What’s Next for Financial Sponsors in the Energy Sector?

Justin Pettit

Vice President, Strategic Advisory & Transaction Support, IHS

Justin Pettit, Vice President of Strategic Advisory and Transaction Support for IHS Consulting, advises financial sponsors, sovereign wealth funds, corporate boards and senior executives on corporate and portfolio strategy, valuation, M&A and major capital decisions. He is also an expert in JVs, financial strategy and capital market issues, strategic risk management, economic performance measurement and management and strategic transformation.

Mr. Pettit’s advisory career has focused at the intersection of corporate strategy and corporate finance for a wide range of clients around the world. Originally a process technology and development engineer in the auto industry, he moved to corporate development with Norcen Energy Resources after his MBA.

Mr. Pettit is the author of two books, Merge Ahead: Mastering the Five Enduring Trends of Artful M&A (McGraw-Hill 2009), and Strategic Corporate Finance: Applications in Valuation & Capital Structure (Wiley 2007).  He is a contributing editor for the journal, Strategy + Business, has been published in over a dozen business journals, including Harvard Business Review and Morgan Stanley’s Journal of Applied Corporate Finance. He is also a referee for The Journal of Quantitative Finance and The Journal of Pension Economics and Finance. 

A popular guest lecturer at business schools and public conferences such as the Brookings Institute, Financial Management Association and Finance Executives Institute, Mr. Pettit leads topics in strategy, valuation, capital markets, risk management and financial policy.

Rick Chamberlain

Vice President, Upstream Oil and Gas Consulting - Americas

Rick Chamberlain, Vice President of IHS Cera’s Upstream Oil and Gas Consulting Practice, leads a highly experienced team of consultants, comprised of geologists, engineers, economists and lawyers. The team uses comprehensive IHS databases, combined with IHS Insight and Analysis and propriety software to assist clients in moving quickly toward high quality investment decisions.  Mr. Chamberlain’s expertise covers upstream Oil and gas, unconventionals, asset valuation, LNG, risk assessment and strategy development.

Previously, Rick was a Senior Engagement Manager in Strategic Decisions Group’s (SDG) Oil and Gas Practice. Prior to SDG, he spent 19 years managing exploration and development programs, designing EOR programs, developing strategic plans for North American Business Units and consulting worldwide on project management issues with Chevron Corporation. In his current position, he assists leadership teams in making quality “big-bet” decisions by crafting value-creating alternatives and understanding the impact of risks.

In addition, his team provides buyers of Energy and Natural Resource companies and assets an independent view on markets and business environment, viability of strategies and tactics of the acquisition target, and value of the deal  to the buyer, while identifying and reducing risks inherent to acquisitions.”

Michael Wang

Director, SEAM Research, IHS Herold, Norwalk, CT

Michael Wang is a Director of Significant Energy Assets on the Market (SEAM) Research at IHS Herold, specializing in market intelligence and valuation analysis of large oil and gas assets and companies. Since 2000, Mr. Wang has provided SEAM valuation analysis on more than 1,000 oil and gas assets and companies around the world. In addition to his research roles, he has provided clients with consulting services on the valuation of specific oil and gas assets. Mr. Wang is IHS Herold’s expert on Asian national oil companies and their acquisition strategies with a special focus on investment-related matters, including global M&A opportunities. He is a regular speaker on Oil & Gas M&A activity and trends at international oil & gas conferences. Before joining IHS, Mr. Wang worked for more than a decade in US and international and corporate finance and private equity roles for a number of investment banking and consulting firms, including Merrill Lynch & Co. and Price Waterhouse Cooper.

Kurt Barrow

Managing Director, Downstream Energy, IHS Consulting, Houston, TX

Kurt Barrow leads the Projects Group at IHS Consulting which provides downstream M&A due diligence support services. Formerly at Purvin & Gertz, Mr. Barrow focuses on crude oil, refining and refined products market analysis and is the manager of the firm’s global mid/long-range oil price forecasting. He is co-author of the U.S. Midcontinent Crude Oil Market Analysis report, which focuses on the impact of rising shale oil production and logistics constraints. He began his career at the Exxon Baytown Refinery in engineering and planning roles and worked in both the Purvin & Gertz’ Houston and Singapore offices. Mr. Barrow holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Kansas State University and an MBA from the University of Houston.