Valkyrie “Kyrie” Buffa

Associate

Emerging Energy & Infrastructure, Environmental, Federal, Regulatory, Transactional & Corporate

Valkyrie “Kyrie” Buffa focuses her practice on regulatory and permitting compliance, royalty valuation, and administrative appeals. Kyrie also handles transactional matters across the energy industry for Beatty & Wozniak. She represents clients in enforcement actions and complex regulatory proceedings before both federal and state agencies and their administrative review boards, and in federal district court.

Kyrie regularly advises energy clients on upstream and midstream regulatory requirements and has experience drafting and reviewing leases, purchase and sale agreements (PSAs), joint operating agreements (JOAs), master service agreements (MSAs), and decommissioning contracts. She also supports clients engaged in New Mexico energy-related rulemaking proceedings.

Before joining the firm, Kyrie practiced in the Houston office of Liskow & Lewis, where she focused on federal offshore leasing and operations in the Gulf, as well as federal trademark law. Before joining our team, she spent time in the oil and gas industry and the environmental non-profit sector, providing her with a well-rounded perspective on energy regulation and development.

Kyrie is an active member of the Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law and the Institute for Energy Law. She earned her law degree from Louisiana State University, where she was awarded membership in the national honor society Order of the Barristers, recognizing excellence in oral and written advocacy. Kyrie graduated with summa cum laude honors from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, where she majored in business.

Education

Louisiana State University, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

  • J.D. – 2022
  • Honors: Order of the Barristers

University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS), Colorado Springs, Colorado

  • B.S. – 2019
  • Honors: summa cum laude
  • Major: Business
  • Minor: Marketing

Bar Admissions

  • Texas, 2023
  • Louisiana, 2022
  • Colorado license pending

Professional Associations

  • Texas Bar College, Member, 2024 to Present
  • Houston Young Lawyers Association (HYLA), Member, 2023 to Present
  • Institute for Energy Law (IEL), Young Energy Professionals (YEP) Member, 2023 to Present
  • Women’s Energy Network (WEN), Corporate Member, 2021 to Present
  • Federal Bar Association FBA), Member, 2022 to Present
  • Bar Association for the Fifth Federal Circuit (BAFFC), Member, 2022 to Present
  • Texas Association of Defense Counsel (TADC), Member, 2023 to Present
  • American Bar Association (ABA), Young Lawyers Division Member, 2022 to Present
  • The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law (FNREL, formerly RMMLF), Member, 2021 to Present

Pro Bono Activities

  • Successfully federally trademarked the Women’s Energy Network’s new sunburst logo (special character service mark U.S. Reg. No. 7,643,308), 2024 to 2025

Honors & Awards

  • National Pretrial Competition, Quarterfinalist, Oct 2021
  • Association of International Energy Negotiators (AIEN, formerly AIPN), Academic Scholarship Awardee, Aug 2021 to May 2022
  • Energy & Mineral Law Foundation (EMLF), Academic Scholarship Awardee, Aug 2021 to May 2022
  • Foundation for Natural Resources & Energy Law (FNREL, formerly RMMLF), Academic Scholarship Awardee, Aug 2021 to May 2022
  • LSU Law Tullis Moot Court Competition, Semifinalist & Best Individual Oralist, Oct 2020
  • LSU Foundation Laborde Energy Law Center, John Laborde Energy Scholarship Awardee, Aug 2020 to May 2021

Published Works

  • Potential Shutdown of GOM Oil and Gas Operations Due to BiOp Vacatur Averted – For Now, The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law (FNREL, formerly RMMLF), Natural Resources Law Network, 2024
  • Permitting, Offtake Among Offshore Wind Challenges In 2024, Law360, LexisNexis, Expert Analysis, 2024
  • How Litigation, Supply Chains Buffeted Offshore Wind In 2024, Law360, LexisNexis, Expert Analysis, 2024
  • Adding Solar: The Role of the National Environmental Policy Act in Solar Development, Resources for the Future (RFF), Working Paper 23-45, 2023
  • First-Ever Gulf of Mexico Wind Auction Results in Only 1 Wind Lease Offshore Louisiana. What Happens Next?, Energy Law Advisor, Institute for Energy Law, Vol. 17 No. 4, 2023
  • MADE IN AMERICA: U.S.-Built Offshore Wind Substation and Support Vessels Start to Set Sail for Federal Waters, The Energy Dispatch, Institute for Energy Law (IEL) Young Energy Professionals Committee (YEP), August, 2023