Episodes
Episodes
Exploring The ‘S’ In ESG & What To Expect In 2023
KEY POINTS: The Covid pandemic has forced energy companies to create more flexible work environments to appeal to a younger workforce and to stay competitive. The energy industry is making progress with diversifying its ranks of leadership and boards. The social aspect of ESG is expected to make a significant impact in 2023, especially on […]
Synergistic Solutions: Leveraging Expertise In The DFW Market
As a Houston-based company, Opportune LLP’s headquarters resides in one of the nation’s most important energy hubs. However, Opportune has expanded its presence in Texas to serve its clients beyond the “Energy Capital of the World”. One of these locations includes the booming Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) metroplex, a location rich with opportunity. So, how […]
E2B: Energy to Business: Why Threat of Rail Strike Heightened Supply Chain Issues
Freight rail is a critical mode of logistics and transportation for moving products throughout the supply chain. So, when the recent threat of a rail strike nearly derailed the supply chain and cost the U.S. economy upwards of $2 billion per day, national media attention rose sharply—and for good reason. To understand this unique […]
The Future of Fossil Fuels with Best-Selling Author Alex Epstein
In this episode of E2B: Energy to Business, host Daniel Litwin speaks with Alex Epstein, New York Times best-selling author of “The Moral Case For Fossil Fuels” (2014) and “Fossil Future: Why Global Human Flourishing Requires More Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas–Not Less” (2022), and Founder of the Center for Industrial Progress, about the past, […]
How Bitcoin Is Reshaping Texas’ Renewable Energy Landscape
Despite a recent cryptocurrency crash, the dedicated base of people who are proponents of Bitcoin and its future are rallying around the asset. In the latest episode of E2B: Energy to Business, host Daniel J. Litwin caught up with Ryan Dusek, Director in Opportune LLP’s Commodity Risk Advisory Group, and Cooper Ligon, Consultant in the […]
Petroleum Engineering: A World of Opportunity
A recent survey out of Texas Tech University found the number of new petroleum engineering graduates in the U.S. is expected to decline substantially from the previous five years, despite robust growth and career opportunities within the oil and gas industry. Why the disconnect? E2B: Energy to Business host Daniel J. Litwin tapped two industry […]
Causes & Consequences Of High Diesel Prices
Key Insights: The rising cost of diesel is driving record-high inflation. Diesel plays a critical role in the global economy because it powers so many industries. With the current high diesel prices, trucking and distribution industries will likely begin shifting expenses over to consumers. Although the question on many consumers’ minds is: when will gas […]
The Anatomy Of M&A: Why Effective Asset Integrations Bring Deals To Life
The momentum of total oil and gas M&A deals from the latter part of 2021 didn’t carry into 2022 as deal activity tapered off in Q1 2022, according to GlobalData statistics. In Q1 2022, the oil and gas industry saw $59 billion worth of deal volume, down by about 41% from Q4 2021. The upstream […]
Survey Says! Banks Could Give E&Ps New Lease On Life
How are energy prices impacting the banking and capital ecosystem in the oil and gas industry? With so much volatility and uncertainty in today’s market, oil and gas producers need information they can trust, which is where Haynes and Boone LLP, an international law firm that provides services for more than 40 significant legal […]
Regenerative Agriculture: A Sustainable ESG Strategy
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) business practices once gave businesses a competitive edge with consumers, clients, investors, and stakeholders. However, the tide has turned. Companies no longer have the luxury of designing and implementing ESG strategies when it’s convenient. In today’s world, businesses are expected to do more to protect the environment and support evolving […]
Why We Need To Look At The Supply Chain Differently
Seen in homes, grocery stores, and across the globe, the past years of pandemic and extreme-weather related events wreaked havoc on a weakened supply chain, effecting industries around the world. Permanent changes and shifting markets caused by this economic disruption are both difficult to predict and difficult to manage. However, while these events exposed […]
Why Fairness Opinions Are Needed In SPAC Transactions
Special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) are growing in popularity, and Bloomberg reported that between 2020 and 2021, the capital raised by SPACs more than doubled. SPACs, commonly referred to as “blank check companies,” are designed to take a company public without going through the traditional and lengthy initial public offering (IPO) process. The first step […]
Defense In-Depth: Cybersecurity For Energy
Despite ongoing threats and a massive wake-up call in 2021, the oil and gas industry doesn’t appear to be ready for the increasingly dangerous cybersecurity threats present in the world. The Colonial Pipeline ransom attack in June 2021 cost the company $5 million in ransom, created supply chain shortages, and fueled price hikes while causing […]
ESG: Building Sustainable Supply Chain Management
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors are no longer “just” a communications strategy—it’s a strategic imperative and a coming regulatory requirement for businesses to thrive in a rapidly changing and increasingly transparent global economy. In this episode of E2B: Energy to Business, host Daniel Litwin caught up with Patrick Long, Director in Opportune LLP’s Process […]
Using The Cloud For Custom Salesforce Solutions
Host of Energy 2 Business, Daniel Litwin, spoke with Ross Benton, director at Opportune, and Chris Baker, production manager at Ensign Natural Resources, about their experiences with Salesforce and how the platform has allowed them to address evolving operational needs. The two passionately relate their experiences with Salesforce and the need for a comprehensive, cost-effective […]
Why Data Centralization Is Key To Operational Success
In this episode of E2B: Energy to Business, host Daniel Litwin caught up with three prominent business intelligence experts at Opportune LLP—Byrony Coan, Principal; Kyle Blair, Director; and Kyle Luong, Manager—to discuss the challenges presented by data warehouses, including the need to sift through and collect data for analysis. Their discussion covered everything from understanding […]
Women Breaking The Glass Ceiling In Energy
In this episode of E2B, Energy to Business, Daniel Litwin sat down with three prominent women within the energy industry to discuss diversity in the workforce with a focus on career opportunities in the energy industry. Directors Katie-Rose Herd and Maggie Caldwell, and Principal Byrony Coan, all with energy consulting business Opportune, had a vibrant […]
Bringing Clarity To SMOG Reporting
Dave Loucks, Principal with Opportune LLP’s Complex Financial Reporting practice based in Denver, joined E2B host Daniel Litwin to discuss what the Standardized Measure of Oil and Gas (SMOG) is and why its reports and calculations are essential to the oil and gas industry. SMOG reporting provides a comparable measure of the value of […]
E2B: Energy to Business: Changing Hands: Keys to Downstream M&A IT Integration
The trend of downstream mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is a tumultuous one as assets, especially crude oil refineries, trade hands so often. The impetus behind downstream M&A can be attributed to embracing new workflows to make processes more efficient or upgrades or add-ons to software systems and applications for operations to produce renewable fuels […]
Assessing the Value of Early-Stage PE Investments
Valuing venture or early-stage private equity investments can be tricky since they don’t typically have revenues or cash flow yet. As such, applying traditional valuation methodologies like considering discounted cash flow (DCF) may not be appropriate for new technologies and early-stage investments. On this episode of E2B: Energy to Business, an Opportune podcast, Voice […]
E2B: Energy to Business: Moving Energy Forward: Putting Learning to Work
On this episode of E2B Energy to Business, an Opportune Podcast, three of Opportune’s recent new hires from our corporate finance division share their insights on seeking a career in the energy industry. The finance team focuses on helping corporations deal with funding sources, capital structuring, and investment decisions. The goal of today’s conversation is […]
E2B: Energy to Business: 2021 NAPE Summit: Energy Takes Center Stage
After a year of getting used to a “new normal” with virtual meetings, virtual conferences and, well, everything virtual, due to social distancing brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the recovery of the event ecosystem is reaching a fever pitch as people begin to come out of its grip and focus on post-pandemic life. […]
2021 NAPE Summit: Energy Takes Center Stage
“Whenever I go, I start at one end of the hall, and I just make it a point, whether it takes all day or part of both days, I am going to walk the whole floor and see what’s going on in the industry,” Hendrickson said. “It gives me a great chance to get a […]
Risky Business: Effective Commodity Risk Management
The winter freeze that descended on Texas in February of 2021 and its impact on the Texas power grid is a stark reminder of how risk strategies can be challenged. For a deeper perspective on why enterprises need to effectively manage and mitigate commodity price risk before and after unforeseen chaotic events occur, three Opportune […]
How to Fuel the Next Generation
The energy industry is undergoing a major transformation, known as the Great Crew Change, an industry-wide gap in middle-level managers stemming from the oil bust of the 1980s and, more recently, from the 2014 downturn. Older workers are retiring, and younger workers must decide whether to take their place. As Baby Boomers age and head […]
E2B: Energy to Business: Post-Pandemic Demand, Pricing Point To Optimistic Natural Gas Outlook – Part 1
The natural gas industry is coming off a volatile year, but there are reasons to be optimistic. In the first of a two-part conversation with E2B: Business to Energy host Daniel Litwin, Steve Hendrickson, President of Ralph E. Davis Associates (RED), walks through the various factors that could supply and demand and future prospects […]
E2B: Transforming the Energy Industry with Salesforce
“The uses for Salesforce in the oil and gas industry are growing all the time,” says John Freeman, Director in Process & Technology for Opportune, who recently stopped by E2B to talk about why companies are partnering with the firm to leverage core Salesforce capabilities to reduce costs, increase innovation and support the rapidly […]
E2B: Avoiding Tax Consequences During Oil & Gas Restructurings
With commodity pricing depressed and the coronavirus pandemic continuing to affect industry, many previously passive upstream creditor investors in oil and gas companies are finding their status suddenly changing. Many oil and gas companies and their investors are looking at declaring bankruptcy, which creditors may think they’re ready for. But, they must take income […]
E2B: Energy to Business: Outsourcing Fuels The Future Of Oil & Gas
Customers are often looking for two things as they consider oil and gas back-office outsourcing solutions – thorough data and analytics capabilities through partnerships with experienced energy industry experts that can help them make the most of those actionable insights and cost-effectiveness to make it worth their while. “They need to have the business […]
