E2B: Energy to Business: Recent Episodes
Opportune
Welcome to E2B: Energy to Business, a podcast by Opportune. We'll be bringing you our in-house expertise that serves all energy sectors. We examine emerging financial and technology trends and provide a broad perspective on ways to stay ahead, create opportunities and execute market strategies.
Samuel Stewart, Manager in Opportune LLP’s Process & Technology practice, shares his thoughts on why the pandemic and recent weather events exposed deficiencies in the global supply chain, why digitizing certain aspects of a business can help assess operational processes and grow despite adverse challenges, and why optimizing, forecasting and reporting are key aspects of building an effective digital transformation strategy to gain critical visibility and insight into the overall supply chain, and more. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
James Hanson, Managing Director with Opportune Partners LLC, an independent investment banking and financial advisory affiliate of Opportune LLP, gives a high-level comparison between IPOs, SPACs, and MLPs, and issues involving the legal protections of each. Hanson also shares insight into the recent Delaware court decision about conflicts in the MultiPlan SPAC and why the ruling has broad implications for how SPAC transactions may be executed going forward. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Glenn Hartfiel, Principal, and Geoff Yut, Consultant, at Opportune LLP discuss why recent geopolitical events are heightening the need for the implementation of improved cybersecurity measures in the energy industry, why creating robust cybersecurity plans that feature regular monitoring and updating of malware virus protection and multifactor authentication can help prevent security breaches, and how the 2021 Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack underscores why oil and gas companies need to be vigilant in mitigating cyber risks, and more. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Patrick Long, Director in Opportune LLP’s Process & Technology practice, Randy Whitaker, CFO and Co-Founder of Viridis Chemical, and Bhavesh Patel, Senior Manager Strategic Projects at HELM AG – Americas, discuss why ESG strategies benefit chemical manufacturers and suppliers, their employees, and their customers, why putting ESG strategies into practice enables transparency with business partners and builds trust throughout the supply chain, and why consumer awareness and behavior are influencing how companies integrate ESG strategies in their supply chains and more. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Ross Benton, Director in Opportune LLP’s Process & Technology practice, and Chris Baker, Production Manager at Ensign Natural Resources, discuss why integrating Salesforce’s CRM and cloud-based solutions can transform business operations quickly and efficiently, why Salesforce integrations allow companies to maximize opportunities through data-centric decision-making, and why Salesforce offers a customizable, out-of-the-box solution for improving business operations, and more. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Byrony Coan, Principal, Kyle Luong, Manager, and Kyle Blair, Director at Opportune LLP, discuss why utilizing legacy data warehouse solutions help companies stand out from the competition with digital differentiation, why accessing and storing accurate historical data in one location is key to maximizing efficient operations, and how Opportune developed an innovative tool that helps prioritize and simplify how companies and their stakeholders access and interact with information that spans a variety of systems and/or acquisitions, and more. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Byrony Coan, Principal, Katie-Rose Herd, Director, and Maggie Caldwell, Director, at Opportune LLP, discuss why there are unlimited opportunities for women in the energy industry, why careers in energy span nearly every interest or skill, from marketing to operations, and why diversity is a focus for many companies, including energy, and more. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Dave Loucks, Principal in the Complex Financial Reporting practice at Opportune LLP based in Denver, discusses what the Standardized Measure of Oil and Gas (SMOG) is and why it’s essential to the oil and gas industry, why public and private energy companies can benefit from outsourcing SMOG reporting, why accounting for inflation needs to be factored in SMOG calculations and reports, and more. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Gregg Laswell, Managing Director in Opportune LLP’s Complex Financial Reporting and Restructuring practices, and Allison Firestone, Director in Opportune LLP’s Restructuring practice, discuss why quality of earnings reports constitute a key area of importance in financial due diligence involving M&A transactions, why there are key differences in quality of earnings reports that are different from standard financial disclosures and reports, how key red flags can be uncovered in quality of earnings reports, and more. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Teresa Kroh and Brad York, Directors in Opportune LLP’s Process & Technology practice, discuss why companies need to make ETRM upgrades a priority to achieve optimal performance and mitigate risk, why effective data management is key for accurate inventory tracking, billing, and scheduling, and why management and employee buy-in are critical to a successful ETRM system implementation, and more. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Steve Hendrickson, President, and John Beaird, Vice President, of Ralph E. Davis Associates, an Opportune LLP company, discuss why the Class VI permitting process with state and federal regulators for carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) projects are lengthy and costly, why not all carbon dioxide is created equal, and why capturing and storing carbon dioxide isn’t economical without tax incentives, and more. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Patrick Long and Steve Roberts, both Directors in Opportune LLP’s Process & Technology practice, discuss why current supply chain disruptions appear to be more pronounced than in years past due to supply/demand imbalances and the COVID-19 pandemic, how digitalization and technology can help address lingering supply chain issues to make it more resilient in the face of natural disasters and other chaotic events, why long-term supply chain efficiency requires a shift away from traditional supply chain models to one of robustness of process and resiliency, and more. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Kent Landrum, Managing Director at Opportune LLP, Steve Roberts, Director at Opportune LLP, and Richard Loew, CEO at BlueBox, discuss why scope and complexity are the biggest hallmarks of a downstream M&A IT integration process, why getting IT leadership involved early and often in the M&A integration process is key to a successful transition, and why small, lean, multi-disciplinary teams typically work best in downstream M&A transaction processes, and more. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
James Hanson, Managing Director with Opportune Partners LLC, an investment banking and financial advisory affiliate of Opportune LLP, discusses why valuing venture or early-stage private equity investments can be challenging to measure, why traditional methods for valuing venture or early-stage companies like discounted cash flow (DCF) may not be appropriate, and why investors often try to estimate the value of an early-stage company to predict future cash flow, and more. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Kyle Luong, Senior Consultant in Opportune LLP’s Upstream Transactional Advisory group, discusses why converting business associate (BA) data is key during upstream oil and gas transactions, why BA data serve as building blocks to other pieces of a system conversion, and how BA data touch different master data elements, and more. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Dave Loucks, Director in Opportune LLP’s Complex Financial Reporting practice, discusses why the ASC 842 lease accounting standard significantly impacts how private and public businesses manage, account for, and report substantially all leases, including equipment and real estate on their balance sheets, why private companies are required to adopt the ASC 842 standard by or before the December 15, 2021 deadline, and how private companies should prepare now to comply with the new standard, and more. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Clayton Bornman and Cooper Ligon, Consultants in Opportune LLP’s Process & Technology practice, discuss how the energy industry is attracting a new generation of talent, why consulting bridges the gap between technology and oil and gas, and how data and analytics are reshaping the energy industry to improve decision-making, and more. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Jack Fisher, Durham Craig, and Sam Sicola, the newest crop of consultants to join the firm’s Corporate Finance group, discuss why the energy industry is still an attractive industry to begin a career in, why the energy transition and ESG is an integral component for moving the energy industry forward, and why Opportune’s career fair and internships are valuable means for attracting and retaining young talent, and more. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Steve Roberts, Director in Opportune LLP’s Process & Technology practice discusses the difference between biodiesel and renewable diesel, renewable diesel’s growth prospects and how some oil refineries are repurposing existing assets to produce renewable diesel and capitalize on state and federal incentives to capture value and drive this next-generation fuel forward, and more. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Steve Hendrickson, President of Ralph E. Davis Associates, an Opportune LLP company, Grant Johnson, Assistant Chairman of the NAPE Advisory Board and current President of Lone Star Production Company and Helmsman Minerals LLC and Carl Campbell, Ex-Officio member of the NOC and current COO of Alamo Resources, discuss what attendees can expect at the upcoming 2021 NAPE Summit, which will be collocated with the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) and feature a renewables pavilion, and more. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Risk mitigation and management strategies can be both a solution and the bane of companies operating in the energy industry where commodity price volatility underpinned by supply and demand dynamics is the norm rather than the exception. From natural disasters and geopolitical events to inherent market forces and cyberattacks, there are a myriad of considerations that risk managers need to engage with to develop and execute an effective risk strategy that can build resiliency in the face of chaos. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/podcast.
Steve Hendrickson, President of Ralph E. Davis Associates, and Harrison Perrin, Petroleum Engineer with Ralph E. Davis Associates, discuss why underground natural gas storage is a useful analog when developing carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) projects, how favorable tax credits are catalyzing the deployment of CCUS technologies, and why CCUS developers need to be mindful of rigorous federal and state regulations. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Virginia Chan, Director, Samuel Stewart, Manager, and Trey Brasseaux, Associate, discuss why retaining a newer, younger workforce is crucial for moving the energy industry forward, why sustainability and ESG are high priorities and concerns for young professionals, and how technological innovations appeal to young talent and advances the energy industry towards a more sustainable future. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Amy Stutzman, Managing Director, and Reid Brooks, Director, in Opportune LLP’s Complex Financial Reporting practice, discuss why ESG is shifting from a corporate responsibility to an integrated strategy, why existing ESG reporting frameworks can help companies provide meaningful information to stakeholders, and how identifying gaps in a company’s current ESG initiative can strengthen long-term value and performance. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Kent Landrum, Managing Director in Opportune LLP’s Process & Technology practice who also leads the firm’s Downstream sector and Dan Cornell, Chief Technology Officer of the Denim Group, discuss why a programmatic approach—rather than tactical—is best when address cybersecurity vulnerabilities, why application security in the software supply chain is imperative and how digital transformation can also increase exposure for energy companies, and more. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Coby Nathanson, Land Manager, and Raza Rizvi, Vice President of Accounting, in Opportune's Outsourcing practice discuss why oil and gas escheatment and unclaimed property is a necessary aspect in transactions that should be resolved quickly and efficiently, why each state has different escheatment regulations, which add complexity, and why partnering with an experienced outsourcing advisor helps to ensure compliance, reduce audits, and penalties. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Kent Landrum, Managing Director in Opportune LLP’s Process & Technology practice, Mark Swann, Director in Opportune LLP’s Process & Technology practice, and Vincent Annunziata, Co-Found of Venus Technology Ventures, discuss why predictive maintenance improves operational reliability and mitigate risk in energy trading, why bringing AI solutions to scale can improve efficiencies in ETRM systems and why speed and greater accessibility to data are what save energy traders time and money. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Kent Landrum, Managing Director, Opportune LLP, and Mark Smith, founder of Bluepig Energy Advisors, discuss why energy companies should consider upgrading their ETRM systems with cloud-based capabilities, why existing ETRM systems are now much easier to implement, integrate and interact with, and why change management and communication is critical for an organization to understand the life cycle of the ETRM implementation process. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
In the second of a two-part series, Steve Hendrickson, President of Ralph E. Davis Associates, discusses why gas-weighted companies stand to benefit most from demand and price increases amid continued capital discipline after years of rapid growth, why a shift in electric vehicle adoption is bullish for gas and why any increased federal regulations will have little short-term impact in 2021, and more. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Steve Hendrickson, President of Ralph E. Davis Associates, discusses why a post-pandemic demand response and a tightening of natural gas supplies will be positive for prices in 2021 and beyond, why natural gas can coexist with renewables like wind and solar to power the future and how an increased use of natural gas as a transportation fuel could drive further demand. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
John Echols and Greg Crowley discuss why energy companies, lenders and traders should focus on effective hedging, balance sheet management, improve efficiencies and leverage technologies that can enable them to capitalize on opportunities amid continued price volatility in 2021.
To learn more about Opportune's Commodities Trading & Risk Management services, visit https://opportune.com/energy-sectors/commodities-trading-and-risk-management. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
Investors are increasingly pressuring energy companies to incorporate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices into their culture and operations. In this podcast, Amy Stutzman discusses why ESG matters to the industry, its impacts on accessing capital, why energy companies should be proactive addressing ESG issues now and how it could shape the outlook of the industry in 2021. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
As we head into 2021 and beyond, the maritime industry looks to reduce its carbon footprint and ultimately reach net zero emissions. In this podcast, Jay Campbell highlights how the shipping industry is grappling with the IMO 2020 regulation, why LNG is a viable, alternative low-emission marine fuel and why reducing cost and improving supply chain efficiencies are keys to the industry’s low-carbon future. For more podcast from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast.
2020 has been a year of transition and change in nearly every industry around the world, and the energy industry is no exception. In this podcast, Gary Pittman, Managing Director at Opportune LLP, highlights how the 2020 downcycle was more demand-driven compared to the one from 2014-2016, which was more of a market correction, why bankruptcies and restructurings should decrease from 2020 levels next year and why liquidity and free cash flow will be important factors heading into 2021.
For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast/a-postmodern-approach-to-integrated-etrm-solutions/.
Kent Landrum and Stephen Bell with Opportune LLP and guest Niall McCarthy with CTRM Cloud share their insights on the technologies changing the energy trading and risk management space. To learn more about Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast/a-postmodern-approach-to-integrated-etrm-solutions/.
The road toward an energy transition will require both fossil fuel and renewable sources of energy. As the transition moves forward, ESG will be a permanent fixture among energy portfolios and natural gas will also play a significant role in defining this transitional era. Opportune LLP Partner Dean Price discusses on this episode of E2B: Energy to Business. To learn more about Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/.
For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/insights/podcast/a-path-to-an-energy-transition-now-in-the-future/.
On this episode of E2B, Managing Director David Morris discusses why oil and gas companies can expect to see reductions to their borrowing bases against the backdrop of commodity price uncertainty and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and why lenders are reluctant to own assets should companies be in default of their loan obligations.
To learn more about our Restructuring solutions and capabilities, visit https://opportune.com/Practice-Areas/Restructuring/. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit: https://opportune.com/Energy-Sector-Insights-Events/Podcast/Path-Forward-Borrowing-Base-Redeterminations-In-A-Restructuring-World/.
The valuation of private equity investments has recently garnered greater marketplace attention, and the SEC is updating its guidance on these valuations for the first time in 50 years. These analyses should be reflective of current market conditions, and energy-focused private equity fund managers should develop reliable processes and procedures to ensure transparency to regulators and investors. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit: https://opportune.com/Energy-Sector-Insights-Events/Podcast/Scrutiny-Increasing-on-Private-Equity-Investment-Valuation/
Artificial intelligence (AI) software companies are entering new markets and energy is no exception. As these technologies evolve to meet the specific needs of the industry, interpreting a vast amount of data that translates into actionable insight is key to maintaining a competitive advantage. To learn more about Opportune’s Process & Technology services, visit https://opportune.com/Practice-Areas/Process-Technology/. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/Energy-Sector-Insights-Events/Podcast/Humanizing-AI-In-The-Energy-Industry/
On this episode of E2B, James Hanson discusses why fairness and solvency opinions are essential for protecting management teams and board of directors of a company. Though critical in transactions, bankruptcies and restructuring events, fairness and solvency opinions provided by third-party advisory firms are still sometimes misunderstood. Fairness opinions ensure good-faith financial transactions, while solvency opinions protect companies against claims of fraudulent transfer. To learn more about our Investment Banking services, please visit www.opportune.com/Investment-Banking. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/Energy-Sector-Insights-Events/Podcast/Fairness-and-Solvency-Opinions-Shouldnt-Be-Overlooked-Amid-Restructuring-Wave/.
On this episode of E2B, John Freeman discusses why energy companies are leveraging the many uses of Salesforce and how the applications are gaining momentum in the upstream and midstream sectors. He also explains the different approaches to implementation and how integrating Salesforce into the work process enhances data analytics. To learn more about Opportune’s Salesforce for Energy solutions, visit https://opportune.com/Practice-Areas/Salesforce-For-Energy/. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/podcast.
On this episode of E2B, Katie-Rose Herd and Steven Bradford discuss how robotic process automation, or RPA, can play a key role in advancing company’s overall digital transformation strategy.
Specifically, the duo highlight how RPA can keep organizations competitive and profitable, ways governance measures allow for resource prioritization and strategies for selecting and executing an RPA solution.
To learn more about Opportune’s Process & Technology services, visit https://opportune.com/Practice-Areas/Process-Technology/.
For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/podcasts.
On this episode of E2B, Lynn Loden highlights potential tax pitfalls for creditors who are about to become non-operating owners of oil and gas assets.
In particular, the form of instrument creditors may receive in a restructuring event can have unintended tax consequences, and, though tax considerations aren’t usually the biggest factor in a bankruptcy or restructuring event, they often can yield unexpected risks.
To help ease this transition, creditors should seek professional tax advisory in order to best navigate these often unfamiliar waters.
To learn more about Opportune's Tax Advisory services, visit https://opportune.com/Practice-Areas/Tax/.
For more podcasts from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/podcast
Partner Carl Wimberley explains why Opportune outsourcing solutions enhance back-office efficiencies and allows clients to concentrate on core activities. Outsourcing solutions provide scalability and are cost-effective with access to software, data analytics and experienced energy industry professionals. To learn more about Opportune's outsourcing services, visit https://opportune.com/Practice-Areas/Outsourcing/. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit www.opportune.com/Podcast.
John Echols, partner at Opportune, discusses how oil and gas producers continue to operate within a volatile energy market. He also explains why, due to changes in market conditions, reserve-based lenders must take an aggressive posture and E&P companies must live within their means until demand picks up to justify drilling again. For more podcasts from Opportune, visit www.opportune.com/Podcast.
Steve Hendrickson, President of Ralph E. Davis Associates, has seen his fair share of turmoil in the energy industry over the past thirty years. Still, the culmination of unfolding events these past months may be the most impactful yet. Hendrickson provided his knowledge and insight to help break down the factors now rocking the energy industry.
For future podcasts and information from Opportune, visit https://opportune.com/Podcast.