Chris Walcot, Progressive TSL’s CEO, was recently interviewed by Ed Reed, Africa and LNG Editor at Energy Voice.
Here are some highlights from the interview which covered Progressive TSL’s agility in responding to changes in the energy sector and how we support our clients unique regulatory and operational challenges across different regions of Africa and Europe. The interview featured examples of our work with SEPLAT and Chrysaor.
Progressive TSL’s uniqueness as a solutions provider
“What makes us unique is that we do everything around it as well. We have IT capabilities and we’ve got consultants who really know the oil and gas business, who understand the challenges. Companies often come to us when carrying out acquisitions when they’re looking at process challenges and having controls that are enforced
How Progressive TSL responded to fluctuations in oil prices
“The nature of Progressive TSL’s work has changed in response to the cycles in the oil prices. Before the crash, more of the company’s work was driven by transactions, acquisitions, divestments. Progressive was able to provide an understanding of data and how to migrate information. As prices fell, the company found it was more in demand to help companies make cost savings. This manifests in areas such as inventory and procurement control.” With prices stabilising, companies must focus on how to hold on to those lessons that have been learnt. “Organisations need to keep controls when expanding and managing it effectively this time.”
How companies can benefit from our knowledge of regional operations
“There are unique challenges around working in deserts, for instance, environmental challenges data connectivity all those things have a unique aspect. Some countries have challenging regulatory requirements, things like complex tax requirements, which you need to be able to address and address effectively. If you’ve not done it before, that can be very daunting.”
“We’re able to take the learnings from previous projects (Progressive TSL has worked with over fifty energy companies) and reuse them and it means we can do them to a high quality but also be able to deploy systems and new processes and controls quickly.”
Working towards growth
SEPLAT came to Progressive about 18 months before their IPO listing. “We helped them initially to put a finance system in place and, as they’ve evolved, we’ve helped them move through a series of other stages, with procurement and inventory management.”
On tight project timelines
The company worked with Chrysaor on its $3 billion acquisition of a package of assets in the North Sea, from Shell, which completed in 2017. This type of work has much tighter deadlines, with Walcot saying there is a date in the diary when it has to be completed, and you have to make sure that everything’s in place to meet that deadline”.
To benefit from Progressive TSL’s energy expertise grow your business with best of breed finance, asset management and supply chain business systems – contact us
