Hydrocarbon Resource Investment Analysis

IHS HydrocarbonResource Assessment harnesses the unique abilities of IHS CERA consultants. These experts combine their broad experience in evaluating plays, basins and countries on a global basis with IHS proprietary decision support tools and databases to build custom frameworks that facilitate client investment decisions.

Clients gain strategic support to:

• Rapidly prioritize investment opportunities, based on a rigorous and consistent analysis
• Continually test the prioritization list through updated data
• Communicate new information with rich, clear insights to facilitate organizational buy-in

IHS HydrocarbonResource Assessment
enables clients to:

• Directly compare opportunities in different basins, countries or situations
• Prioritize and rank a diverse set of opportunities within an exploration portfolio
• Rapidly assess and rank available blocks within a licensing round
• Evaluate opportunities for unconventional gas production
• Make confident decisions based on our cost-effective and thorough analysis

Our Unique Value Proposition:
Our key differentiator is that we have a unique combination of extensive internally derived data, industry research, effective analytical tools and broad E&P expertise.
Benefits to the client are they receive a full characterization of resource opportunities including fields in all phases of development and yet-to-be-found fields, historical and geographic context combined with clear assumptions driving reasoned, auditable forecasts. We also provide integration of resource quantification, cost and value determination and subjective below-ground and above-ground risks.

Learn more about our experts, sample projects, or contact us for an exploratory meeting.

Rick Chamberlain, Vice President, IHS CERA Consulting, brings 29 years of upstream, operations, and strategic management consulting experience. Prior to joining CERA, Rick was a Senior Engagement Manager in Strategic Decisions Group’s (SDG) oil and gas practice. Before SDG, he spend 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. Rick holds a BS and MS in Geology from Iowa State University. 

Bill Aylor, Managing Consultant, IHS CERA Consulting, has over 30 years of geoscience, subsurface, technology, and strategic management consulting experience. Prior to joining IHS, Bill was a geoscientist and manager at Amoco and Texaco for 24 years, with postings in Egypt, Houston, Tulsa and Midland. He held brief positions with an independent oil company and a startup geophysical service company. While at Amoco he was directly or indirectly responsible for numerous wildcat discoveries with reserves of over 250 million bbl equivalent oil, plus process improvements that materially impacted the company’s success and reserves position. He was a SPE Distinguished Lecturer in 2000. Bill holds a BS degree and completed the Executive mini-MBA Program at Rice University. 

Curtis Smith, Managing Consultant of IHS CERA Consulting Americas and Asia Pacific, helps companies assess strategic opportunities and forecast production and costs by leveraging the extensive US and international databases which are owned and maintained by IHS. Prior to joining IHS Consulting, Mr. Smith held consulting appointments in various energy sectors. His oil and gas experience includes work at ConocoPhillips and Marathon Company, oil majors and with major law firms in the Houston area. Mr. Smith has an MS in Geology from Brigham Young University.

Bob Fryklund, Vice President of Upstream Research, IHS CERA, has over 30 years of industry experience. Mr. Fryklund's focus is on global upstream strategic leadership and opportunity access and assessment. Prior to joining IHS, he served as Libya president and as Brazil country manager for ConocoPhillips. He also has held various leadership positions with British Borneo, Union Texas and Amerada Hess. He is a member of the Houston Geological Society and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and has published numerous articles in three languages. A recognized expert on upstream oil and gas production, he frequently speaks at key industry meetings, such as the World Economic Forum, CERAWeek, IHS Herold Pacesetters Energy Conference, the Offshore Technology Conference and the American Association of Petroleum Geologists conference. Mr. Fryklund holds an AB from Hamilton College, has completed advanced studies from the University of Houston and the University of Tulsa, and holds an advanced certificate in management.

Leta Smith, Director, IHS CERA Global Oil Group, oversees and delivers research for the E&P Trends Forum. She brings 16 years of upstream research and consulting experience in both the gas and oil industries. Leta was a Senior Consultant in the IHS Consulting practice and previously with the IHS international data division. She holds a BA in geology from San Francisco State University and a PhD in geology from the University of Wyoming. She is a licensed professional geologist in the states of Wyoming and Texas.

Learn more about our sample projects, or contact us for an exploratory meeting.

Client Challenge:

• Define and rank plays and basins
• Characterize above ground risk issues, such as security risk, transportation bottlenecks and regulatory compliance
• Rank companies considering trends in wells drilled, success rates, reserves added and acreage held in attractive plays
• Rank fields considering remaining reserves, production decline rates, reserves per well and and well-drilling activity
• Rank exploration contract blocks considering expiry dates and location within play fairways.
• Determine alternate strategic options and value these options

See Case Study #1

Client Challenge:

• Characterize shale formations in the basins of the target country in terms of rock and geochemical properties
• Compare these basins and plays with more mature shale gas plays in North America, assigning analogs for each target shale play
• Using these analogs, predict well spacing, completion methods, costs, recoverable gas and production rates per well and per play
• Determine costs and economics based on country fiscal regimes
• Assess non-technical risk factors in the country, addressing infrastructure, service industry capability, transportation and regulatory issues

See Case Study # 2

Client Challenge:

• Rapid prioritization of investment opportunities (exploration, asset acquisitions, farm-ins) at a basin or play fairway level
• Rigorous analysis of technical, fiscal, commercial, regulatory and security factors to develop prioritization list
• Regularly updated information in response to rapid changes in the E&P environment to test prioritization and to respond quickly to opportunities
• Delivery of information with rich, clear insights to facilitate organizational buy-in

See Case Study #3 – Shale Gas Ranking
See Case Study #4 – Gas Monetization Study
See Case Study #5 – Where to invest?

Client Challenge:

• Obtain an independent view of markets and business environments, strategy viability and acquisition tactics and deal value to the buyer
• Identify and reduce acquisition risks through:

• Business intelligence
• Commercial evaluation
• Planning
• Market- and asset-based valuations

See Case Study #6

Client Challenge:
Rank blocks and finalize bids for a licensing round in a particular country within a limited time frame

IHS Consultants can help you:

• Evaluate plays with yet-to-find (YTF) reserves combined with economic analysis, to rank the blocks and finalize your bids

Contact us for an exploratory meeting.

Case Study #1:Characterize E&P Performance and Trends in Latin American Country and Devise E&P Strategy

Challenge: A major oil company with E&P activity in a Latin American country wanted to provide an independent view of how it compared to other companies operating in the country and wished to understand which were the best plays, fields, and operators to determine the best point forward E&P strategy.
Solution:  Using the IHS databases and geological, commercial and regulatory expertise, IHS Consulting fully characterized current trends in activity and the relative success of operators there, placing the client’s success in context with others operators. We defined plays and ranked basins and plays according to activity, relative success factors, potential yet to find and above ground risk such as commercial, political and regulatory risk.  Based on this characterization and activity data, we developed a number of strategic options, which we discussed with the client to recommend the best future strategy.
Results: The client used the options to shift focus in the country from one basin to another and identified a number of new exploration blocks for acquisition or farm-in.

Case Study #2:Unconventional Hydrocarbon Study for a Large Asian Country

Challenge: The client asked IHS Consulting to assist in evaluating unconventional gas potential in country X
Solution: 
IHS Consulting delivered an overview of global industry unconventional trends by characterizing major North American unconventional plays regarding key rock and geochemical properties, production yield and principal technologies used. We determined key business drivers and unique requirements for building a material business by describing North American play evolution through case studies, identification of major players, determination of keys to success (and failure), unit costs and economics. We also described key attributes associated with unconventional plays, namely whether they were statistical, manufacturing, or infrastructure plays. We gave a high-level overview of unconventional resource potential of country X by defining and characterizing unconventional plays through publication research and addressing service industry capabilities, as well as competitor activity. Finally, we provided high-level organizational capability and gap analysis by describing client capabilities compared to the identified skills and resources needed to succeed

Results: The client used the study to move forward with unconventional development in country X, addressing plays with the highest identified potential, learning from North American case histories and addressing organizational shortcomings.

Case Study #3:Extracting the Highest Potential
Challenge: An international shale gas client needed to identify global shale gas opportunities.
Solution: IHS Consulting performed a bottom-up analysis of primary shale gas plays, including extraction data, location, key players and ranking.
Results: This client expanded its shale gas business significantly by engaging key players and aggressively marketing its drilling, completion and development capabilities in areas of high shale gas activity.

Case Study #4: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.
Situation: IHS Consulting generated life cycle costs estimates and economic analysis for different monetization choices available to the client. We then analyzed different drivers--including regulatory factors--for profitability, uncertainty and risk, highlighting a strategy to capture the upside and minimize risk.
Results: Our 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 as well as risks and associated opportunities.

Case Study #5: Where Should We Invest?
Challenge: IHS Consulting has been asked on numerous occasions to provide studies for financial institutions that were considering investing in retail, distribution, refining and E&P assets.
Solution: Our analyses have included supply and demand trends, price projections, competitor analysis, industry assessments and evaluation of the target companies.
Results: The clients gained a report that prioritized investments based on optimal resource potential and minimum range of risks.

Case Study #6:Evaluating a Russian Opportunity
Challenge: A North American independent E&P client needed help to evaluate its first opportunity in Russia.
Solution: IHS Consulting leveraged the IHS CERA flagship advisory service, Russian and Caspian Energy, to provide both technical and commercial advice.
Results: The client was able to make faster, less-risky decisions by gaining insight beyond simple compliance into matters such as key business drivers, above-ground risks and execution concerns affecting the opportunity's value-creating potential. 

Case Study #7:Quick Prioritization of Licensing Round Blocks
Challenge: A large independent oil company faced an upcoming licensing round in country X with a very short time frame to rank blocks and finalize bids.
Solution: IHS Consulting evaluated the plays using yet-to-find (YTF) reserves, which we supported with additional economic analysis.
Results: The client was able to confidently rank blocks and finalize its bids within the deadline.