Aaron Ball advises clients on the structure, negotiation and documentation of global corporate, energy and manufacturing transactions, with a focus on the United States, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia. He has extensive experience representing energy and manufacturing companies in cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, exploration, drilling, service and production contracts, development projects and a variety of other types of agreements.

Aaron is a member of the Advisory Board for the Institute for Energy Law (IEL), vice-chair of the IEL Oilfield Services Company Committee, and a member of the Editorial Board of the Energy Law Advisor, IEL’s quarterly publication for energy industry lawyers. He is also a member of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN), the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) where he serves as a member of the IPAA International Steering Committee, the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, and Instituto Argentino del Petróleo y del Gas. In addition to being licensed in multiple US jurisdictions, Aaron is also a solicitor and member of the Law Society of England and Wales.

Aaron is an author on energy-related legal topics in leading industry publications and his opinion is regularly sought by the news media on topics relevant to the energy industry. He authors a regular blog with Oil & Gas Financial Journal magazine at ogfj.com/blogs/legally-speaking. Aaron has also served as an adjunct professor of law at DePaul University, College of Law, and the University of California (Davis). He was a featured speaker alongside Orlando Cabrales Segovia, president of Colombia’s National Hydrocarbons Agency, at the Oil Council’s Latin American Assembly in Bogotá, Colombia. In April 2012, Aaron was presenter to the Houston Bar Association on “An International Primer for Independent Oil and Gas Companies.” In May, Aaron will be in Warsaw engaged in matters related to shale gas development in Poland.

Aaron has been named a Texas Super Lawyer, a Rising Star in international law by Texas Monthly Magazine and was in the inaugural Houston Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 as one of Houston’s 40 most outstanding business leaders under the age of 40.

Representative Experience

• Serving as lead attorney for the acquisition of a Texas drilling company on behalf of a Spain-based oilfield services multinational.
• Advising the world’s largest steel company in evaluating its shale gas reserves in more than 50,000 acres of land located in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio, and in negotiating leases associated with shale gas development.
• Representing a government mining agency in the development of model mining concession agreements.
• Representing a government hydrocarbons agency in concession termination and valuation negotiations.
• Acting as lead lawyer for a rig services and construction company in negotiation of a joint venture with a Brazil-based oilfield services company and a separate joint venture for the development of a deepwater port facility adjacent to Brazil’s pre-salt fields.
• Acting as outside general counsel to a primary procurement subsidiary of a major national oil company.
• Acting as lead lawyer in registration of a US-based, publicly traded company for oil concession with the Colombian National Hydrocarbons Agency including review of major contracts such as a host government agreement, a joint operating agreement and a farm out agreement with an Asia-based company involved in the same concession.
• Acting as lead lawyer in the acquisition and development of a mining operation in Colombia on behalf of an Australia-based client and its BVI holding company (used for acquiring and exploiting mining concessions through a subsidiary in Colombia).
• Conducting due diligence and meeting with government officials from Colombia regarding the mining concession application process.
• Acting as adviser to the general counsel of a joint venture between a major chemical company and a major oil company concerning international corporate governance and commercial legal issues primarily related to Latin American operations (e.g., director and officer authority, nationality requirements, registration requirements for infusion of foreign capital), review of major contracts and the development and implementation of a restructuring plan for US and Latin American operations. 
• Representing a Bermuda-based, GOM, oil and gas exploration company listed both on the AIM and on Nasdaq.
• Leading a team in devising and implementing an international holding company structure for a Panama-based oilfield equipment manufacturer with operations in China, Indonesia and the Middle East.
• Acting as lead lawyer in the sale of all the stock of a US-based holding company and its ownership interest in a gas company located in Trinidad consisting of government and private shareholders. 
• Advising on tax and corporate planning for a privately owned, Panama-based, international seismic services company with operations in Asia and Latin America.
• Advising a company on sanctions and restrictions on trade with various countries such as Cuba and Myanmar.
• Acting as outside general counsel to Energistics, the technology standards consortium for the international oil and gas industry, whose members include major oil companies (e.g., Shell, Exxon), NOCs (e.g., StatoilHydro) and major oilfield services companies (Schlumberger, Halliburton, Baker Hughes).  
• Acting as lead lawyer for the acquisition of an oilfield parts manufacturing facility in the Czech Republic.