Client industry · November 2026
Oil & Gas: who advises the sector
Dated deals for oil & gas clients over the last 12 months, the practices and firms behind them, and how lawyers with this focus moved.
The last 12 months: November 2025 to October 2026
- 1,040
- Dated deals, 12 monthsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- +5.3%
- Year on yearSettled 12-month windows
- $750m
- Median disclosed value
- 411
- Distinct clients
What the data show
Sartori & Partners data count 1,040 dated deals for Oil & Gas clients from November 2025 to October 2026. On settled windows the deal count went from 961 to 1,012 (+5.3%), a change inside the noise of the two counts, so we read it as flat. The deal market as a whole moved +10.6% over the same windows.
By practice, Capital Markets is involved in 41.5% of these deals and Corporate & M&A in 32.3%. By deal type, Capital markets is involved in 40.2% of these deals and M&A in 28.8%.
Deal value was disclosed on 33.3% of them; where disclosed, the median was $750 million. 411 distinct clients appear across the window.
First among advising firms is Latham & Watkins, with deals in the 151-250 band.
Lawyers whose work centers on Oil & Gas changed firm 176 times in the same window. Partners were 56.2% of those moves, against 27.7% across the lateral market. Year on year those moves changed +27.6%.
For a general counsel in Oil & Gas, these are the firms and practices that see the most of the sector's work: the bench to brief, and the bench in-house hires come from.
Firms by rank and band
Each firm appears as a rank and a band, never an exact count, and only with at least 10 moves in the window.
| Rank | Firm | Deals (band) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latham & Watkins | 151-250 |
| 2 | Vinson & Elkins | 101-150 |
| 3 | Kirkland & Ellis | 61-100 |
| 4 | Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher | 41-60 |
| 5 | Baker Botts | 41-60 |
| 6 | Davis Polk & Wardwell | 21-40 |
| 7 | Sidley Austin | 21-40 |
| 8 | White & Case | 21-40 |
| 9 | Simpson Thacher & Bartlett | 21-40 |
| 10 | Milbank | 21-40 |
Related monitors and reports
Deal types
Other industries
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Up one level
Working with us
Reports
- Oil and Gas In-House Lawyers: Houston First, and Mostly Partners
Lawyers whose work centers on oil and gas chose Houston 11.9 times as often as the market did, and their moves rose 27.6% year on year, with partners 56.2% of the movers. An energy company hiring in-house should start its search there and price for seniority.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026 - Oil and Gas Legal Work in 2026: Few Repeat Clients, Big Tickets
Oil and gas deal work comes from a small group of companies that return often and deal large: 2.5 deals for every client, more than in technology or power, and a median disclosed value of $750 million. That gives a repeat client more leverage with its firm than most sectors allow.
November 11, 2026 · November 2026
Edition November 2026. Window: November 2025 to October 2026. Source: Sartori & Partners, from public law-firm announcements, firm websites and professional profiles, checked monthly. Methodology. Spot an error? [email protected].
For general counsel and boards
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