The COVID-19 pandemic and low oil prices have some oil and gas companies looking for cost-savings measures, including consolidating operations and selling assets, while others see buying opportunities.
Barr has long supported clients with strategic moves such as acquiring and divesting assets. Our services range from targeted assessments to comprehensive environmental and engineering evaluations, allowing decision-makers to quickly evaluate asset condition and prepare for complex negotiations.
For example, as oil prices declined in 2014, vertical wells became less desirable due to declining production, but could be revitalized with enhanced recovery. C12 Energy, a company that uses CO2 for enhanced oil recovery, asked Barr to assist them with a fast-track acquisition of oil and gas assets in North Dakota and Arkansas. The assets included hundreds of oil leases and injection wells, and associated documentation such as spill logs, sundry notices, and well redevelopment and maintenance records.
To accommodate C12’s timeline, Barr screened the lease site information and focus our efforts on the sites with the highest potential for environmental problems or costly repairs. We also conducted a reconnaissance of CO2 pipeline routes, using our GIS tools to narrow the field visits to critical areas such as wetlands and water crossings.
Barr’s innovative approach helped reduce the due diligence cost by more than 80 percent compared to a typical evaluation and let C12 act quickly to capitalize on the opportunity.
For another fuels client, we have asset evaluation support as part of its mergers-and-acquisitions due diligence process.
Contact Jim Aiken at 701-595-4155 or jaiken@barr.com for more information about Barr’s services.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2020 issue of the Barrometer, Barr’s quarterly newsletter.