Transactions & Valuations Consulting

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Helping you make informed decisions about major hydrocarbon investments and M&A opportunities

The upstream oil and gas industry is in the midst of one of its largest transitions. Sustained low oil prices continue to challenge existing business models, forcing companies to reexamine their value propositions, portfolios and strategies. At the same time, the low oil price environment has opened up attractive possibilities for acquiring energy assets.

S&P Global can help you evaluate major hydrocarbon investments and screen upstream M&A opportunities with our independent, quantitative due diligence analysis that focuses especially on underlying energy value drivers and risks. Our services are underpinned by our extensive in-house data, analytics and tools, ranging from global E&P data and asset valuation to transactions data and research.

We provide:

Technical and commercial due diligence – Evaluation of resources, development plans, costs, regulatory landscape and the underlying markets
Asset and corporate valuations – Bottom-up valuations for oil and gas assets worldwide, upstream energy company valuations using trading multiples, asset valuations based on precedent transaction metrics, leveraging our database of 40,000+ M&A transactions over the past 20 years
Support through M&A cycle – Support for screening, origination, executing and negotiating deals to a close, including bid support and post-acquisition integration

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Services

Technical and Commercial Due Diligence

The fall in oil prices has seen a commensurate rise in energy assets for sale as companies strive to deleverage and refocus their portfolios. While some areas, such as the Permian, are seeing a flurry of activity, elsewhere activity is hampered by a lack of access to capital. Deal activity is slowly increasing, however, led by private equity buyers and majors/NOCs with sizeable cash reserves. Oil price volatility has made it difficult for participants to achieve consensus on value and outlook, and the shortage of availability of equity and debt financing has meant that IOCs have been experiencing liquidity issues.

S&P Global experts offer a suite of comprehensive technical and commercial due diligence services to help you evaluate hydrocarbon investments and M&A opportunities. Our approach to due diligence is very strategic in that we pay particular attention to the underlying assumptions that drive value. S&P Global is uniquely positioned to integrate subsurface, costs and development, technological and commercial evaluation. We provide an independent view that helps our clients to maximize their global investments.

Find answers to questions, such as:

What are the key value drivers and strategic intent behind this M&A deal?
What is the technical quality of the asset(s) for sale?
What are the key technical and commercial risks and upsides associated with the investment?
What’s the size of the market into which I am about to buy?
What will it cost to develop this asset?
What is the business environment and regulatory landscape?

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Asset and Corporate Valuations

Our experts can help you assess the value of a specific oil or gas asset (portfolio or company). We generate and validate critical assumptions for evaluation, such as production profiles, development costs, pricing and macroeconomic outlooks. We also provide an independent value assessment through customized valuation models that combine detailed discounted cash flow and multiples-based evaluations.

Support through M&A cycle

S&P Global upstream consultants provide support from bid to post-acquisition:

Screening of potential opportunities
Help with origination efforts
Support through transaction execution phase
Negotiation support
Board approval support and validation of investment decision
Ongoing support for managing portfolio assets including (but not limited to):
- Project development
- Regulatory compliance, risk analysis and quantification
- Strategy
- Technical/reservoir management
- Cost estimation
- Ongoing energy market analysis of trends, risks and more

Experts

Justin Pettit

Justin is an advisor to the oil & gas industry with more than twenty-five years of experience as a management consultant, bulge-bracket investment banker and oil company corporate development executive.After working internationally as a process engineer, Justin entered the oil & gas sector as a senior business planner with Norcen Energy Resources. He went on to a successful career on Wall Street, making Partner at a boutique restructuring firm, serving as Global Head of Strategic Advisory for UBS Investment Bank (IBD) and co-leading Booz & Company's global M&A advisory service line, as a Lead Partner in the energy and chemicals practice. Justin is the author of three business books - most recently, "The Final Frontier: E&P's Low-Cost Operating Model" (Wiley, 2018) and is Associate Editor on the Editorial Committee of the journal, "Energy GeoScience." He holds a BASc (mechanical engineering) from University of Toronto and MBA from Western University (Canada).

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Daniel Pratt

Daniel has 20 years of experience in the Upstream sector, helping build relationships with clients and supporting consulting and sales. His primary focus is on company analysis and understanding the valuation, strategy and performance of the world's leading upstream oil and gas companies, while providing a quantitative assessment of a company's ability to successfully execute its strategy, generate cash flow, and create shareholder value. Under his leadership, the Energy Transaction Research team is generating critical independent insights into the energy merger, acquisition and divestiture marketplace, and is dedicated to analyzing deals on a daily basis, while providing proprietary deal pricing, valuation benchmarks and M&A trend analysis. After two years as director of Oil & Gas Research at Ticonderoga Securities, where he covered North American E&P equities, writing research to serve institutional investors, Daniel returned to S&P Global (now a part of S&P Global) in 2011. Previously, he spent the first 12 years of his career in the company as a Herold equity analyst covering North American and International E&Ps.Daniel is a Chartered Financial Analyst, a member of the CFA Institute, and a member of the Stamford CFA Society. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Rochester, United States.

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Lysle Brinker

He is a frequent strategic advisor to energy companies and investors on vital topics, including international resource portfolio management, integrated business models and capital strategies, procurement and performance. With a 30+ year career in energy industry valuation, Lysle is an expert in international oil economics and accounting and is responsible for overseeing the integrated, international equity and strategy analysis research for Upstream Energy. Lysle travels regularly to deliver research and insights on the valuation, performance and strategies of publicly traded, global oil and gas companies.A member of the National Association of Petroleum Investment Analysts (NAPIA), Lysle graduated from the Colorado School of Mines, US, with a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering.

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Christopher Sheehan

Christopher is responsible for overseeing global Herold transaction analysis, including the upstream M&A and Significant Energy Assets on the Market (SEAM) products. This insight research includes M&A Alerts, Monthly Perspectives, Quarterly Transaction Reviews, Year-End Transaction Reviews, and SEAM Alerts and Perspectives, as well as a global energy industry M&A database with more than 40,000 transactions. He is the primary author of the annual Herold Global Upstream M&A Review, regularly presenting its findings to clients. In 1995, Christopher joined Herold, now part of S&P Global, and spent five years as a senior analyst following North American E&P companies.He holds a Bachelor of Arts and an MBA from the University of Connecticut, U.S.

View Profile

Justin Pettit

Justin is an advisor to the oil & gas industry with more than twenty-five years of experience as a management consultant, bulge-bracket investment banker and oil company corporate development executive.After working internationally as a process engineer, Justin entered the oil & gas sector as a senior business planner with Norcen Energy Resources. He went on to a successful career on Wall Street, making Partner at a boutique restructuring firm, serving as Global Head of Strategic Advisory for UBS Investment Bank (IBD) and co-leading Booz & Company's global M&A advisory service line, as a Lead Partner in the energy and chemicals practice. Justin is the author of three business books - most recently, "The Final Frontier: E&P's Low-Cost Operating Model" (Wiley, 2018) and is Associate Editor on the Editorial Committee of the journal, "Energy GeoScience." He holds a BASc (mechanical engineering) from University of Toronto and MBA from Western University (Canada).

View Profile

Daniel Pratt

Daniel has 20 years of experience in the Upstream sector, helping build relationships with clients and supporting consulting and sales. His primary focus is on company analysis and understanding the valuation, strategy and performance of the world's leading upstream oil and gas companies, while providing a quantitative assessment of a company's ability to successfully execute its strategy, generate cash flow, and create shareholder value. Under his leadership, the Energy Transaction Research team is generating critical independent insights into the energy merger, acquisition and divestiture marketplace, and is dedicated to analyzing deals on a daily basis, while providing proprietary deal pricing, valuation benchmarks and M&A trend analysis. After two years as director of Oil & Gas Research at Ticonderoga Securities, where he covered North American E&P equities, writing research to serve institutional investors, Daniel returned to S&P Global (now a part of S&P Global) in 2011. Previously, he spent the first 12 years of his career in the company as a Herold equity analyst covering North American and International E&Ps.Daniel is a Chartered Financial Analyst, a member of the CFA Institute, and a member of the Stamford CFA Society. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Rochester, United States.

View Profile

Lysle Brinker

He is a frequent strategic advisor to energy companies and investors on vital topics, including international resource portfolio management, integrated business models and capital strategies, procurement and performance. With a 30+ year career in energy industry valuation, Lysle is an expert in international oil economics and accounting and is responsible for overseeing the integrated, international equity and strategy analysis research for Upstream Energy. Lysle travels regularly to deliver research and insights on the valuation, performance and strategies of publicly traded, global oil and gas companies.A member of the National Association of Petroleum Investment Analysts (NAPIA), Lysle graduated from the Colorado School of Mines, US, with a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering.

View Profile

Christopher Sheehan

Christopher is responsible for overseeing global Herold transaction analysis, including the upstream M&A and Significant Energy Assets on the Market (SEAM) products. This insight research includes M&A Alerts, Monthly Perspectives, Quarterly Transaction Reviews, Year-End Transaction Reviews, and SEAM Alerts and Perspectives, as well as a global energy industry M&A database with more than 40,000 transactions. He is the primary author of the annual Herold Global Upstream M&A Review, regularly presenting its findings to clients. In 1995, Christopher joined Herold, now part of S&P Global, and spent five years as a senior analyst following North American E&P companies.He holds a Bachelor of Arts and an MBA from the University of Connecticut, U.S.

View Profile

Industry Success Stories

Technical and market evaluation for a proposed acquisition in Eastern Europe

A Middle Eastern investor needed to value an Eastern European company’s gas field and drilling rigs for an acquisition. S&P Global assessed the field’s remaining reserves/future well workover and estimated rig maintenance/replacement costs – all within the context of future gas prices and rig rates in the country. The investor used the analysis to carry out the acquisition.

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North Sea supply analysis in support of an infrastructure due diligence

A private equity firm needed an independent assessment of North Sea gas supply to support an investment in processing and pipeline infrastructure. S&P Global provided a market outlook for the gas throughput for the infrastructure under consideration, ensuring the client’s confidence in the investment decision.

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Acquisition opportunities in North American unconventional plays

A large corporation in Japan needed to evaluate a partnership opportunity in a North American shale play and wanted to understand how the transaction would impact net income and cash flow. S&P Global created a probabilistic valuation model that allowed the client to evaluate the partnership opportunity and make a successful bid for it.

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Due diligence and valuation analysis for an investment bank

An investment bank wanted to evaluate an oil service company for a potential acquisition and needed a forecast for well services activity under different scenarios. S&P Global generated well drilling and rig requirement forecasts based on oil and gas production outlooks, providing a clear view of well service companies’ revenues and market share under different scenarios.

Learn More

Technical and market evaluation for a proposed acquisition in Eastern Europe

A Middle Eastern investor needed to value an Eastern European company’s gas field and drilling rigs for an acquisition. S&P Global assessed the field’s remaining reserves/future well workover and estimated rig maintenance/replacement costs – all within the context of future gas prices and rig rates in the country. The investor used the analysis to carry out the acquisition.

Learn More

Acquisition opportunities in North American unconventional plays

A large corporation in Japan needed to evaluate a partnership opportunity in a North American shale play and wanted to understand how the transaction would impact net income and cash flow. S&P Global created a probabilistic valuation model that allowed the client to evaluate the partnership opportunity and make a successful bid for it.

Learn More

Due diligence and valuation analysis for an investment bank

An investment bank wanted to evaluate an oil service company for a potential acquisition and needed a forecast for well services activity under different scenarios. S&P Global generated well drilling and rig requirement forecasts based on oil and gas production outlooks, providing a clear view of well service companies’ revenues and market share under different scenarios.

Learn More

Technical and market evaluation for a proposed acquisition in Eastern Europe

A Middle Eastern investor needed to value an Eastern European company’s gas field and drilling rigs for an acquisition. S&P Global assessed the field’s remaining reserves/future well workover and estimated rig maintenance/replacement costs – all within the context of future gas prices and rig rates in the country. The investor used the analysis to carry out the acquisition.

Learn More

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Transactions & Valuations Consulting

Helping you make informed decisions about major hydrocarbon investments and M&A opportunities

Services

Experts

Justin Pettit

Daniel Pratt

Lysle Brinker

Christopher Sheehan

Justin Pettit

Daniel Pratt

Lysle Brinker

Christopher Sheehan

Industry Success Stories

Technical and market evaluation for a proposed acquisition in Eastern Europe

North Sea supply analysis in support of an infrastructure due diligence

Acquisition support for a multi-billion dollar investment

Acquisition opportunities in North American unconventional plays

Evaluating an investment opportunity in a small shale gas company

Due diligence and valuation analysis for an investment bank

Technical and market evaluation for a proposed acquisition in Eastern Europe

North Sea supply analysis in support of an infrastructure due diligence

Acquisition support for a multi-billion dollar investment

Acquisition opportunities in North American unconventional plays

Evaluating an investment opportunity in a small shale gas company

Due diligence and valuation analysis for an investment bank

Technical and market evaluation for a proposed acquisition in Eastern Europe

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