Recently, there’s been a slew of news supporting new acquisition activity in the North Sea oil and upstream sector. The Financial Times reported on a ‘changing of the North Sea Guard’ to new enterprises backed by private equity, including from the Carlyle Group and CVC Capital: Here’s the full article on FT.com
There’s also the news that RockRose Energy has now purchased 100% of Marathon Oil, making them a new contender in the North Sea Oil Basin.
Every day, more ambitious new buyers announce acquisitions of assets from established companies in the North Sea basin. It’s a change that hasn’t been seen for some time in the North Sea, which some felt was exhausting its resources and investment. But this new interest further secures and galvanizes the future of North Sea oil business and fields and thousands of jobs in Aberdeen and beyond.
Overcoming systems management challenges for new North Sea Oil and Gas companies
These new players that have come on the scene will need to work quickly to make the most of their acquisitions. This means they’ll need to get all their systems online and running seamlessly. A new acquisition introduces various asset management and accounting challenges for North Sea il and as E&P companies:
- What’s the shortest time to get our systems up and running?
- How can we migrate essential data over from the old companies’ files?
- Can the systems be consolidated so that we get full control?
- What will be the challenges that we are going to come across in integrating our systems?
- Are there ways to make this process as painless as possible?
- Will we have access to the same, or better, functionality after the migration is complete?
When companies purchase assets and attempt to integrate new information into their existing databases and operational systems – it’s never usually plain sailing. It can throw up problems from inaccurate inventory reporting to disparate financial systems showing multiple versions of the truth. In order to ensure that you aren’t introducing errors and problems, it will be necessary to do an audit of what systems you have and what the company you are purchasing from has been using, and whether it would be right to continue to use your existing software – or whether a new solution is required to take into account these new acquisitions.
Getting the right software for the job
Whether you are striking out into new territories, becoming an operator or adding to your portfolio of existing assets, it’s paramount that you have the right systems to keep your finance, supply chain and asset management functions running smoothly. Progressive TSL adopts a consultative approach to oil and gas E&P management by looking at the whole picture of your upstream activities. From this, we can advise you on the best system for the job – whether that be Infor SunSystems, IBM Maximo, Infor EAM or a combination of systems for various aspects of your business.
Progressive TSL’s dedicated North Sea Oil and Gas framework approach
We are completely dedicated to the oil and gas industry, so unlike other companies, you will not get a one size fits all solution, but something that is exactly tailored to your requirements. We start with a framework that’s already designed for oil and gas E&P clients, then work with you to find a solution that best fits your working practices. We have a great deal of experience in the North Sea area so we can consult with you to ensure you get the very best outcome, either from your existing systems or from a new implementation.
Maximising your North Sea investment: Hansa Hydrocarbons (now part of Discover Explorations)
When Hansa came to Progressive TSL, they were a start-up that had assets across the Southern North Sea and Onshore Northern Europe. We helped them through consultancy to choose the right solution to help to keep their business on an even keel while they were expanding.
They were already using Infor SunSystems but not to optimal performance for an oil and gas business. We reviewed what they had, and made recommendations on how to modify the system to better suit their size and operational structure.
- We assigned an expert in Oil & Gas finance systems and reporting to carry out modifications
- We assured that the solution was future-proofed so that it would be responsive to Hansa’s changing business size
- We fixed all their data inaccuracies and ensured data integrity across the business
- We tidied up all existing accounts and erased redundant ones
- optimised the Vision reporting tools to enable them to quickly generate data for analysis and support joint interest billings
- We also included training and ongoing support to keep them achieving their goal of becoming a specialist in the North Sea and to grow their business: Read the full Progressive TSL case study
New North Sea investments mark a renewed interest in an E&P area which was thought to be depleted and saturated with older companies. It shows there’s life in the old girl yet, and we hope for many years to come.
We are currently working with other businesses in the North Sea, providing consultancy and software to keep the next generation of oil and gas companies afloat. These include Siccar Point Energy, Chrysaor and MOL Energy UKIf you’re a new player to the North Sea or an existing one, our dedicated consultative approach to your business, finance and asset management systems will be of great benefit. Whether you would like to optimise your existing ones or start again from scratch, contact us for advice. We are experts in Infor SunSystems & Infor EAM (In fact, we are an Infor Gold Channel Partner) and IBM Maximo (we are an IBM Silver Business Partner.)
