Hogan Lovells has gained a counsel in Denver who specializes in infrastructure, energy, resources, and project finance transactions.
Seth Belzley worked as an associate at Hogan Lovells from 2005 to 2008 before leaving to become senior vice president and assistant general counsel at TransMontaigne. Belzley will advise clients on transportation and terminaling for crude oil and refined products, forward physical contracts, and exchange agreements, and will also represent parties in mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures in the energy and resources sectors.
In an exclusive interview with IFLR1000, Belzley reflected on his in-house experience and the considerations that swayed him to return to his former employer.
"The company I'd been working with, TransMontaigne, was owned by Morgan Stanley Capital Group, part of their commodities trading division. They have commodities traders who buy and sell physical petroleum liquids around the world, among other lines of business," Belzley said. "We were involved in their North American activities, in Canada, across the U.S., and in Mexico. We had involvement with folks in London and Europe who were doing the same kind of work."
Last year, Morgan Stanley announced its intention to restructure its physical commodities business, he noted. The company has a pending transaction with Russian oil firm Rosneft concerning the sale of some of physical trading capabilities, and has completed the sale of TransMontaigne to Tulsa-based NGL Energy Partners. Belzley said these deals prompted him to have a dialogue with himself about what opportunities existed in Denver to continue the domestic and global energy work in which he specializes.
"My practice has primarily focused on the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, but it has had a more international flavor as well," Belzley commented. "I asked myself where in Denver I could continue to do that kind of work. Hogan is the right platform for me, it's got a solid and growing energy practice in Denver, and I now have colleagues around the world who are doing the same work that I do," he added.
Belzley cited his seven years of working with traders and businesspeople attempting to figure out how to approach complex commercial transactions as a key qualification.
"We just saw the price of oil decrease fairly rapidly over the last couple of weeks. What impact do such price fluctuations have on commercial deals, infrastructure projects for example or pending acquisitions, and how do you structure transactions to contemplate those kinds of things and protect your client?" said Belzley.