This past month, we attended the Total Energy USA conference here in Houston, and one of the most interesting sessions included speaker Alexandra Pruner CFO, Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. on the topic of dealing with financial uncertainty for energy companies. Pruner shared some interesting predictions for 2013 that are worth passing on:
- Consolidation is the name of the game for the new year. M&A and more specifically Master Limited Partnerships (MLP) will allow cash and resource strapped companies to combine forces and improve the bottom line.
- More companies will be going public, also to generate needed cash.
- The dollars are there for investing in M&A or stock, as Pruner estimated there is somewhere near 25 billion in “dry powder” or private equity funds that have not been invested yet.
- Rig counts will flatten as energy companies shift their efforts to completions and getting more out of the wells they already have.
Pruner also emphasized that all of these coming shifts will require companies to really improve their ability to manage data and achieve operational efficiencies. From valuation, to system integration, to drilling optimization, the ability to spin data assets and understand where they are coming from and how they affect the bottom line can mean the difference between success and failure in uncertain financial times.
Find out more about planning for data management here.