Michael B. Smith joined the Houston office of Fowler Rodriguez as Partner in 2011. Mr. Smith practices in the areas of oil and gas law, general litigation, and environmental issues associated with exploration, production, and pipeline operations. His experience includes representing oil and gas operators in property disputes, facility audits, and HSE compliance matters. Mr. Smith also defends claims by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), state agencies, and the U.S. Departments of Interior (DOI), Justice (DOJ) and Transportation (DOT) regarding spills and discharges from offshore rigs and platforms, vessels, and pipelines.

Formerly in-house with Chevron, he represented the company in complex property damage claims as well as regulatory and enforcement cases. Mr. Smith has resolved property contamination lawsuits at former refinery and marketing terminal sites totaling more than $135 million in cleanup liabilities. He also served as common counsel at a Superfund disposal site on behalf of Chevron, Shell, Northrop, and Newpark Resources.

In the oil and gas domain, Mr. Smith represents mineral owners and operators in royalty disputes, leases, and production agreements. He advises offshore operators and service companies on compliance with OCSLA and environmental and safety matters administered by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). He counsels inland oil and gas operators on compliance with “fracking” disclosure and monitoring rules, and works with gas processing plants on compliance with air quality emission rules. Mr. Smith participated in a successful FERC application to build an interstate pipeline to supply CO-2 gas for secondary recovery to fields in the Rocky Mountains.

Mr. Smith served as Chair of the Environmental Law Committee of the Texas Oil & Gas Association (TXOGA) from 2000-2002. He was also Chair of the American Petroleum Industry (API) Environmental Litigation Committee for Offshore Oil & Gas Exploration and Production from 1994-1996. In private practice since 2004, he represents BP’s Gulf of Mexico and North American Gas business units. Other representative clients include Gardner Denver Tools, Plexus Subsea International Ltd., TPC Group, and Northeast REMSCO.

Mr. Smith received his Bachelor of Arts from University of Texas at Austin in 1975 with honors. He then obtained a Master’s degree in City Planning and Land Use from University of California, Berkeley and his Juris Doctor from University of California, Hastings College of Law in 1982, where he was an editor of the Constitutional Law Quarterly.

Recent Publications

• Author: “Outdated Rules Limit Drilling Technology in U.S.” Houston Chronicle Op-Ed. September 10, 2010.
• Co-Author: “Recent Developments in the Primary Jurisdiction Doctrine” Texas Bar Journal: Oil, Gas & Energy Sector Report, December 2001.