SPE London Annual Conference

The opening session will provide attendees with an overview of the conference, its purpose, theme, and structure. The keynote presentation, delivered by a senior oil company executive, will look at global upstream opportunities landscape and investment trends in the sector.

• Alessandro Agostini, Head of Business Development, Edison
• Eric Oudenot, Principal, Boston Consulting Group
• Geoff Probert, Managing Director, Petroceltic
• Panellist: Duncan Godsmark, General Manager North Africa Shale Operations, Anadarko

This session will offer a broad perspective of the upstream industry across North Africa by addressing the challenges faced by the industry and how the opportunities landscape is shaping up following the Arab Spring. Operating companies will share their experience in key countries of the region including Algeria and Egypt, and drill deeper into the challenges they face and the future opportunities they anticipate.

• John Blaymires, Chief Operating Officer, IGas
• Mike Tholen, Director of Economics, Oil and Gas UK
• Rob Hull, Technology Manager, Halliburton
• Panellist: Simon Toole, Head of Licensing, Exploration & Development, DECC

At a time when production output from the UK continental shelf is decreasing and infrastructures are aging, both industry and government must increasingly work together and devise innovative solutions that maximise production and value for the country, industry, and shareholders. This session will provide an overview of the opportunities, challenges, and threats to the future of the industry in the UK.

• Valery Konyushenko, Director, Energy Investment Banking, Citi
• Dr Marc Van Grondelle, Head of Global Joint Venture Practice, KPMG
• Panellist: Alfredo Marti, Managing Director, Riverstone

The oil and gas industry continues through its perpetual dynamic technical and commercial change process. Merger and acquisition (M&A) is a natural component of the continuous hydrocarbon business change, providing the lifeblood of financial support and technological assimilation necessary for a thriving market.

Given the range of uncertainty associated with hydrocarbon monetisation, many differing approaches to M&A activities are evident in today’s diverse M&A landscape. The drive to higher returns, with an ever-increasing fluidity provided by National Oil Companies as well as the noteworthy growth of private equity, continues to fuel M&A opportunities further, and joint venture partnerships continue to evolve.

This session is designed to provide a range of opinions on the future of the M&A landscape and emerging trends in partnership models from a range of involved organisations culminating in a panel session.

• Richard Krijgsman, Chief Executive Officer, Evaluate Energy
• Chris Bruijnzeels, Senior VP Operations, Lundin Petroleum

This keynote session comprises two presentations. The first will provide insight into upstream cost trends by company group, region, and resource type and also highlight the interplay between capital investment and costs. The second, delivered by a senior oil company executive , will explain the challenge of managing investment, cash flow, and shareholder expectations by a public company.

• Drew Powell, Regional Director, Gaffney, Cline and Associates
• Max Kendall, Director of Corporate Finance, Deloitte LLP
• Linda Zwick, Principal Consultant, ERM
• Panellist: David Sherrard, Reserve Advisor, Iona Energy Company (UK) Ltd

The oil and gas industry is experiencing expansive times, with ever-increasing investment channelled through a complexity of business models, asset types, basins, plays, and players. At some stage in the evolution of this investment to ownership process, business transactions are likely to occur in the form of acquisitions, mergers, or divestments.

Naturally, there are significant opportunities and risks associated with such transactions. The key to risk mitigation and, therefore, a successful transaction is the process of due diligence, which would typically be undertaken with consideration given to the key elements of the transaction namely, technical, economical, legal, and environmental analysis and review.

This session will reflect on the process of due diligence through the focus of recognised industry advisors to provide a cross-discipline perspective of each element and the integration of these elements into the overall process that is due diligence.

• David Kirsch, Managing Director, Research and Advisory, Energy Intelligence
• Ray Macsweeny, Director of Energy & Assets Advisory, Ernst & Young

Valuation of upstream investment opportunities is inherently risky because it depends on: (i) the estimation of reserves and resources guided by indirectly measured subsurface parameters with different levels of risk and uncertainty, (ii) assumptions about market conditions and business environment that are subject to change. This session will focus on the "above ground" risks in valuing an investment opportunity, and consider how to value the investment opportunity in a volatile world.