Ryder Scott

Advisory Role to Boards of Directors

Ryder Scott provides objectivity in technical matters of concern to boards of directors of E&P companies. Decades of experience in the consulting and auditing business enable Ryder Scott senior management to evaluate the merits of high-level internal presentations generally made to boards.

The firm evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed company strategies and then advises the board. Ryder Scott also provides advice based on its identification of technical and business risks.

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Contract Analysis

Ryder Scott recommends contract modifications, where needed, to establish mutually beneficial terms in operating and joint-venture agreements and production-sharing contracts (PSCs). Clients include both government agencies and E&P companies.

Ryder Scott tests and incorporates optional scenarios into economic models to evaluate their relative effects. The firm recommends ways for government agencies to be systematic in monitoring field-development compliance. Ryder Scott also represents government agencies and producers in matters involving PSC revisions, pipeline allowables, well-spacing exceptions, proposed maximum efficient rates of production, etc.

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Development Plays in Producing Trends

Ryder Scott applies risk-assessment expertise to evaluate exploration programs in established producing areas. Technical work varies-from defining structural traps to designing appraisal drilling programs to performing basin-modeling work. All studies are designed to maximize income from a basin. In some cases, Ryder Scott identifies field-development life cycles and recommends operational strategies to maximize rates of return and minimize overdevelopment.

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Exploration Portfolio Strategic Planning

Ryder Scott provides the technical outsourcing services necessary to conduct risk and option-profile evaluations and prioritization of strategic asset sales and purchases.

Activities include the following:

• Evaluate technical staff
  
• Audit seismic interpretations and geologic mapping
  
• Determine statistical ranges for reserves parameters
  
• Estimate geologic risk factors
  
• Generate probabilistic reserve distribution
  
• Create economic model of portfolio
  
• Perform updates for subsequent wells

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Gas Storage Management

Ryder Scott has extensive experience in gas-storage projects, providing services from general consulting to prospect screening to detailed geological and engineering modeling. Services include inventory verification and feasibility and facility-expansion studies.

Clients use simulation models as a reservoir management tool to forecast expected gas-delivery and -injection rates during cycling and to ensure that gas withdrawals are consistent with reservoir capacity, production declines and future contractual obligations.

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General Consulting Services for National Oil and Gas Companies

Increasingly, state-owned companies are finding it necessary to implement international standards in reserves reporting and overall countrywide petroleum development strategies. Ryder Scott assists in those areas and in reserves management system design and deployment, development of stranded gas discoveries, international financing, U.S. stock offerings and U.S. SEC reporting issues.

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Internal Reserves Audits and Major E&P Companies

Under this arrangement, a Ryder Scott senior practitioner becomes an integral part of a company's internal reserves audit management team. This team typically is composed of the client's reserves manager, chief reservoir engineer, chief geologist and chief geophysicist. The team meets with various operating units and examines reserves assets and "threats" to the reserves base, which, if not dealt with, might necessitate de-booking.

The team analyzes company resources and makes recommendations, such as allocating manpower and financial commitments to mitigate reserves threats. Activities of the team may involve devising a plan to accelerate the addition of reserves or finding ways to prove up overlooked reserves.

Ryder Scott consultants typically work as members of the "company" internal multidisciplinary team while furnishing expert outside perspectives on how other oil companies handle difficult reserves issues and how regulatory compliance issues have a bearing.

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Litigation/Arbitration and Conflict-Resolution Support

Ryder Scott provides expert-witness testimony and technical research and analysis to assist in the preparation of cases in court proceedings, arbitration hearings and meetings with state and federal regulatory agencies. This includes technical and strategic support to management and legal teams in disputes involving redeterminations and unitizations. Ryder Scott coordinates and supervises integrated technical teams involved in major international arbitration. The firm works closely with attorneys to review relative merits and weaknesses of technical arguments and to condense technical information into clear, cohesive legal submissions.

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Manpower Studies and Reserves Process Auditing

Ryder Scott audits the process by which a company manages reserves estimates, analyzing staff functions and manpower resources required to optimize processes.

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Marketing Analysis and Strategies

Ryder Scott provides macroeconomic analysis for the development and monetization of hydrocarbon resources. Services may include hydrocarbon resource market analysis, country or basin entry and/or exiting evaluations, early exploration strategies and risk assessment, asset development strategies and cost-of-service modeling. Ryder Scott is also in an excellent position to recommend strategies for acquisitions and divestitures.

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Negotiation Strategies

Ryder Scott provides support to state-owned, public and private oil companies during contract negotiations. The strong technical backgrounds of Ryder Scott personnel better position them to identify negotiating currencies.

Those personnel actively participate during negotiations, evaluating proposals and counterproposals and identifying opportunities and pitfalls.

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Petroleum Advisor to Investemnt Banks

By commissioning a reliable, independent consultant, investment banks reduce the risks associated with financing multimillion-dollar acquisitions. Ryder Scott provides expert advice on oil and gas property transactions involving major, independent and national oil companies. Services range from advising top-level management to conducting valuations of each field within a property package. Ryder Scott also provides complete data-room management with a focus on understanding the needs of potential buyers. This greatly streamlines the proved, probable and possible reserves determination process, which allows buyers to focus on upside potential outside of traditional considerations. This ensures that both buyers and sellers mutually benefit from property transactions.

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Privatization Consulting

Ryder Scott has conducted countrywide reserves and economic studies to establish an economic basis for privatization of state-owned companies. Ryder Scott assists companies issuing equities by making presentations to regulatory agencies, potential investors, brokers, analysts, portfolio managers and institutional traders.

The firm conducts reserves certifications to ensure that the company reports reserves in accordance with internationally accepted standards.

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Process Standardization

Ryder Scott reviews, compares and standardizes corporate procedures among different affiliates to ensure consistency. These services provide clients with the ability to better compare and contrast results from various affiliates through the use of consistent yardsticks. Third-party involvement facilitates implementation and acceptance of new standards by affiliates, because they perceive that those policies are based on recommendations from an independent advisor and not from a "competing" affiliate.

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Reserves Management Systems Development

Ryder Scott designs reserves management systems that combine and integrate processes, software and personnel to enable a company to efficiently track changes in reserves quantification and classification. The systems enable management to make decisions on property portfolios, including acquisitions and divestitures, exploration and development, reservoir and field management and other upstream activities.

The design of the reserves management process includes charting workflow, timing events and integrating the process with proper software and databases. Ryder Scott collaborates with software vendors to enhance commercial applications to more efficiently manage clients' reserves databases.

Solutions vary from custom to commercial to integrated, hybrid systems that help eliminate redundancy and inefficiency. Ryder Scott develops custom software applications for reserves evaluations and other technical tasks if commercial programs cannot meet client needs.

The firm offers low-cost proprietary programs to clients as a courtesy. Ryder Scott's primary business is not software development or vending.

Furthermore, the firm has no ownership interests in any hardware or software developers. This ensures that Ryder Scott recommendations are unbiased.

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Reservior Simulation Candidate Selection

Ryder Scott examines major field assets for proper deployment of numerical simulation techniques. Through scoping studies, the firm reviews portfolios to determine where simulation is essential for future development or divestiture. Ryder Scott also recommends and uses other evaluation techniques in cases where simulation may not be a logical, cost-efficient tool of choice. For existing or proposed projects, the firm conducts reviews to prioritize technical expenditures to ensure maximum benefit and return on assets.

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Training Seminars/Custom Manuals

Ryder Scott presents a variety of custom-designed reserves seminars to fulfill a wide range of needs. This includes schools, workshops and training sessions in reserves estimation methods, reserves definitions, reserves reporting for public stock offerings, probabilistic assessment of reserves and reservoir simulation. The firm also produces custom manuals on reserves-estimation procedures and computer program documentation.

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