Gas, LNG & Low-Carbon Gases Consulting

Challenge

A major infrastructure fund needed our consulting team to take on multiple studies to support the client’s investment thesis development, from screening and ranking potential acquisition targets to carrying out detailed commercial due diligence on high-grade opportunities.

Solution

• We provided US upstream and global liquefaction outlooks to support market framing, making recommendations that would support their investment thesis, which led to the US LNG market being prioritized as an investment opportunity.
• We carried out a screening exercise of US LNG projects, benchmarking against international competitors and evaluating recontacting potential.

Results

We supported the client with commercial due diligence by analyzing upstream, infrastructure, above-ground risks, feedgas availability and deliverability as well as competitiveness of the LNG terminal under consideration.

Challenge

Our client, a US Midwestern gas midstream company, was looking to develop a long-term strategic plan.

With their core asset fully commercialized, they needed external help to identify potential growth opportunities and to develop a detailed roadmap.

Solution

• We provided market outlooks and identified key macro trends to build a strong understanding of market drivers and themes
• We identified and profiled pipeline competitors, highlighting competitive threats, opportunities, and potential market shifts impacting their growth platform
• We performed a comprehensive Due Diligence on their core asset, providing an independent view of areas for improvement
• The project team put forward an unconstrained set of growth opportunities for evaluation, ranging from investments within their core business and regional footprint to more “stretch” opportunities
• We ranked the opportunities, with estimates of the required investment, financial impact, timing and sequencing. The resulting roadmap was accompanied by signposts and KPIs

Results

The study delivered a strategic and actionable roadmap along with a framework for execution and constant performance monitoring. This roadmap received backing from C-suite and Board-level stakeholders who were actively involved throughout the engagement.

Challenge

A State-Owned energy company in the APAC region engaged CI Consulting for strategy work to help optimize its portfolio of LNG contracts, analyze procurement options, and support negotiations with its suppliers and buyers.

Solution

• We provided our short-term and long-term outlooks for LNG markets
• We performed detailed reviews of existing contracts and term sheets of proposals by prospective suppliers
• We identified and evaluated LNG supply options against contract term sheet conditions such as volume, price, duration, and flexibility
• We developed a financial cash flow model to compare the economics of the various supply options for LNG procurement, and on the sell side to support negotiations with buyers
• We supported our client in their negotiations of existing contracts and those of new term sheets with multiple counterparties

Results

Our client was armed with comprehensive analyses which enabled it to confidently negotiate the best possible terms for existing and new contracts and optimize its portfolio.

Challenge

Our client, a large independent E&P company, was looking to acquire a global gas/LNG supply and trading firm based in APAC. The Target’s portfolio included LNG sale and purchase agreements (SPAs), downstream gas sales agreements (GSAs), LNG ships, regas capacity, bunkering and carbon trading businesses.

The client engaged CI Consulting to perform commercial due diligence on the Target, including review of Vendor documents and contracts in the dataroom.

Solution

• We provided gas market outlooks for selected Asian and European countries to 2050, and regulatory landscape analysis to draw out implications for the transaction
• We analyzed the Target’s business activities in relevant downstream gas markets, commercial terms for material gas supply contracts and financial projections. Our analysis highlighted key risks and opportunities for our client
• We prepared multiple valuation approaches (mark‑to-market, comparative metrics and risk-reward ratios) for the Target’s gas trading business and assessed requirements to setup a similar business from scratch
• We also provided a global outlook for LNG and Ammonia as a bunker fuel

Results

Our due diligence report provided the client with a deep understanding of the regional gas and bunker fuel markets with a backdrop of changing regulations, and implications on the Target’s business potential. The client was able to use these inputs in its valuation of the overall business and key risks associated with the transaction.