Graham Valenta

Graham Valenta is an associate in the Houston office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where he currently practices with the firm’s Oil and Gas, Energy, Mergers and Acquisitions, and Private Equity practice groups and serves as a member of Gibson Dunn’s Associates Committee. Graham represents energy companies in a wide array of transactions, including innovative, large-scale carbon capture and sequestration projects and complex acquisitions and divestitures of oil and gas assets and companies.

Graham’s experience includes:

• Representation of Pioneer Natural Resources Company in its merger with ExxonMobil, valued at approximately $64.5 billion, the world’s largest corporate transaction in 2023;
• Representation of Pioneer Natural Resources Company in its acquisition of Parsley Energy Inc., valued at approximately $7.6 billion;
• Representation of Pioneer Natural Resources Company in its acquisition of DoublePoint Energy, LLC, valued at approximately $6.4 billion;
• Representation of Chief E&D Holdings, LP and Tug Hill, Inc. in the sale of Chief E&D Holdings, LP and certain associated interests to Chesapeake Energy Corporation, valued at approximately $2.65 billion and named a Top 10 Texas M&A Deal of 2022 by The Texas Lawbook;
• Representation of Concho Resources, Inc. in its acquisition of RSP Permian, Inc., valued at approximately $9.5 billion;
• Representation of the South Carolina Department of Administration in its solicitation of a bid from NextEra Energy to acquire the South Carolina Public Service Authority, also known as Santee Cooper, valued at $9.46 billion;
• Representation of Crestone Peak Resources in its consolidation with Civitas Resources, Inc., valued at approximately $4.5 billion;
• Representation of Occidental Petroleum Corp. and certain of its affiliates in its $3 billion upstream joint venture focused on the Midland Basin and a $750 million upstream joint development arrangement focused on the Delaware Basin, in each case, with a U.S. subsidiary of Colombia’s Ecopetrol SA;
• Representation of Ridgemar Energy Operating in its acquisition of Callon (Eagle Ford) LLC, valued at approximately $700 million;
• Representation of Percussion Petroleum II in its sale of Percussion Operating II LLC to Callon Petroleum Co., valued at approximately $475 million
• Representation of Murphy Oil in its sale of Murphy Sabah Oil Co. Ltd and Murphy Sarawak Oil Co. to PTT Exploration and Production, valued at approximately $2.13 billion;
• Representation of Williams Companies in its $3.8 billion pipeline joint venture with the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board in the Marcellus and Utica Basins;
• Representation of EnerVest, Ltd. in its business combination with TPG Pace Energy Holdings Corp., valued at approximately $2.7 billion;

Education

Graham received his J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center in 2016, where he was inducted into the Order of the Coif and the Order of Barons. While in law school, Graham served as an editor for the University of Houston Law Review, the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, and Christian Bioethics. Graham has also received Master’s degrees from Rice University in 2014 and Yale University in 2012 and undergraduate degrees from Westmont College.

Capabilities

• Oil and Gas
• Energy and Infrastructure
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Power and Renewables
• Private Equity

Credentials

Education:

• University of Houston - 2016 Juris Doctor
• Rice University - 2014 Master of Arts
• Yale University - 2012 Master of Arts
• Westmont College - 2009 Bachelor of Arts
• Westmont College - 2009 Bachelor of Science

Admissions:

• Colorado Bar
• Texas Bar