Nathan N. Zhang practices in Gibson Dunn’s Houston office. He works on a wide range of domestic and international commercial transactions, including acquisitions and divestitures, private equity investments, joint ventures, project development, and general corporate matters. Nathan has particular experience representing clients in the energy industry, including in the upstream, midstream, petrochemical, LNG, oilfield services, power, and renewable sectors.
Nathan has been recognized as a Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America™ in the areas of Mergers and Acquisitions and Oil and Gas Law.
Nathan earned his law degree from The University of Texas and his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College, graduating with honors from both institutions. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
Representative Matters – Oil and Gas Acquisitions, Divestitures, and Joint Ventures*
- Represented SilverBow Resources in an acquisition of Eagle Ford Shale assets from Sundance Energy, with the total consideration comprising of $225 million in cash and 4.1 million shares of public stock.
- Represented Contango Oil & Gas in a $5.7 billion merger with KKR’s Independence Energy.
- Represented Pioneer Natural Resources in its acquisition of DoublePoint Energy for a total consideration of $6.4 billion.
- Represented Pioneer Natural Resources in its acquisition of Parsley Energy for a total consideration of $7.6 billion.
- Represented Occidental Petroleum Corporation in the formation of a joint venture with Ecopetrol that covers approximately 97,000 net acres in the Midland Basin, in consideration of Ecopetrol’s $1.5 billion investment and commitment to jointly develop the assets.
- Represented Partners Group and OPTrust in a $300 million investment in Superior Pipeline Company and the formation of a joint venture.
- Represented an international energy company in the acquisition of upstream assets in the Barnett Shale through exercise of preferential right, together with renegotiation (buy-down) of fixed payment obligations under long term gas gathering contracts, for total consideration of $980 million.
- Represented a Fortune 20 international energy company in the acquisition of offshore assets and related ongoing decommissioning operations in the Outer Continental Shelf.
- Represented Mitsui E&P USA in its $207 million sale of certain Marcellus Shale assets, including interests in both upstream gas portfolio and significant midstream infrastructure, to Alta Resources Development.
- Represented QEP Resources, Inc. in two separate sales of oil and gas properties in the Cana-Woodford and Granite Wash plays in the Western Anadarko Basin in Texas and Oklahoma for a combined value of approximately $772 million.
- Represented an American oil and gas company in its sale of an offshore production block in the People’s Republic of China.
Representative Matters – Other Mergers and Acquisitions and Project Development*
- Represented The Carlyle Group in its acquisition from Noble Environmental Power of a 612 MW wind generation portfolio, which at the time of acquisition was the largest operating wind platform in New York and produced 29% of the state’s wind power.
- Represented a state gas distributor in negotiating an LNG supply agreement and a time charter party for a floating storage and offloading unit.
- Represented Occidental Petroleum Corporation in the spin-off of its California oil and gas business into an independent and separately traded company, California Resources Corporation.
- Represented Mitsui & Co., Ltd. in the acquisition of DuPont’s global Kocide and ManKocide copper fungicide assets.
- Represented an international chemical company in its sale of a petrochemical facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana to a U.S. subsidiary of a foreign chemical company.
- Represented Sundrop Fuels in the ongoing development, financing, and construction of a $450 million advanced biofuels facility utilizing natural gas and biomass to produce gasoline.
- Represented GE Energy Financial Services in a structured transaction with Diamond Offshore to buy and leaseback blowout-preventers, and represented GE Oil & Gas in a related contractual service arrangement to service the blowout-preventers.
- Represented a private equity company in the acquisition and divestiture of various portfolio companies in the paper manufacturing, packaging, pulp, and wood products sector.
- Represented an international chemical company in its expansion of a $1.5 billion ethylene cracking plant in Texas.
* Matters prior to joining Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
Capabilities
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Energy and Infrastructure
- Infrastructure
- Power and Renewables
- Private Equity
- Projects
Credentials
Education:
- University of Texas - 2013 Juris Doctor
- Dartmouth College - 2009 Bachelor of Arts
Admissions:
- Texas Bar