Haynes Boone Lures Oil Company Executive to Lead Venezuela Team

Haynes Boone hired an energy company ex-chief legal counsel to help clients enter newly-open oil and mining markets in Venezuela.

Sudan Maccio, a Venezuelan native dual-licensed in Texas and Venezuela, joins the firm as a partner in Houston after nearly two years at PetroTal Corp. He leads the law firm’s global Venezuela energy and infrastructure task force.

“The energy investment to Venezuela is going to pass through Houston because of the expertise in oil and gas and how close Venezuela is, not only geographically, but culturally,” Maccio said in an interview.

Big Law firms in Texas launched Venezuela task forces in January after the US arrest of President Nicolás Maduro. Haynes Boone pooled lawyers in Houston, Dallas, New York, Washington DC, London and Mexico City to respond to clients interested in the geopolitical impact of the arrest and the prospect of energy investment in Venezuela.

The Trump administration has since pushed to revive Venezuela’s oil industry, lifting restrictions on investment and on the purchase of crude from the country. Texas-based oil giants Exxon Mobil Corp. in March and ConocoPhillips in April sent teams to assess Venezuelan opportunities decades after asset seizures by the government.

Sudan Maccio

Haynes Boone now has more than 30 lawyers on its Venezuela task force across energy and natural resources, banking and finance, international trade and sanctions, corporate, M&A, litigation, and regulatory compliance and enforcement. “My expectation is that the practice will grow,” Maccio said. “This is part of the big wave we see coming.”

Maccio before working at the Houston-headquartered oil and gas development company PetroTal spent more than nine years working in Caracas for PDVSA, the Venezuelan state-owned oil company.

He also previously served as a Houston adviser to Baker Hughes Co., Italy’s Eni, and Colombia’s state oil producer Ecopetrol. He has advised on international transactions, refining, and petrochemical assets for more than 30 years.

Maccio has joined the Haynes Boone energy, power and natural resources group. He said he aims to help clients “navigate the complexities of the US side of the legal equation,” involving sanctions, the identification of Venezuelan resources, regulations, and laws to create value for hopeful investors.

Venezuela on April 9 approved a mining law to draw private and foreign investment. Houston-based Chevron on April 13 agreed to an asset swap with Venezuela to expand oil operations in the country. The following day, the US eased sanctions on Venezuela to allow parties to conduct transactions with the country’s central bank.