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November 2016

What is next for petroleum downstream?

New business models are critical in a sector in which the supply of energy for mobility is changing

Petroleum downstream has been adapting to increasing competition and challenging regulations, and is suffering from lower returns than the upstream segment. Industry challenges will intensify, and new energy sources for mobility will impact the entire fuel value chain. Downstream players...
Oil & gas
October 2016

Dispute Resolution Support Services

Contractual, commercial and technical expertise in the global energy industry

Dispute Resolution Support Services at Arthur D. LittleThe senior members of our Dispute Resolution Support team have worked on the commercial and technical aspects of the global energy industry since the 1970s. They have personal experience of negotiating Production Sharing Agreements, LNG &...
Oil & gas, Utilities & alternative energy
May 2016

The NOC Technology & Innovation Management Challenge

Improving performance in technology management

National Oil Companies (NOCs) are spending more and more on R&D. But this has not yet had much of an impact. With the oil price currently well below the break-even point of their nations’ budgets, they are still behind Independent Oil Companies (IOCs) in terms of R&D effectiveness. IOCs...
Oil & gas, Technology & innovation management
February 2016

Confronting Core Market Decline

Portfolio diversification in the industrial services sector

Portfolio-led diversification can create a wealth of new growth opportunities for industrial service providers, but also presents new challenges. In this article, we highlight some critical success factors for the effective transition to a portfolio service offering in the context of changing...
Industrial goods & services, Oil & gas
December 2015

Alternative paths for large IOCs

Low oil prices may drive pervasive structural changes in upstream oil and gas

It is clear that with the postponement of many capital projects the IOCs have an increasing reserves replacement and dividends/free-cash flow challenge. The increasing strength of many National Oil Companies also presents them a growing strategic dilemma to these IOCs. What are potential future...
Oil & gas
August 2015

Unlocking global LNG market value

Market changes require portfolio transformation

Global gas price convergence, predicted last year to take more than a decade to develop, is expected instead to arrive this year, as a direct result of the increase in short-term LNG trading, the relative over-supply of gas and the drop in oil price indexes.  One single global gas market is...
Oil & gas
August 2015

Can Group 1 base oil come back?

The impact of the lower crude prices on the global base oil markets

The global economy is benefiting from declining oil prices due to the higher economic multiplier in the typically poorer oil importing countries. Consequently, base oil consumption in the transportation sector, as an example, will increase through both growing purchasing power (new and second-hand...
Oil & gas
August 2015

Where now for oil?

Recent market turmoil is not likely to last - a new normal is in the making for oil and gas prices

The recent precipitous fall in oil was predicted by almost no-one. In this viewpoint we attempt to explain the economics of the change and highlight an emerging “new normal” for oil prices in which a medium term recovery occurs, but prices stay below US$80 per barrel. We also highlight the...
Oil & gas
June 2015

Delivering the promise, with lower oil prices

Building in higher efficiency

Companies owning and operating oil and gas assets, especially under “new normal” oil prices of less than $75/day, will often need to embrace substantial transformational change in order to be truly successful. This is particularly so for smaller companies aiming to develop new assets or grow their...
Oil & gas
March 2015

The future of lignite power

A viewpoint on the “Energiewende” and its impact on lignite power

After nuclear, the future of lignite will be the next big discussion on the energy agenda. The German “Energiewende” is the world’s most ambitious program to transform the electric energy system of a country: at the same time energy efficiency and the share of renewable energies has to increase...
Oil & gas