Austin Lee is a partner in the Paul, Weiss Mergers & Acquisitions Group. He represents and counsels clients in the acquisition and divestiture of oil and gas properties, as well as a broad range of transactional, joint venture and operational matters in the energy space. His experience includes providing advice to energy clients dealing with distressed situations, whether in the form of restructuring financial arrangements or acquiring or divesting properties. Lee frequently represents clients on a variety of midstream and downstream energy projects, produced water and saltwater disposal projects, and projects for gas storage and related energy storage facilities.
Lee has experience working in-house as upstream legal counsel at an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company focused on domestic shale production, as well as experience working with a major exploration and production company through a secondment in one of its onshore focused business units. Prior to entering legal practice, Austin worked as an Independent Petroleum Landman and as a Certified Public Accountant.
Lawdragon Honors
| Honor | Year | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| The 2027 Lawdragon 500 Leading Dealmakers | 2027 | Corporate, Securities, Private Equity, Energy |
| The 2026 Lawdragon 500 Global Leaders in Energy | 2026 | Oil & Gas Transactions |
| The 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Dealmakers in America | 2026 | Corporate, Securities, Private Equity, Energy |
| The 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Energy Lawyers | 2025 | Oil & Gas Transactions |
| The 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Dealmakers in America | 2025 | Corporate & Securities, Private Equity, esp. Energy |
| The 2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Dealmakers in America | 2024 | Corporate & Securities, Private Equity, esp. Energy |
Lee brings more than 15 years of energy transactional experience across virtually every major domestic basin, including the Permian, Eagle Ford, Haynesville, Bakken, Fayetteville, Marcellus, Utica, Anadarko/SCOOP/STACK, DJ Basin, and Alaska. His clients include major public E&P companies, large private operators, private equity funds and their portfolio companies, midstream companies, financial institutions, and energy infrastructure developers.
Lee’s representations have included:
Mergers, Acquisitions and Joint Ventures
- A publicly-traded E&P company in the acquisition of certain producing operated properties in the Permian Basin for total consideration of approximately $165 million from a private equity backed portfolio company
- Apache Corporation and related affiliates in the divestment of legacy properties in the Permian Basin to an undisclosed buyer for approximately $950 million
- An entity affiliated with GeoSouthern Energy in an upstream joint venture with a subsidiary of The Williams Companies for the acquisition of an interest in and development of Williams’ South Mansfield Assets in the Haynesville Shale
- Parsley Energy in the acquisition of certain entities holding undeveloped acreage and producing oil and gas properties containing approximately 71,000 net acres in the core of the Midland Basin from Double Eagle Energy Permian and certain of its affiliates for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $2.8 billion, consisting of approximately $1.4 billion in cash and approximately 39.8 million units of Parsley Energy
- Kinder Morgan in connection with the $7.15 billion sale of El Paso’s exploration and production business unit
Midstream and Energy Infrastructure
- A subsidiary of DT Midstream in the negotiation of an anchor shipper arrangement with a large publicly traded E&P Operator for the buildout of a gathering system in the Utica Shale
- Halcón Resources Corporation in a $325 million divestiture of all water infrastructure assets across the Delaware Basin to a subsidiary of WaterBridge Resources
Drillco Transactions
- Pioneer Natural Resources Company in a DrillCo transaction with a private investor providing for drilling opportunities on acreage owned by Pioneer in South Texas
- A large publicly traded utility company in a DrillCo transaction whereby the client provided DrillCo financing of approximately $50,000,000 to an upstream operator in exchange for a large acreage dedication and exclusive right to provide midstream services across 180,000 acres and an 80% working interest in each drilled unit
Distressed Energy / Bankruptcy
- Ameredev, Texas in its acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Lilis Energy and its affiliates for $46.6 million as part of a Chapter 11 sales process
- Echo Energy Partners I in the sale of substantially all of its SCOOP/Stack assets to a special purpose vehicle funded by HPS Investment Partners for approximately $32.96 million out of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case