Andrews Kurth is pleased to announce that Christopher F. Richardson, general counsel for an international oil & gas company, is joining the firm’s Houston office as a partner.

Mr. Richardson has more than twelve years of international and domestic oil & gas experience gained both in private practice and in-house with major oil companies. Immediately prior to joining the firm, Mr. Richardson was a senior executive and chief legal counsel for Mubadala Petroleum, a multi-billion dollar international oil & gas company owned by the Abu Dhabi government.

“Chris’s in-house experience with two energy companies, combined with his background handling sophisticated matters while in private practice, gives him an excellent perspective for assisting our clients. He has handled a broad array of energy transactions globally, and we look forward to having him on our energy team,” said Bob Jewell, Managing Partner.

Mr. Richardson will continue to focus his practice on project development, mergers and acquisitions, LNG projects, negotiations with or on behalf of foreign governments and sovereign wealth funds, strategic joint ventures and investments, upstream and midstream contracts, and corporate governance and compliance matters on a global basis.

Before his role as General Counsel in Abu Dhabi, Chris spent nearly two years with Occidental Petroleum in Houston and Qatar. From 2004-2012, Mr. Richardson was a lawyer at Houston-based Vinson & Elkins LLP, where he advised clients on cross-border oil and gas transactions worldwide and assisted the firm in establishing its Hong Kong office, where he was resident for over five years.

“I’ve been fortunate to represent clients on a variety of complex energy matters across more than 30 jurisdictions worldwide,” said Mr. Richardson who has advised clients on high profile matters throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Russia and Central Asia, and the Americas. “It is very exciting to be joining Andrews Kurth and its dynamic and growing worldwide energy practice.”

Mr. Richardson earned his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law and his bachelor’s degree from Tulane University.