Scot Anderson is the Office Managing Partner in Denver. Decades of work in oil, gas, and mining gives Scot a deep understanding of the extractives industries and their role in the energy transition. Scot advises clients on commercial transactions, including the acquisition, divestiture, and financing of natural resource projects. His work on project development covers finance, regulatory compliance, permitting, and operational, commercial and joint venture agreements. He also represents clients in administrative proceedings and federal, state, and tribal courts.
Scot regularly advises on projects throughout the Americas, Europe, Australia, Africa, and Asia. He is also working on the development of natural resources in outer space. Prior to joining Womble, Scot was a partner at a global Am Law 50 firm and served as global head of their Energy and Natural Resources industry sector group. He also has ten years of in-house experience at a major international oil and gas company.
Scot is a past president of the Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law. He routinely delivers lectures, presentations, and publications on natural resources matters and is an honorary lecturer at the University of Dundee Centre for Energy, Petroleum, and Mineral Law and Policy.
Active in his community, Scot works with the International Senior Lawyers Project to provide legal support and extractives related capacity building for developing economies, including Afghanistan, Liberia, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. He is also engaged with organizations focusing on expanding opportunities for education in Colorado and Africa.
Scot serves as Energy and Natural Resources Metals & Mining Subsector Co–Head.
Representative Experience
Any result the lawyer or law firm may have achieved on behalf of clients in other matters does not necessarily indicate similar results can be obtained for other clients.
- Provided substantial engagement on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan relating to mining, oil and gas development, and renewable power projects.
- Assisted in the acquisition, development, and financing of oil and gas operations in the United States, Mexico, Argentina, Algeria, United Kingdom, Tunisia, Equatorial Guinea, Canada, France, Chile, and Brazil.
- Advised clients on the permitting, development, and financing of hard rock mines in Colorado, Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, North Carolina, Utah, and Wyoming.
- Assisted a global manufacturing company in securing battery metals for the energy transition, including offtake arrangement, financing of mining project, and investment in project development.
- Assisted companies in new technologies in the natural resources sector, such as carbon capture, reprocessing abandoned mine tailings, and mineral exploration through remote sensing from outer space.
- Assisted in a complex transaction related to the sale of water rights to a municipality in return for credits for future water use.
- Assisting in the development and permitting of a green field mining project on checkerboarded lands in Wyoming.
- Represented a Native American tribe in resource development, including negotiation of oil and gas leases and development of related midstream infrastructure on tribal, private, and federal land.
Professional & Civic Engagement
- Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law (formerly the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation), Board of Directors (President, 2021-2022)
- University of Dundee Centre for Energy, Petroleum, and Mineral Law and Policy, Honorary Lecturer
- International Senior Lawyers Project
Honors & Awards
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America: Lawyer of the Year in Energy Law, Denver, 2024
- Chambers USA, Energy & Natural Resources – Colorado, Band 1, 2021-Present
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America: Energy Law, Native American Law, and Oil & Gas Law
- Named a Top Lawyer – Natural Resources by 5280, 2016- Present
- Legal 500 US, Energy Transactions: Oil and Gas, 2016-2021
- Denver Business Journal, Who’s Who in Energy, 2016-2021
Thought Leadership
- Co-Author, “Between the Metals and the Deep Blue Sea – The Role of Seabed Mining and Its Impacts in the Energy Transition,” Proceedings of the 69th Annual Natural Resources and Energy Law Institute, Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law, 2023
- Media Mention, “Green Hub: Navigating ESG Politics: The US Predicament,” The Legal 500
- Anderson, S.W., Christensen, K.J., La Manna, J., Wood, K., Gilbert, A., Bazilian, M. (2023). Policy, Legal Processes and Precedents for Space Mining. In: Badescu, V., Zacny, K., Bar-Cohen, Y. (eds) Handbook of Space Resources. Springer, Cham.
- Anderson, S. et al. (2022). The United States: Mining Laws. In: Tiess, G., Majumder, T., Cameron, P. (eds) Encyclopedia of Mineral and Energy Policy. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
- Author, “ISLP Contributes to New Toolkit on State Equity Participation in African Mining Companies,” International Senior Lawyers Project, June 22, 2022
- Co-Author, “The Development of Natural Resources in Outer Space,” Environmental Law Reporter, Sept. 1, 2021
- Media Mention, “The battle for Mars: How Elon Musk, Blue Origin, and the U.S. could set up the first extraterrestrial government,” The Independent, December 23, 2020
- Co-Author, “Suspensions of federal and Indian oil and gas leases,” Hogan Lovells Publications, April 23, 2020
- Media Mention, “Exxon, Mnuchin, lawmakers weigh in ahead of Trump oil meeting,” Energywire, April 3, 2020
- Media Mention, “How earth-bound mining lawyers think about space mining,” MINING.com, January 3, 2020
- Co-Author, “The “Space Resources Institute Act” and the Future of Space Mining,” Global Policy Journal, April 16, 2019
- Co-Author, “Constructing a Robust Legal Framework for the New Energy Economy,” ColoradoBiz, September 18, 2018
- Co-Author, “The New Energy Economy,” ColoradoBiz Magazine, August 31, 2018
- Co-Author, “The America First Energy Policy of the Trump Administration,” The Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law, May 25, 2017
- Media Mention, “Tribes may have more say in projects after Dakota pipeline,” Law360, September 12, 2016
- Media Mention, “Hogan Lovells again taps a local attorney to oversee energy practice,” Denver Business Journal, May 29, 2015
