Team Member
and access,
Cynthia Nicholson practice is centered on oil and gas transactions with respect to lands located within the State of Louisiana as well as those located on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). She regularly documents and negotiates acquisitions and divestitures of both onshore and offshore properties and has extensive experience with many types of transaction structures including mergers, asset and stock acquisitions and sales. She routinely counsels clients on a wide range of regulatory issues and has extensive experience counseling clients on issues arising under OCS regulations. Throughout her career, Cynthia has also advised clients on the drafting and interpretation of mineral leases, operating agreements, participation agreements, unitization agreements, servitude agreements and other agreements used in the oil and gas industry. A significant portion of Cynthia's practice is also dedicated to the analysis and review of complex land and leasehold titles. She has rendered hundreds of title opinions based on her examination of complex petroleum titles, and she regularly assists clients in the financing of such onshore and offshore properties. Cynthia represents clients before the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). She has assisted clients in obtaining mineral leases and rights-of-way on the OCS and in the creation of units approved by the BSEE. Nicholson has expanded her work with midstream energy companies, including acquisitions of OCS assets and pipeline systems, advising clients on federal and state regulatory issues for pipeline assets in the Gulf of Mexico, and assisting with operations issues for onshore and offshore pipeline systems, among other matters. Nicholson also assists her clients in the expanding field of carbon capture, transportation, and sequestration. Cynthia has been ranked in the prestigious Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business for several years. In 2023, Chambers noted, "Cynthia Nicholson has expertise handling onshore and Outer Continental Shelf regulatory and transactional matters." Clients have been quoted as saying, "She has a good sense of what the client is looking for and what the client is interested in.” “Cynthia is an excellent title attorney who can render an opinion which is concise and to the point.” "She is great at problem-solving."