The key objective of an appraisal strategy for an oil or gas discovery is to optimize the value of future development and to gauge the timing of a significant investment. Defining an appraisal strategy, and how to improve your appraisal strategy, is characterized by making impactful choices based on very limited data. Managers in oil and gas companies will have to decide on trade-offs dealing with a range of possible discovered volumes and uncertain hydrocarbon types. Variables such as recovery factors, production rates, lifecycle cost assumptions, product pricing and access to markets also play a key role in determining the value of a discovery. Furthermore, agreements need to be reached regarding the appraisal program with partners, regulators, suppliers and sometimes NGOs. Managers will have to rapidly present a plan based on incomplete data and seek alignment for multi-million to multi-billion US$ investment decisions covering appraisal campaigns, funding solutions, possible equity changes, etc.

Many oil and gas companies are non-operating partners in Joint Ventures with other companies. This is generally (although not always) combined with the fact that as a non-operating partner, you are a minority shareholder. We have found that companies often struggle with their role in these kinds of situations. How many staff should we deploy to “look over the shoulders” of the operator? What should our staff focus on? What are the main risks for us? How do we best contribute to the success of the Joint Venture? In this article, we share our insights and propose a simple model to help companies make quality decisions in this area. So, how to be a smart non-operating partner? But first, let’s look at some data. There are many types of Joint Ventures with different kinds of governance mechanisms, operating agreements, and financing arrangements. In this article, we use the term broadly; a Joint Venture is any kind of business entity in which two or more companies agree to cooperate and share ownership, financial returns, and risks. Companies can be listed as international companies but also wholly state-owned companies or even private companies.

Storage of energy by using compressed air is a fairly simple and proven technology. In principle, air is compressed using excess energy, either renewable energy or gas. When the air is compressed, it warms up. The associated heat can be captured using a heat exchanger and stored. The compressed air is subsequently stored in a closed (subsurface) system. When the compressed air is released at the surface it expands and fuels a turbine to generate electricity. When the air expands it cools off and the heat captured from the compression can be used to heat the gas to avoid freezing conditions at the turbine. In this article we compare two ways of using compressed air storage.