Upstream Oil and Gas

IHS Upstream Oil and Gas Consulting offers a full spectrum of advisory services to corporate and government clients operating in the upstream oil and gas sector throughout the world. Each phase of the upstream life cycle comes with its own unique set of challenges, from identifying those exploration opportunities that promise optimal growth to reducing production costs of new and mature fields. Whether you seek to uncover new opportunities, limit drilling risks, optimize the value of your field or assets, or comply with complex regulatory laws overseas, we will work closely with you to craft a total solution that respects your bottom line.

You gain critical support of your business aims in these key areas:

• Strategic consulting
• New venture services
• Field development solutions
• Asset operations consulting
• Regulatory and compliance services
• Energy resource assessment
• Energy market analysis

IHS Upstream Oil and Gas Consulting enables you to:

• Identify, prioritize and target the best future growth opportunities
• Identify, understand and manage risk throughout the asset life cycle
• Realize the optimum value from oil and gas field investments
• Drive down unit development and operating costs for oil and gas production
• Save time, costs and non-compliance fees associated with regulatory compliance
• Leverage the extensive IHS databases, project evaluation tools and project, negotiation and licensing round support

Strategic Consulting - Discover and deliver oil and gas growth opportunities through:

• Worldwide trends and market studies in the oil, gas and energy sectors
• Supply and demand analysis (including dynamic gas planning)
• Foreign investment optimization and license round strategy and promotion for governments
• Corporate acquisition targeting and divestment
• Implementation planning and dynamic modeling
• Risk management and analysis
• Valuation and due diligence

See Case Studies #1-4

New Venture Services - Reduce exploration risk and add value to new ventures.

See Case Studies #5-6

Field Development Solutions - Maximize field and asset values.

See Case Study #7

Asset Operations Consulting - Drive down production costs while ensuring project integrity. 

See Case Study #8

Regulatory Risk and Compliance Services - Ensure legal compliance for your project's entire life cycle.

See Case Study #9

Energy Resource Assessment - Prioritize quickly for investment opportunities (exploration, assets acquisitions, farm-ins) at a basin or play level. We empower you to consider the full range of value drivers, including subsurface resource potential and the full range of aboveground risks.

See Case Study #10

Energy Market Analysis - Identify the trends, drivers and future energy market scenarios that directly affect your business.

See Case Study #11

Contact us for an exploratory meeting.

Case Study #1: Pioneering a New Upstream Strategy

Challenge: A Russian oil company needed a new E&P strategy given that its upstream business increasingly accounted for most of its revenues and costs. Despite ambitions to grow its international business, the client faced several constraints: a regionally focused production base, highly depleted resources and rising operating costs.

Solution: IHS Consulting benchmarked the company's E&P performance against national and global competitors and analyzed underlying performance drivers. We screened nearly 400 global basins with the client to identify opportunities that aligned with the company's capabilities and goals. The screening served as a platform for formulating a new E&P strategy based on geographical focus, acquisition type and level, investment pace, mature field technologies, and partnering.

Results: IHS Consultants provided critical insight on the impact of alternative upstream strategies on key business metrics. As a result, the client defined a new E&P strategy.

Case Study #2: Formulating a Regional Gas Business Strategy

Challenge: A Russian independent needed to create a regional gas business strategy for an area where it had significant oil production.

Solution: IHS Consulting developed a strategic road map for the client, outlining seven distinct strategic alternatives, their full value chain considerations, main value drivers and risks. For each alternative, we presented a rigorous economic risk evaluation so the client could better understand the gas resource potential before committing major investment funds.

Results: Our report enabled the regional business unit and corporate headquarters to align on a regional gas business strategy and to redirect exploration resources and gas plant investments to accommodate the new strategy.

Case Study #3: Deferring a Declining Production Base

Challenge: A key player in the mature Alaskan North Slope, facing declining long term production, needed a renewal strategy to extend its production base.

Solution: IHS Consulting developed a valuation model for the client that defined and assessed the trade-offs for multiple renewable strategies, including the option of building an unconventionals business. We then refined the renewal options to propose various hybrid strategies that would improve operational and financial performance metrics.

Results: The client obtained a strategic road map outlining the trade-offs for alternative renewable strategies and specifying short-term actions needed for resolving major uncertainties. The client used this map to accomplish the near-term milestones, obtaining the information needed to make major long-term investments for the chosen renewal strategy.

Case Study #4: Identifying Fields for GTL Technology Conversion

Challenge: An oil service firm sought to identify potential fields for its new GTL conversion technology. The client needed a clearly identified market of fields containing stranded gas, flared or re-injected gas.

Solution: IHS Consulting helped develop criteria for identifying GTL candidate fields at a country level. Using an IHS database, we created with the client a list of fields that would best use the client's GTL technology.

Results: The client was delighted and could direct employees to begin discussions with the operators of the identified potential fields.

Case Study #5: Extending the Field Life of Mature Offshore Platforms in the North Sea

Challenge: A client with mature offshore platforms in the North Sea needed an in-depth understanding of OPEX and cost drivers for maintenance facilities to estimate the remaining field life of their assets.

Solution: IHS Consulting developed detailed lifecycle OPEX forecasts and identified cost drivers, using OPE$T™, our proprietary OPEX modeling tool.

Results: Our analysis enabled the client to develop an optimum field modification program that extended the remaining field life by 20%. We identified cost reduction opportunities through improved contracting and quantified the impact of the Carbon Credit Regime and Water Discharge Regulations on OPEX.

Case Study #6: Trading Off Value for Cost Reduction: An In-Situ Oil Sands Project

Challenge: A Canadian integrated company wished to craft and evaluate a wide range of development concepts for a large in-situ oil sands project.

Solution: IHS Consulting helped the client construct and evaluate various development concepts, including oversizing steam facility to accelerate peak production, burning alternative fuel to minimize fuel cost and phasing development to minimize lifecycle cost.

Results: The client chose the development concept that minimized project unit life cycle costs with a clear understanding of the trade-offs against other metrics.

Case Study #7: Reducing Operating Costs for a Mature Oil Field

Challenge: A client with a mature offshore oil field producing assets needed help reducing operating costs.

Solution: A joint IHS-client team worked over 16 weeks to review, analyze and model operating costs using Activity-Based Costing (ABC).

Results: The client gained $60 million in savings.

Case Study #8: Gaining Competitive Advantage Through Regulatory Risk Management

Challenge: To manage regulatory risks associated with multibillion-dollar investments, an oil and gas supermajor commissioned IHS Consulting to develop a comprehensive compliance management system.

Solution: In collaboration with the client, IHS Consulting developed a robust software solution tailored to an end users' needs. We populated the system with all applicable laws and standards and conducted detailed regulatory analysis to identify critical requirements.

Results: The IHS Consulting system has been used and updated by the client as an enterprise-wide application since 1999. End-users have reported these key benefits:

• Significant reductions in direct costs
• Operational efficiency improvements
• Effective change management
• Project schedule adherence
• Getting the right information at the right time

Case Study #9: Gas Monetization Strategies

Challenge: A major gas player in Latin America needed to understand the profitability of available gas monetization alternatives. The client also wanted to compare opportunities and regulatory regimes across several countries.

Solution: IHS Consulting generated life-cycle costs estimates and economic analyses for different monetization choices available to the client. We then analyzed different drivers--including regulatory factors--for profitability, uncertainty, and risk.

Results: IHS Consulting's study yielded a detailed strategy and capital allocation program. The client gained a clear understanding of the economic value of different gas monetization options in the region along with risks and opportunities.

Case Study #10: Is This a Smart Acquisition?

Challenge: An established drilling group was considering the acquisition of a drilling contractor with international and onshore drilling capabilities.

Solution: IHS Consulting undertook a thorough evaluation of the drilling markets in the target countries, examining political, export and business risks against the backdrop of prevailing US and international trends and activities.

IHS Petrodata offers the following bespoke consulting services:

Market Analysis – focusing on critical aspects of current and future activity in the world's offshore markets and providing insightful market analysis

Executive Offshore Market Outlook – a customized service for clients who need a complete, in-depth understanding of the market forces at work within the industry

Market Forecasting – custom market outlooks or scenario-based forecasts developed by our Consulting practice

Asset Valuations – services to support asset sales, purchases, and insurance and taxing authority requirements

Expert Services – our highly-regarded experts are sought after for contract arbitration, industry presentations and expert witness testimony

Managed Information Service – access the market intelligence and insight you require from our Consulting practice with the content, timing and format tailored to your needs

Executive Presentations – delivery of our reports' key findings and contents, tailored to meet your specific needs and structured to cater to all levels of knowledge across an executive team

Our analysts also produce several key research products covering significant industry sectors and addressing related ongoing market issues:

Jackup Rig Market Report – examines global and regional supply and demand for the largest segment of the offshore jackup rig fleet

Floating Rig Market Report – focuses on issues associated with the long-term demand and supply trends of all types of semisubmersibles and drillships

Global Supply Vessel Forecast – provides the most up-to-date insight into the evolving supply vessel market

Multi-client Reports – provide objective, quality information, analysis and commentary on topical issues impacting companies involved in the offshore oil and gas industry