(504) 556-4131 • fax (504) 556-4108
 jahunter@liskow.com

Mr. Hunter represents oil and gas companies, providing counseling and representation in a wide variety of matters arising primarily from upstream oil and gas operations. His practice includes litigation before federal and state courts and agencies, statutory and regulatory counseling, and contract preparation and review.

As leader of the firm’s federal oil and gas practice area, Mr. Hunter provides advice and representation pertaining to the major federal statutes and regulations governing upstream oil and gas activities on federal lands. These include the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the Mineral Leasing Acts, the Deep Water Royalty Relief Act of 1995, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, the Marine Mammal Protection 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 related royalty, operational and appeal regulations. In more than 100 administrative appeals, he has represented federal lessees in defending and resolving orders to pay royalties, orders to pay civil penalties, and orders to comply with operational requirements. Mr. Hunter has represented federal lessees in numerous judicial proceedings, including actions for judicial review of final Interior Department decisions, challenges to federal regulations, actions for immediate injunctive relief from new regulatory requirements, and actions brought pursuant to the False Claims Act.

Mr. Hunter’s experience also extends to oil and gas issues arising under state law, including the interpretation of joint operating agreements, payment of royalties, lease maintenance, lease development, assignment of lease interests, and intrastate pipeline regulatory matters. He has tried royalty, contract, and expropriation disputes in federal and state courts and in arbitration.

Mr. Hunter’s notable cases include:

• Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corp. v. U.S. Dep’t of Interior, 554 F.3d 1082 (5th Cir. Jan. 12, 2009) held Department of the Interior "price threshold" conditions on deep water royalty relief violated the unambiguous terms of the Deep Water Royalty Relief Act.
• Santa Fe Snyder Corp. v. Norton, 385 F.3d 884 (5th Cir. 2004) held Department of the Interior regulations unlawfully imposed volumetric limitations on deep water royalty relief that violated the unambiguous terms of the Deep Water Royalty Relief Act.
• Shell Offshore Inc. v. Babbitt, 238 F.3d 622 (5th Cir. 2001) obtained reversal of Interior refusal to allow tariff-based transportation allowances in calculating offshore royalty payments.
• Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Johnson, 22 F.3d 616 (5th Cir. 1994) successfully challenged Interior’s 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.
• Bois D’Arc Energy, Inc. v. BHP Billiton Petroleum (Deepwater), Inc., 2008 WL 2080747 (E.D. La.) (5/16/08) – obtained summary judgment dismissing claim for breach of contract and liquidated damages arising from offshore oil and gas contract.
• 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.

He is a frequent lecturer and organizer for energy law programs, including those presented by the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, of which he has served as a Trustee and member of the Executive Committee. Mr. Hunter has also served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Law, teaching basic Oil and Gas law and a seminar on Federal Offshore Oil and Gas law at Tulane University Law School.