The LR Experience

By Oliver Cann

The Cambridge Dictionary defines “experience” as the knowledge or skill from doing, seeing and feeling things.  A wonderfully simple but very accurate description.

I concur with Einstein’s opinion and professionals from a very diverse group would seem to agree: –

The importance of experience is no less important in the energy industry and it is this experience that LR is tapping into and offering to its clients by way of a wide range of consultants who, between them, have exercised their skills and expertise to deliver outstandingly successful results across a wide range of oil and gas companies – large and small – in many different circumstances.

You may be looking for greater profitability or cash flow, certainty of outcome (no surprises), solution of complex commercial or technical issues, ways to accelerate a programme of work etc.  LR Consultants has access to experienced resources to drive all of these outcomes.

So, what can LR Consultants offer its clients by way of its broad experience in the oil and gas sector?  How are LR Consultants able to deliver successful outcomes based upon this experience?

I believe there are a number of fundamental drivers for success based on experience.

1. Achieving the right balance with new technology
2. Managing increasing complexity and uncertainty in the broader energy sector
3. The illusion that ‘early retirement’ is a good thing when prices drops
4. Recognising the wider diversity in the energy investment community

Let us explore these in more detail.

1. We are in an age when new technologies are increasing the efficiency and effectiveness.. Of course, parts of the work we manage are more amenable to new technological developments and automation than others – those that demand data, more data and yet more data that can be processed faster to derive potential solutions. Exciting, right?  Well to a point yes.  But what if the given situation is poorly-defined, confusing, ambiguous or does not otherwise lend itself to a data-based analysis and conclusion?   This is where an experienced mind becomes essential – usually in a decision-making or problem-solving process where probability and uncertainty outweigh inevitability and certainty.  Real life human experience becomes indispensable in these situations – where subjectivity and even ‘gut-feel’ can drive the best outcomes.  No technology-based process that I know of can replace that.  Through its team of both technical and commercial resources LR Consultants is able to offer to clients solutions that can address almost every issue or problem by balancing new technology with know-how and hands-on knowledge.

There is little doubt that for example the search for hydrocarbons today is more complicated and challenging than it was 20 to 30 years ago.  Uncertainties of many kinds prevail – whether it be the rise of electric vehicles, renewable energy and the overarching call to address the issues of climate change or just the ever-changing geopolitical scene across certain parts of the world.  However, most energy experts still believe that hydrocarbons – and especially gas and its derivatives – will continue be a force for many years to come.  Young people who join our industry no longer assume they will stay with it indefinitely.  The greater demand for cleaner fuels also drives them to question the wisdom or moral justification for more hydrocarbons.  But those that do stay will continue to need the coaching and mentoring that takes them to the next level above their academic training – however good that was.  This need will necessarily drive the need to keep or even attract back experienced staff who have left.  I myself have welcomed the opportunity in recent years to perform these coaching roles – in developing protégés if you like.  But ones who can today balance all the new technologies with some real hands-on experience.  Once again LR Consultants are excellently placed to provide the necessary coaching and staffing of staff who are still in their development phase – including nationals of countries where hydrocarbon resources are found.  Many of our consultants have first-hand experience in training young and developing members of the team using their own coaching and mentoring skills and experience.

The roller coaster of cost-cutting initiatives in a company often requires the most expensive employees to be culled first – frequently under the misnomer of ‘early retirement’.  Any worthwhile staff development process ideally recognises the value of experience in determining who to develop and who to retain.  There are nevertheless times when some of the more experienced employees are allowed to leave.  In these circumstances LR Consultants is able to offer a skillset and the required experience to perform a given scope of work whose quality or even completion has been compromised due to the limited availability of suitable resources.

2. The investment picture in many parts of the world these days is drawing in a much wider range of, mainly, financial institutions, which do not have their own technical expertise to participate or even represent the company adequately in what are often highly technical investment decisions. Also, small companies by definition have limited resources and key decisions that can drastically affect the company’s future – positively or negatively – need to be made using the broadest of advice and counsel of those who have built up a peerless knowledge of the industry based on extensive experience.  Again, LR Consultants in uniquely placed to fill this gap – either for short- or longer-term assignments.  Our team of consultants is very well experienced in slotting into existing teams and adding value straight away based on their skills and expertise.

One thing to note is that the importance of experience is variable.  Different people have different experiences and their diversity, quality and quantity is likely to determine how best to resource a given piece of work – be it a multi-year project or a focussed study or small project with limited scope.  Even non-work experiences can augment your value – maybe as a leader/motivator or simply a team member.  We know that the best performing teams generally have the right mix of technical skills but also the softer skills of working effectively together, motivating each other and listening to each other – the skills that together make the best leaders.  For this reason, LR Consultants will always work closely with its clients prior to its engagement to ensure a full understanding of what is required and how best to resource its work in conjunction with the resources of its client.  This will be key to a successful outcome.

LR Consultants have access to a wide range of both technical and commercial resources who are able to deliver excellent results across a wide range of tasks and projects based upon some or all of the following experiences from their past.

• Leading or contributing to the turn-round of a project or activity that is failing in some respect
• Working in new cultural environments and countries
• Working in a truly multi-functional team
• Learning from our own or team mistakes and failures
• Building a diverse network of contacts and subject matter experts who can provide the necessary expertise when needed

In short, we in LR Consultants believe that we have access to the optimum breadth and depth of experienced consulting resources to be able to produce successful outcomes to any task or project which we are required to perform.