practice areas
honors + affiliations
Listed, Euromoney Legal Media Group's Guide to the World's Leading Project Finance Lawyers (2004–2006)
Listed, Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business (2006–2011)
Listed, Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business (2010)
Listed, Best Lawyers in America for Energy Law (2008–2011)
Member, International Law Section and Oil, Gas & Mineral Law Section, Houston Bar Association
Member, Texas Association of Bank Counsel
Member, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation
Member, State Bar of Texas
Member, American Bar Associationbar admissions
- Texas
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, Southern, and Western Districts of Texas
- Houston
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1000 Louisiana St., Suite 4000
Houston, TX 77002-5006
Phone: 713.890.5790
Fax: 713.890.5001
J. Todd Culwell is a partner in Morgan Lewis's Business and Finance Practice. Mr. Culwell focuses his practice on development, financing, and acquisitions and dispositions of energy infrastructure projects, domestically and abroad, as well as on oil and gas acquisitions, divestitures, and financings.
His experience with energy infrastructure projects includes coal, wind, solar, biomass, waste-to-energy, and nuclear power generation facilities; LNG liquefaction facilities; LNG receiving terminals; methanol production facilities; chemical projects, pipelines, gas storage, gas separation, and fractionation facilities; and terminalling facilities. Mr. Culwell also represents companies in connection with various forms of dispositions and acquisitions of energy-related assets, including shale and other unconventional resources.
Additionally, Mr. Culwell represents financial institutions and borrowers in a variety of corporate financing activities, including project financing; general commercial lending; reserve-based financings; acquisition financing; letter of credit facilities; leveraged leasing transactions covering a variety of plants and equipment; and various structured financing transactions, including volumetric production payments, prepaid forward contracts, and receivables financing.
Prior to joining Morgan Lewis, Mr. Culwell was a partner in the energy practice of a Houston-based law firm, and before that a partner in the Houston office of an international law firm.
Mr. Culwell earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from South Texas College of Law in 1993 and his B.A. in economics from the University of Texas at Austin in 1990.
Mr. Culwell is admitted to practice in Texas and before the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, Southern, and Western Districts of Texas.Selected Representations
Note: This list includes matters that were not handled at Morgan Lewis.
- Representation of a private equity fund in connection with the acquisition of a minority interest in a gas-fired power generation facility located in Texas.
- Representation of an international buyer in connection with the acquisition and participation in a domestic shale play.
- Representation of an international buyer in connection with the acquisition and participation of a domestic shale play.
- Representation of a seller in connection with the disposition of interests in five gas-fired power plants.
- Representation of an international buyer in connection with the acquisition and participation of a domestic shale play.
- Representation of a developer in a waste-to-energy project in St. Thomas, USVI and St. Croix, USVI.
- Representation of an owner in connection with the development and financing of a Gulf of Mexico shallow-water offshore development.
- Representation of a developer in connection with the development and financing of a 100-MW wind project in Texas.
- Representation of a developer in a 400-MW wind project in Kansas, including negotiation of a long-term power sales agreement.
- Representation of an administrative agent in connection with a $200 million financing for conventional oil and gas properties.
- Representation of an international government-owned gas company in connection with the development of all LNG receiving terminals.
- Representation of the purchaser of a coal-fired power plant located in New Jersey.
- Representation of an international government-owned oil company in connection with the enhancement of its lump sum turnkey construction contract for use in major infrastructure tenders.
- Representation of an administrative agent in connection with the financing of a $20 million subordinated tranche in a $200 million financing for oil and gas properties.
- Representation of a private equity company in connection with the acquisition of eight bulk liquid storage terminals in the United States.
- Representation of a project company in connection with the resolution of various disputes with an engineering, procurement, and construction contractor, including the negotiation of the approval of the settlement terms with project finance lenders.
- Representation of a financial institution in connection with a letter of credit facility for an account party to finance crude oil purchases.
- Representation of a private equity fund in its capacity as a subordinated lender in connection with the financing of the acquisition of $125 million of oil and gas properties. Financing structure included a syndicated senior revolver, a mezzanine term loan, and a subordinated term loan.
- Representation of an international energy company in connection with the disposition of the equity of a company that owned two qualifying facilities power generation facilities located in California.
- Representation of an international energy company in connection with the project development and financing for a natural gas-fired generating project with an output of approximately 334-MW located in Ennis, Texas.
- Representation of an international energy company in connection with the disposition of certain district heating systems located in the Midwest.
- Representation of a consortium of energy and chemical companies in connection with the project development and financing for the construction and operation of a 5,000 mtpd methanol plant located in the Republic of Trinidad. Project was selected as the 2002 Latin American Petrochemical Deal of the Year by Project Finance magazine.
- Representation of a major energy company in connection with a project financing of a power plant in the Gaza Strip.
- Representation of a consortium of international energy companies in connection with a $472 million project financing for an integrated natural gas processing facility located in Argentina. Project was selected as the 1999 Latin American Oil and Gas Deal of the Year by Project Finance magazine.
- Representation of a consortium of energy companies in connection with a $1,127,000,000 project financing for the construction of an LNG liquefaction plant located in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.
- Representation of a consortium of energy companies in connection with a $30 million project financing for a water and wastewater treatment facility in Louisiana.
education
- South Texas College of Law, 1993, J.D., Magna Cum Laude
- University of Texas at Austin, 1990, B.A.