The COVID-19 pandemic, the recent energy crisis partially caused by the Russia-Ukraine-NATO conflict, and growing inflation have all one way or another shifted investor preferences when it comes to oil and gas projects worldwide; an example are Marginal fields. Although Marginal fields have been regularly seen as lacking enough production of net income to make it worth developing at a given time, in some cases given changes in technical and/or economic conditions, such fields have proven to become commercial.
During IN-VR’s latest Global E&P Summit that took place virtually in July 2021, 80% of participating International Oil Companies (IOCs) agreed that they are interested in Marginal field opportunities. Why? The answer is more straightforward than ever; investment groups are more keen to fund low-risk, proven ventures, than support frontier Exploration and Production (E&P).
The current climate has stranded National Oil Companies (NOCs) and Regulators from continuing with their Licensing Rounds worldwide, with approximately 5 of them postponed or canceled between 2019-2022 alone. However, there has never been a better time to attract frontier investors and diversify your country’s investment portfolio, including:
Mid-size and juniors are more eager than ever to pursue different exploration opportunities;
Other NOCs and Ministries that are not sure how they should respond to the current commercial crisis so they avoid meeting with investors or are not aware of the tools to effectively attract them;
E&P companies are more willing than ever to use modern technology and arrange meetings with new potential partners.
Maneuvering and thriving during tough times
By organising a professional Virtual Roadshow (VRS) - a tailored event for current and potential investors only - you will be able to re-initiate broken communication lines with your potential E&P investors, but also, attract new ones. Through our experience, we advise to ensure 30 E&Ps per VRS, with which you will then systematically follow up.
Advertising and increasing your brand awareness is also key. E&Ps are also entering a new era of adapting to a more environmentally friendly policy, leading to a fully digital transformation. This means that they will most likely no longer meet you in person as they used to; however, you need to stay relevant and attractive in this new digital era. The best way to do this is via increasing visibility of your organisation. Use social media, advertise on LinkedIn, and invest in a good international marketing agency to help you achieve this as fast as possible.
Physical events post COVID-19
Ensuring you have a budget available for online conferences and participating in as many as you can is also important, specially to launch your digital presence and brand. However, with the deployment of COVID-19 booster shots and ever growing health and safety protocols, E&P companies, especially majors, are ready to come visit you in your offices, and participate in conferences, trade shows and roundtables. By meeting with people in person you will be boosting your capacity to network around important topics, such as regulation and licensing rules, which can otherwise be complicated to understand and follow up on online.
Educating potential investors
Furthemore, educating E&P investors and providing answers through a physical presence will be the key to a successful growth. With limited budgets, E&Ps need to present solid proof of minimum risk or an incredible opportunity to investors and stakeholders, in order to receive the green light for their investment. Currently investors lack such information from countries, or such information is extremely costly in the form of reports or data. This being said, you can always provide information through digital articles, interviews, reports, data, and videos available on your organisation’s website.
In order to educate potential investors and increase your chances of liaising with them:
Revamp your website Your website is your digital home and footprint. 92% of E&Ps believe NOC, Ministry and Regulators’ websites are either obsolete, complex, or not working well. The sole purpose of your website is to keep leads warm and convert them into investors; once the investor enters a website, digital marketing provides various ways of keeping in touch and then re-engaging with them as they look for the next interesting opportunity. Also, 100% of E&Ps interviewed agree that NOC, Ministry and Regulators’ websites lack abundant information, and they would love to see more countries building websites focusing on their upcoming or ongoing Licensing Rounds, or current opportunities available to them, with a modern, easy-to-navigate user experience.
Don’t forget that current E&P scout groups looking for new opportunities are usually young, tech-savvy executives, expecting to navigate through content-rich, user-friendly, beautifully designed websites.
Let us know if you’d like us to assess your website’s functionality and attractiveness for free.
Work with a specialised promotion/marketing agency
You may, or may not have an in-house promotion department. As the workload sometimes grows, especially close to a Licensing Round, it is hard to catch up with every aspect of your marketing; not to mention the continuous shifting of investors’ preferences and technology.
Who are you going to trust to keep up with the latest trends and technologies to maximise exposure to investors? A professional full-service marketing agency specialising in government promotion and energy marketing will not only save time, conserve money, and strengthen your brand, but it can also directly connect you with your future investors much faster and with less effort. It is important that the agency offers comprehensive strategies and solutions, custom-fit to your business from start to finish, that it’s led by experts that specialise in attracting investment for governments by using advanced digital marketing, and that come highly recommended by peers or partners.
How does IN-VR work?
IN-VR is a fully integrated promotion and energy marketing agency for Nations. The process usually starts with an audit, analysis or research to find the most direct and cost-effective plan to meet the investment goals of the NOC, MInistry or Regulator. The company engages in wide-ranging, multi-channel campaigns, leveraging social platforms to reach our client’s E&P audience.
As an experienced partner, we can tailor services and packages specifically for your organisation, based on your budget, goals, and development, to help you meet your investors as soon as possible.
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