Webinar: "Distinguished Negotiators - A Virtual Event"

Jacqueline L. Weaver is Professor Emeritus at the University of Houston Law Center, (UHLC) where she held the A.A. White Professor of Law chair until her recent retirement.  She continues to teach and research in her areas of interest, especially in international petroleum transactions, Texas oil and gas law, energy law and policy, and sustainable energy development. Professor Weaver was thrown into the world of international petroleum when she served as Executive Director of the Russian Petroleum Legislation Project at the UHLC from 1991-92. She directed the drafting of oil and gas laws for Licensing, Conservation and Environment, Tax, and Transportation, designed to attract foreign investment in the newly independent Russian Federation during the Yeltsin era.

She has recently completed chapters for the new edition of the International Petroleum Transactions casebook (published by Rock Mtn Min. Law Edition, forthcoming 2020) that cover the  roles of the key players in the international petroleum sector; the use of decision analysis tools in assessing geological risks under conditions of uncertainty; reservoir management and reserves measurement; oil spills, offshore safety, and decommissioning; human rights, indigenous rights, and ESG issues confronting the industry; the use of good and best practices, including case studies of large oil projects in Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon, Peru, and Papua New Guinea; and the future of the petroleum industry in a low-carbon energy transition. She developed and taught an interdisciplinary course on Human Rights and the Oil Companies at the University of Houston with other academics and industry professionals.

In March 2020, she returned from a Fulbright visit to India where she taught a course on the role of global oil industry codes of conduct as reflecting “good international petroleum industry practices” in contracts, litigation, and legislation. She has lectured on topics in international oil and gas in Africa (Uganda, Ghana, Namibia, Angola, and Egypt), Kazakhstan and India (under the Fulbright program), Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador, Lisbon, Australia and Bangkok. She has written articles on offshore safety after the Macondo disaster, energy markets after Enron, sustainable petroleum development, comparative unitization laws, and traditional oil and gas law topics. Professor Weaver holds a B.A. in Economics from Harvard University and a J.D. degree from the University of Houston. Before joining the University of Houston Law Center, she worked for Exxon Co., USA as an economist in corporate planning and in the marketing department.

Ken Culotta: After both undergraduate and graduate work in literature and languages at the University of Texas and the Albert-Luedwigs Universitaet Freiburg, and playing for the inaugural UT Ultimate Frisbee team, Ken obtained his JD from the University of Texas School of Law in 1985 and began his legal career in the International Department of Baker Botts in Houston.  Under the mentorship of Pat Murphy and John Cogan, Ken experienced opportunities to build skills in cross-border oil and gas and projects at a time when such opportunities were scarce.  With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the consequent global opening to investment post-1989, opportunities became ever and exciting: privatizing Mexican government owned infrastructure, structuring the Azerbaijan International Operating Company and its early oil export pipeline ventures, negotiating the Hamaca Association Agreement in Venezuela, working on gas and power projects in Honduras, Colombia and Ecuador, and other interesting matters.  Ken became a partner at Baker Botts in 1994. 

Together with Cogan, Ken in 1997 established an office for Baker McKenzie in Houston.  He and John brought former LNG client Philip Weems into the practice to enhance their LNG capability in anticipation of then-forecasted US domestic gas shortages.

In 2000 all three moved together to King & Spalding’s fledgling Houston office.    For nearly the next 20 years, Ken, Philip and their partners grew King & Spalding’s Global Projects Practice Group from a small cohort in Houston to over 60 lawyers in nine offices around the world, handling energy projects, transactions and regulatory matters of all kinds and featuring one of theworld’s strongest LNG project capabilities.

Ken retired from law practice in June 2019.  He and Anne currently split their time betweentheir homes in Austin, TX and Sarasota, FL.  

Philip R. Weems is a retired partner of King & Spalding (Houston, Dubai and Singapore), where he was co-head of the firm’s Global Energy Practice and a member of the firm’s Policy Committee.  Philip’s LNG experience included cutting-edge export, transport and import projects around the world.  In the 1990s, he had senior in-house LNG roles in Jakarta, Indonesia (with Atlantic Richfield and Virginia Indonesia Company).  He holds an LL.M. from the University of Sydney, Australia, a J.D., cum laude, from Texas Tech School of Law, and a Certificate of Advanced Study from The American Graduate School of International Management.  He was President of AIPN from 2003-2004, Chairman of the 2002 JOA Revision Committee, and a frequent speaker on natural gas at the AIPN Short Course.  He currently serves as a party-appointed arbitrator in international oil and gas disputes for ICC, AAA and LCIA matters.