March 25, 2022
Join Our Private Oil and Gas Operator Forum
The pandemic fostered a willingness to do things differently which allowed us to create a private forum for oil and gas operators to conduct business
The Operator Forum is a flexible, fluid program that exists to foster the circulation of surplus assets between end-user oilfield operators. Membership is exclusive to hydrocarbon producers and refiners.
While focused primarily on Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG), it serves as a conduit for any material with excess supply in one area and demand in another. Members can call for materials they are looking to source, or bait the hook with their unallocated OCTG, to see what offers they might receive.
Whatever the market and members call for, the forum is where they look first. End-user to end-user, it is efficient, and the outcomes exemplify the highest returns.
Read on to find out why we developed the Operator Forum, how it started, the needs it fulfills, and ways to get involved.
Pandemic Leads to Major Oil and Gas Supply Chain Issues
In 2020, when the world shut down and oil prices went negative, the oilfield supply chain followed suit and took a hit. The situation has been especially difficult for businesses with complex supply chains, and we’re still dealing with its effects today.
Ideas tossed around for years began to gain traction – fast traction. People were listening if you had an idea for a supply chain solution of any type, a stop-gap measure.
Those of us who work in oilfield investment recovery observe a few patterns about buyer behavior that our clients and stakeholders rarely see. Because investment recovery is often not the whole remit of most supply chain professionals, but rather a piece of their jobs – the anecdotal evidence is just a tale of a singular win or loss.
For those who make our living in the niche of a supply chain that involves cradle to grave, to cradle once more, we know that a transaction between end-users is the biggest win for everyone involved.
I called them lightning strikes
You’re an investment recovery practitioner at a major operator. You know that your organization won’t buy surplus materials. You know other tier-one operators won’t buy surplus either. And even if they would, the processes and the red tape and the legal departments and your ERP software make it impossible.
So why bother? Because, when one of your neighbors has an emergency, and their rig is shut-in, the president of their region calls the president of your region, and things move quickly.
Suddenly, those barriers don’t matter. You’re not just working through the weekend to make something that usually takes months to happen in a few days – you’re a hero.
You’re helping your neighbor. You’re making 30% over book value on material that likely, your employer will never use, or the buyer is replacing in kind, plus you make an astounding 30% profit. You’re making the head of your BU look like a rock star, and you feel like one yourself. It’s energizing, and you want to do more of it.
So, what happens next?
You socialize your idea. You ask around. Everyone you approach points you in a different direction. You can’t gain traction. The appetite isn’t there. It’s demoralizing, but you keep doing your job, preaching the proverbial gospel, hoping that the timing will be correct one day, and you’ll be ready. Who knew it would take a pandemic?
So how do you put that knowledge into practice for something real? You pitch your idea again, and this time, people are listening. You get support, endorsement, and things take off.
(Psssst… The proverbial ‘you’ was me.)
The Oil and Gas Operator Forum is Born
With blessings and endorsements, buy-in, and contact lists, I approached my trusted channel partner, Requis. Here is the pitch: we would like to build an operator forum to list our unallocated and soft allocated OCTG, for which we are seeking higher returns.
We need 70% of book value – but will entertain any offers. Without an emergency, it’s hard for us to transact with other operators because—you fill in the blanks.
One by one, we tackled each of these barriers and built a forum wherein operators could view each other’s potential surplus. We began discussions about driving sourcing and procurement behaviors into the organizations – consider top tier, condition A, or used prime from peer companies.
We knew it would take time and mindset changes among our peers within and across procurement organizations.
‘If you build it, they will come….’
Requis agreed to host and facilitate the operator forum. Together with our Requis team, we approached peer companies. Peer invited peers, and Requis provided the platform, facilitation, and expertise for arms-length transactions. We laid the groundwork to support a circular economy within the oilfield truly.
The timing was right, and now the work is underway
Most tier-one operators use the Requis-hosted, Requis-facilitated Operator Forum. But we need all to participate for this concept to be an actual realization of our mission.
As net-carbon zero ambitions filter down into supply chain and materials management organizations, mindset changes are underway, and behavioral changes follow. We send outsourcing requests to our Forum members, and we are beginning to see the concept come to fruition. The Operator Forum platform sees more inquiries and traction daily, and those lightning strikes are no longer an anomaly. Soon, viewing surplus during the procurement process will be a matter of best practice.
Join Our Operator Forum Today
Membership into the Operator Forum is yours for the asking. We would love to chat more about it with you. Ask your Account Manager for details. If you are not a current client and would like to be, reach out.
For more information about this forum or to discuss your specific needs, contact:
- Nick Abueita: via email at nick.abueita@requis.com
- Lisa Deviney: via email at lisa.deviney@requis.com
Our operator forum also goes hand in hand with our supply chain visibility software, click to learn more.