep Water Royalty Relief Act of 1995, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, the Mineral Leasing Act, the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act, the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Simplification and Fairness Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the False Claims Act and Interior’s royalty, operational and appeal regulations.Mr. Hunter’s notable cases include:Santa Fe Snyder Corp. v. Norton, 385 F.3d 884 (5th Cir. 2004) Upheld challenge by offshore federal lessees to MMS deep water royalty relief regulations on the basis that the regulations unlawfully deprived lessees of Congressionally-mandated royalty relief.Board of Commissioners v. Estate of Elizabeth Smith, 881 So. 2d 811 (La. App. 4 Cir. 2004) Successfully defended challenge by Orleans Levee Board to mineral lessees' fifty-year ownership of leasing rights affecting Stone Island Shell Offshore Inc. v. Babbitt, 238 F.3d 622 (5th Cir. 2001) Obtained reversal of MMS refusal to allow tariff-based transportation allowances in calculating offshore crude oil royalty payments.Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Johnson, 22 F.3d 616 (5th Cir. 1994) Successfully challenged MMS' reliance on internal manual to value natural gas liquids for royalty purposes. Conoco Inc., MMS-98-0164-OCS (March 19, 2001) Established that OCSLA Section 6 lessee was entitled to deduct gas processing costs in computing natural gas royalties.Amoco Production Co., 148 IBLA 255 (1999) Reversed MMS order that required lessee to pay natural gas royalties based on affiliated purchaser's resale price.He is a frequent lecturer and organizer for energy programs, including those presented by the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, of which he is a Trustee and member of the Executive Committee. Mr. Hunter is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Law, teaching basic oil and gas law and federal offshore oil and gas law at Tulane University Law School. | 