The increased pace of change in the energy sector brings both significant opportunities and challenges. Energex is best placed to help clients navigate the markets, whether the objectives are growth, optimisation or diversification.
Energex can help clients:
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Devise commercial strategies for effective growth across many commodity value chains and asset classes
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Develop tailored commercial operating models to optimise midstream and downstream assets and value chains to maximise returns
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Build and develop organisational capability in supply and trading, marketing and distribution, governance, and risk management
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Understand the competitive landscape, moving to best practice through undertaking targeted benchmarking of other market participants
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Ensure their business is structured to facilitate sustainable growth
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Develop bespoke market assessments and studies of supply & demand
Oil & Petrochemicals
We provide clients with unique strategic insights and actionable strategies across the entire oil and petrochemicals sector. We develop solutions which support the creation of value and strengthen organisational advancement in refining and marketing, commodities trading and risk management, logistics, storage and shipping. Our advice is based on leveraging our extensive industry experience, supported by bespoke industry peer reviews and tailored market assessments by region, country, or product.
Contacts: Michael Brennan, Göran Trapp, Ronny Elénius, Liz Martin
Case studies
Developing a commercial operating model to maximise integrated value
Commercial Advisory - Oil & Petrochemicals
Developing the optimal commercial structure in a Joint Venture Refinery
Commercial Advisory - Oil
Creating a successful business development & origination strategy
Commercial Advisory - Oil
Providing a roadmap for building a best in class trading analytics capability
Commercial Advisory - Oil
Learning from the industry through a bespoke peer benchmark study
Commercial Advisory - Oil
Adopting a fit-for-purpose European Supply & Trading strategy
Commercial Advisory - Oil
Gas & LNG
Gas and LNG advice starts with our proprietary Global Gas and LNG Model providing unique market insights and scenario planning to inform the development of commercial solutions. Our sector coverage includes advice on LNG marketing and contracting, gas supply and trading and portfolio and asset optimisation.
Contacts: Tom Field, Joanna Hardinge, Liz Martin
Case studies
Validating the commercial viability of a greenfield LNG import project
Commercial Advisory - Gas & LNG
Adopting good industry practice to maximise the value of LNG contracts
Commercial Advisory - Gas & LNG
Energy Transition
The Energy Transition is evolving at pace and we provide deep knowledge, expertise and insight into carbon, biofuels, biogas, renewable power and the circular economy area of waste-to-value. Our advice is always based on a deep understanding of the related commodity markets with increasing emphasis on the carbon markets and pricing.
Contacts: Michael Brennan, Jonathan Martland, Ulrich Arnheiter
Case studies
Developing a strategy for a commercially viable biogas operation
Commercial Advisory - Energy Transition
Michael has worked in the energy industry for over 30 years, with an extensive background in building successful asset-backed trading businesses. He is currently the managing partner at Energex and leads the M&A Transactions Services practice.
Before co-founding Energex, Michael spent 23 years at Morgan Stanley and was an integral part of the senior management team that created one of the best-in-class global commodity trading divisions. He managed the global oil trading business whose activities spanned crude oil marketing, refining and tolling, product blending, storage, wholesale fuels distribution, shipping, principal investments and structured transactions – covering virtually the entire value chain.
Michael has served on the boards of several private companies in the energy sector, in particular in the midstream storage, transport fuels and shipping sectors, and specialises in Commodities Trading Expertise (Oil), Building Complex Trading Operations and Growing and Optimising Asset Portfolios.
Michael Brennan
Managing Partner
Industry Experience:
Morgan Stanley
Maersk Tankers
Navigator Terminals
Transmontaigne Inc.
Specialities:
Commodities Trading Expertise (Oil)
Building Complex Trading Operations
Growing and Optimising Asset Portfolios
Commercial Due Diligence
Goran has 35 years of experience in the oil and commodities industries. As a co-founding partner of Energex, Goran’s client work is mainly focused on corporate strategy, business development, risk management and trading.
Before founding Energex, Goran spent 23 years at Morgan Stanley. During this time, his focus on strategy, execution and the critical imperative between risk and reward were instrumental in the rapid and successful growth of Morgan Stanley’s Oil business into a market leader. In addition to his role as Global Head of the Oil Division 2008-11, Goran served as Head of Commodities EMEA and was a member of the Morgan Stanley EMEA Management Board.
Goran specialises in Commodities Markets (Oil), Market Interface Advice and Growing and Optimising Asset Portfolios.
Göran Trapp
Partner
Industry Experience:
Morgan Stanley
Equinox
Specialities:
Commodities Markets Expertise (Oil)
Market Interface Advisory Expertise
Growing and Optimising Asset Portfolios
Ronny has over 25 years of experience in the oil industry. At Energex, Ronny manages projects connected to the trading of physical oil and products, along with their related logistics and assets such as oil storage and distribution.
Before co-founding Energex, Ronny was the Head of Business Development and a member of the Management Committee for the trading arm of Lukoil (Litasco); and Managing Director and Head of Origination (EMEA and Asia) for Morgan Stanley’s Oil Trading business. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Ronny was an oil trader for various oil majors and oil traders.
Ronny has helped negotiate and structure a wide variety of complex high-value deals, including several JV structures. He has also structured several complex storage transactions in the ARA, Mediterranean, Middle East, the Baltic Sea, and the US.
Ronny specializes in Joint Venture Structuring, Physical Oil Trading, Origination and Business Development and Midstream Transactions Due Diligence.
Ronny Elénius
Partner
Industry Experience:
Lukoil (Litasco)
Morgan Stanley
Masefield
Texaco
Specialities:
Joint Venture Structuring
Physical Trading Expertise
Origination and Business Development
Commercial Due Diligence Expertise (Midstream)
Tom is an experienced energy industry advisor, with around 10 years’ sector experience having worked in analytics, strategy consulting and business management of the energy practice within a major global law firm. At Energex, Tom is focused on the natural gas and LNG sectors, advising on M&A, strategy, markets and operations.
Tom has advised infrastructure funds, (including Brookfield, FSI, OTPP, GIC and ADIA) on major transactions in the midstream oil and gas sector. Additionally, Tom brings experience of working with corporate/government clients in the gas and LNG sectors to develop their businesses & projects, enter new markets and build long-term strategies.
Tom specialises in Commodities Markets (Gas and LNG), Transactions Due Diligence; and Strategy Development.
Tom Field
Senior Associate
Industry Experience:
Gas Strategies
Shearman & Sterling LLP
The Centre for Global Energy Studies
Specialities:
Commodities Markets (Gas & LNG)
Transaction Due Diligence
Strategy Development
Liz has over 20 years of trading and commercial management experience in the oil, gas and LNG business. She joined Energex in 2020 and has enjoyed helping companies with commercial strategy and organisation, particularly around storage and refining assets.
Since 2013, Liz has worked as a consultant, where she initially focused on teaching and assessing traders in numerous major oil companies, NOCs, trading houses and at ICE the exchange. She continues to be the course leader on courses globally. Before this, she spent fifteen years working with BP, initially in refining, before moving to frontline oil, gas and then LNG trading roles in London and Houston. She has also worked in Group Economics and was the strategy manager for Shah Deniz II development.
Liz is also a Non-Executive Board member for Crossbridge Energy Partners which owns the Fridericiathe refinery and other assets focusing on energy transition and waste processing. She specialises in Commodities Markets (Oil, LNG and Gas), Midstream and Refining Business Strategy and Asset-backed trading.
Liz Martin
Partner
Industry Experience:
BP
Crossbridge Energy Partners
TwoTwoFive
Bain & Company
Specialities:
Commodities Markets Expertise (Oil, LNG and Gas)
Midstream and Refining Business Strategy
Asset-backed trading
Joanna has over 35 years of experience within the energy sector, with 25 years of that spent leading multi-cultural teams and working internationally in most aspects of the LNG sector: buying (for power generation and gas commercialisation), selling and operations. At Energex, Joanna provides in-depth LNG expertise and has guided LNG sale and purchase agreements, entry into the LNG trading market and due diligence on the acquisition of a small-scale liquefaction facility.
Before joining Energex, Joanna held various leadership positions in Gazprom M&T as the Director(s) of Portfolio Commercial Co-ordination; LNG Marketing Asia; and latterly Global Business Development. A fluent Spanish speaker, Joanna spent almost a decade working in senior leadership roles at Endesa in Madrid establishing their gas and LNG business, before moving on to Qatar gas where she led the marketing of two LNG trains and then moved to leading commercial operations. From Qatar, she went to Vattenfall in Amsterdam and then GM&T in Singapore before returning to London.
Joanna has comprehensive global LNG experience, and specializes in LNG Contracts and developing Operating Models for Gas and LNG.
Joanna Hardinge
Senior Advisor
Industry Experience:
Gazprom M&T
Qatargas
Endesa
National Power
Specialities:
Comprehensive global LNG experience
Developing Operating Models for Gas and LNG
LNG Contracts
Jonathan has over 35 years of experience in the oil and commodity industries.
Jonathan’s career began at Shell, before various trading roles in Goldman Sachs and GLG, and a leadership position in Koch Supply and Trading. He joined Morgan Stanley in 2007 and until 2016 he co-led the clean products trading team with responsibility for EMEA and Asia, before moving to a leadership role at CCI after it purchased Morgan Stanley’s trading operations. He is a former Chairman of the European Feedstocks Association
Jonathan specialises in Commodity Trading (Oil and Petrochemical Interfaces) for both Transaction Due Diligence and Strategic Advisory and has a focus on Energy Transition including biofuels.
Jonathan Martland
Partner
Industry Experience:
Morgan Stanley
Shell
Goldman Sachs
GLG
Koch Supply and Trading
Specialities:
Commodities Trading Expertise (Oil)
Transaction Advisory Due Diligence
Advisory in Energy Transition
Ulrich has over 20 years of experience and is a seasoned professional with expertise in physical and financial energy markets gained at leading companies. At Energex, Ulrich is responsible for the proprietary Global LNG and Gas Model which covers physical and price forecasting functionalities. He contributes to the transactional due diligence process and models outlooks of energy transition scenarios and the impacts of environmental market developments on the energy markets.
Prior toBefore joining Energex, Ulrich was responsible for forecasting, power market studies and project delivery activities at the Low Carbon Contracts Company. He has extensive commercial and transactional experience and is highly skilled in project delivery and the use of data science applications and modelling.
Ulrich specializes in Gas and Power Market Analytics, Commodities and Low Carbon and Investment Project Analysis and Modelling.
Ulrich Arnheiter
Senior Associate
Industry Experience:
Low Carbon Contracts Company
EDF Energy
BP
Specialities:
Gas and Power Market Analytics
Commodities and Low Carbon Expertise
Investment Project Analysis and Modelling
Creating a successful business development and origination strategy
Commercial Advisory – Oil
The Engagement:
Commercial Advisory
The Client:
International Oil Major (top 5 globally)
The Challenge:
The trading group had lost access to physical flow and optionality as a result of a large divestment programme. Consequently, they required assistance to replace these through the development and build-out of 3rd party flows and optionality.
Duration:
18 months
How Energex helped:
- Advised on developing differentiated offers to its client, adapted to the specific strengths of the organisation, including integrating financing, risk management, and/or credit solutions into physical supply contracts
- Advised on the ideal organisational structure to support the execution of strategy and provided input on the organisational build-out, including introducing key hires
- Provided training and insights to the senior trading and origination teams regarding best-practice approaches to building and maintaining strong client relationships
- Supported the origination of significant opportunities in the target growth regions with appropriate clients/partners, including deal structuring and delivery
- Coordinated the management of the trading and origination teams to structure an attractive proposal for a target JV partner in one of the identified growth regions
- Operated as ongoing Thought Partners for the senior managers across the Supply and Trading group
Tangible Impact:
- Regional and market strategies for the key target growth areas
- Major ‘new’ deals including a JV with a leading partner in one of the identified key markets, as well as a market entry with a wholesale-retail partner which is now a key ongoing relationship
- Senior Leadership workshop, coordinated and facilitated by Energex, to review and approve new deals
- Successfully hired a senior candidate from our network to fill the capacity and expertise gap in a key target region
- Knowledge transfer to new team members of the origination group as well as the development of a ‘client-solutions playbook’
Developing a commercial operating model to maximise integrated value across oil and petrochemical assets
Commercial Advisory – Oil & Petrochemicals
The Engagement:
Commercial Advisory
The Client:
A leading Middle Eastern National Energy Company
The Challenge:
The company was integrating its refining, petrochemicals, supply and trading activities and required strategic advice and support to develop an operating model and organisational structure to maximise its commercial performance
Duration:
12 months +
How Energex helped:
- Supported the development and validation of the case for ‘commercially’ integrating refining, petrochemical sales and supply and trading activities
- Supported and facilitated a series of workshops with key stakeholders to garner their input and to ensure buy-in to the proposed business case and operating model
- Provided best-practice insights, references and experience for integrated commercial businesses to enable an objective process
- Developed the detailed operating model and organisational structure for the new integrated Commercial Business, from defining the key roles to understanding the capability gaps
- Assisted with the proposals to the Group Board for final sign-off
- Acted as ongoing Thought Partners for the senior managers across the new organisation
Tangible Impact:
- Implementation of the new integrated operating model and single commercial organisation is underway. This was delivered within 5 weeks, in line with the client’s tight schedule
- A new refining and supply optimisation function has been established to enhance commercial margins
- Five new senior leadership roles were defined and are now operational, leading the implementation of the model
- An implementation plan is being used to guide the establishment of a new team, functions and activities
- Facilitation of the buy-in of both the operating model and new management organisation across the different divisions and geographies, with the need to recognise varying agendas and cultural sensitivities
Providing a roadmap for building a ‘best-in-class’ trading analytics capability
Commercial Advisory – Oil
The Engagement:
Commercial advisory
The Client:
International Oil Major (top 5 globally)
The Challenge:
The company was implementing an asset-backed trading strategy and needed to develop its global quantitative analytics and structuring capabilities to value and support new commercial activities
Duration:
12 months
How Energex helped:
- Identified ‘best-in-class’ approach to resourcing and organisation as well as tools and systems by conducting a thorough peer review across the oil, banking and hedge fund sectors
- Held a series of targeted interviews with Senior Leadership, Traders, Asset Optimizers and other stakeholders, which allowed for further knowledge transfers in order to aid acceptance of the ‘new’ analytics function
- Produced a comprehensive operating model for the new analytics function
- Identified areas of specific opportunity for the organisation where optionality was not being fully ‘mined’ as well as unexplored ones
- Developed a detailed execution plan which was fully aligned with the company’s specific aims, culture and risk appetite
Tangible Impact:
- A phased implementation plan for the gradual build-out of the analytics plan was approved, leading to valuable early wins and buy-in by the key stakeholders
- The establishment of an industry-leading ‘roadmap’ for the long-term development of analytics as an enabler of asset-backed trading
- Facilitated the acceptance of a more structured and disciplined approach to valuing and ‘mining’ commercial opportunities in a fully integrated global trading business and the valuable role of quantitative analytics in this process
- Helped the organisation to get to understand acceptable risk levels for the stated objective
Learning from the industry through a bespoke peer benchmark study
Commercial Advisory – Oil
The Engagement:
Commercial Advisory
The Client:
Major global commodities trader
The Challenge:
The company needed to understand how it compared to its peers in the management of risk and the control of its trading activities
Duration:
4 months
How Energex helped:
- Provided a relevant and current external view of how industry peers provide guidance, control and management oversight of a wide range of commodity trading activities
- Conducted a bespoke peer review spanning banks, traders and oil majors, assessing the operations of multiple functional areas (e.g., market risk, operational risk, compliance, etc.) and an in-depth understanding of specific areas of interest (e.g., market-to-market standards, communication policies, handling breaches, etc.)
- Provided a qualitative assessment, combined with anecdotal feedback and evidence of the common practices and processes adopted by industry peers alongside highlighting some specific outliers
- Provided a detailed peer ranking identifying the major differences between those organisations which were assessed
- Informed the development and improvement of the organisation’s major standards and policies
Tangible Impact:
- A consistent and shared understanding of how the day-to-day trading business can be managed and executed based on the output of the peer review
- Assurance that the business was operating in a manner that was broadly consistent with its industry peer-group
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Developing a strategy for a commercially viable biogas operation
Commercial Advisory – Energy Transition
The Engagement:
Commercial Advisory
Biogas Market Study
The Client:
Midstream infrastructure owner and operator
The Challenge:
Undertake a commercial assessment of a regional biogas market to inform and frame the potential investment opportunities for our client
Duration:
2 months
How Energex helped:
- Provided a high-level overview of the current and future market for biogas and biomethane and their role in the European gas markets, including possible evolution in demand, supply and pricing dynamics
- Carried out an analysis of market drivers focused on different waste feedstocks and the possible outcomes for biomethane production in the UK to 2050
- Provided an overview of plant project value chain and the key success factors behind building a robust business
- Created a detailed financial model of plant economics to illustrate potential returns under a range of scenarios covering feedstock type, plant size and subsidy regimes
- Developed a summary of key operational and technical requirements and capabilities for the successful running of a biogas operation
Tangible Impact:
- Provided the client with a robust set of findings on which to base its decision to invest within the sector
- Grew the client team’s understanding of the biogas sector in the UK and Europe
- Supported discussion with its financial investor shareholders on how to access the market
Forming the optimal commercial structure for a joint venture oil refinery
Commercial Advisory – Oil
The Engagement:
Commercial Advisory
The Client:
A joint venture between two leading Middle Eastern National Energy Companies
The Challenge:
How to commercially operate its refinery to maximise margins while meeting the needs of its shareholders
Duration:
9 months
How Energex helped:
- Completed a detailed review of the current contractual framework for both crude and refined products to determine how these could be improved to increase margins
- Conducted a bespoke peer review examining the commercial structure and operations of other joint venture refiners in the Middle East and Europe detailing ‘good practices’
- Developed and quantitatively assessed alternative commercial operating models for the joint venture, identifying the incremental value, cost and characteristics of each model
- Facilitated discussions between multiple stakeholders to align on the preferred operating model for the joint venture and assisted with the proposals to the Board for final review
- Acting as ongoing partners for the senior managers across the joint venture
Tangible Impact:
- Detailed understanding of the required changes to the current contractual framework to reduce costs and improve margins
- Ability to adopt and leverage good industry practice to avoid common pitfalls and implement the optimum commercial interface between the joint venture and its shareholders
- Quantified “benefits case” for the recommended commercial operating model
- An implementation plan is being used to guide the development and roll-out of the new operating model
- Facilitation of multiple alignment sessions working with the key stakeholders from across the different organisations, with the need to recognise varying agendas and cultural sensitivities
Adopting a fit-for-purpose European Supply & Trading strategy
Commercial Advisory – Oil
The Engagement:
Commercial Advisory
The Client:
Major European independent energy company
The Challenge:
Develop a long term commercial strategy for the Supply & Trading business.
Duration:
6 months
How Energex helped:
- Establishing the long-term vision for the Supply & Trading organisation recognising the changing market fundamentals and the reorientation of the wider global business
- Creating a strategy after completing a long-term market assessment which identified where the organisation should be positioned to maximise the total “integrated” value of the wider business while adapting to the changing landscape
- Developing the roadmap for reorientating the Supply & Trading organisation from changing its focus globally through to playing a more central role in wholesale marketing & sales in the road fuels market while leveraging its access to the biofuels market
Tangible Impact:
- Organisation is now structured and managed to better support the wider core business and to support the capture of higher integrated margins
- It is now more balanced in its income stream with less volatility
- It has exited and/or divested of businesses where it did not have a competitive advantage
Validating the commercial viability of a greenfield LNG import project
Commercial Advisory – Gas & LNG
The Engagement:
Commercial Advisory
The Client:
Large global infrastructure fund
The Challenge:
To support the validation of the commercial viability of a new brownfield LNG asset in
North-West Europe.
Duration:
3 months
How Energex helped:
- Independently assessed the current commercial rationale and project economics, combined with producing both an LNG market outlook and a summary of competing projects within Europe to inform the positioning of the project
- Conducted workshops with technical and commercial stakeholders from across the team
- Developed and compared various commercial structures for the capacity to be offered (e.g., tenure, volume commitments, rate structures, etc.) balancing the attractiveness of the project with maximising returns
- Assessed the technical and operational aspects of the project to be able to identify possible benefits and risks and to validate the capital investment required
- Provided a qualitative assessment of prospective customers across producers, traders and utilities to inform the approach to marketing the asset
- Assessed the applicable regulatory requirements within the EU
Tangible Impact:
- Documented understanding of the preferred project scope and its commercial potential versus known competition
- Developed a project ‘blueprint’ detailing the preferred commercial structure, market connectivity and technical aspects of the project
- Provided a short list of prospective customers
- Developed a project teaser and circulated it to primary customers allowing for early-stage market engagement
Adopting good industry practice to maximise the value of LNG contracts
Commercial Advisory – Gas & LNG
The Engagement:
Commercial Advisory
The Client:
A privately-owned energy and services company with significant business interests in oil, gas, power and construction in Africa across the full commodities value chain
The Challenge:
The company had decided to enter the LNG market, purchasing significant volumes from a major producer through an MSPA and was seeking advice on the optimal monetisation of the volumes.
Duration:
3 months
How Energex helped:
- Provided an expert review of existing LNG MSPA and associated confirmation notices, including an in-depth analysis of key commercial and operational terms for the purchase of a multi-annual physical strip of LNG cargoes
- Provided best-practice insights, references and experience in order to benchmark the LNG purchase contract vs. market standard LNG offtake agreements and create gap-analysis reports
- Explored optionality embedded within the supply and developed an appropriate marketing strategy
- Assisted in the execution of the marketing strategy by the introduction of the client to multiple counterparts identified as those best able to recognise the value of the optionality and with the required scale of operations to manage the volumes
Tangible Impact:
- Identified and clarified areas of both risk and additional value in the transaction, enabling the client to take the necessary steps to manage both
- Identified optimal but realistic terms for preparation of their own LNG MSPA
- Benchmarked option value
- Facilitated transactions with new counterparts enabling effective competition between buyers and hence improved value to the client
- Knowledge transfer on LNG business, on both the transaction and physical sides