ENERGY, GAS & xTL
We help organisations power a cleaner futureThe energy, gas and xTL industries are undergoing significant change. Lower carbon and cleaner energy have become the new frontier for innovation as companies transition away from coal-based feedstocks.
Socio-political factors are disrupting the supply and demand equilibrium, leading to price volatility and instability, making long term planning even harder. The impact of Covid-19 has disrupted the economic cycle; and the pandemic is expected to fundamentally impact businesses which will have to now adapt quickly in order to prosper.
Achieving new efficiencies in existing operations is also vital for businesses to continue to prosper.
Energy, gas and xTL companies will need to act quickly in order to reposition their business for a new economic reality. This transformation will require owners to have access to an unprecedented depth of experience, skill and innovation.
How we help ENERGY, GAS & xTL clients
We work with established owners, project developers, development agencies and financiers to identify opportunities, develop and implement successful energy, gas and xTL projects that deliver the necessary return on capital investment and that result in an efficient, competitive, sustainable and environmentally responsible business. We also support existing businesses to improve productivity, reliability and quality of operations. We do this through understanding the root causes of suboptimal performance, followed by interventions to address these.
Our depth of experience and expertise in the entire energy, gas, xTL value chain is unique. OTC consultants each have over 30 to 40 years’ experience typically in owner/operator roles in project and business development and operations.
How we work
We provide subject matter expertise, process facilitation, project, operations and business advisory support, with energy, gas and xTL specific experience and expertise, to our clients.
Our approach has evolved over many years being hands-on involved in strategy, business development, operations, profitability improvements as well as community relations. Our methodology is adaptable to meet our clients unique requirements. And, because we are a virtual team, we can effectively support our clients using online collaborative tools.
Our aim is to optimise businesses through detailed analyses of business and operations performance and identification of improvement opportunities. Opportunities are translated into either interventions ( organisational, procedural) or capital projects.
We will always ensure that business objectives are translated into project objectives. We take on the role of owner representative and/or as members of a project team together with developers, financiers, EPC contractors and operators to optimise and deliver on shared business objectives. We also have an extensive network of strategic partners and alliances which can be quickly drawn on to ensure the best possible outcomes.
We have developed a comprehensive knowledge base of proven best practices which we use in assignments.
Related Services and Offerings
- Business audits and due diligence
- OTC Toolkits
- Technology & Product Development
- Operations analysis and profitability improvement
- Time and motion studies
- Stochastic modelling
- Oversight of EIAs
- Hazard analysis and HAZOP studies
- Process safety strategies and oversight
LATEST ENERGY, GAS, xTL INSIGHT
Small-scale versus Large-scale LNG Plants
By Jurie Steyn. Introduction Consumption of natural gas (NG) has grown rapidly over the past three decades and today accounts for nearly a quarter of the world’s primary energy supply. Although global primary energy consumption fell by 4,5% in 2020 due to the Covid-19...
WHAT IS xTL?
xTL refers to a family of processing technologies that synthesise liquid fuels from carbon sources such as coal, natural gas or biomass. For example “Coal to Liquids” is often used to describe the Fisher-Tropsch process for the manufacture of synthetic fuels.
Natural Gas
Natural gas is playing an increasingly important role in the overall energy mix. With new discoveries of both interior and offshore deposits in the Southern Africa region, liquified natural gas (LNG) represents a significant source of cheap and clean energy suited to powering the new economy.
Natural Gas means any source of methane containing gas that could be purified and liquefied and could include conventional and unconventional sources. Unconventional sources are for example, coal bed methane, coal shale gas, shale gas, biogas, and synthetic natural gas derived from gasification.
OTHER RECENT ENERGY, GAS & xTL INSIGHTS
Crude Oil Market Dynamics 2019
OTC published a series of three articles in early 2015 on the international crude oil market and price (Putter & Buys, 2015). This article is an update and follow-up on the 2015 articles. We thought now would be an opportune time to give an update on what...
Hydraulic Fracturing of Rock Formations Part 2: Coal-bed Methane Recovery
This is the second of a two-part series of articles on the hydraulic fracturing of rock, also known as fracking. This is a technology that everyone has an opinion on, but few take the trouble to understand what it’s all about. The two parts are as follows: Part 1:...
Hydraulic Fracturing of Rock Formations Part 1: Introduction and Applications
This is the first of a two-part series of articles on the hydraulic fracturing of rock, also known as fracking. This is a technology that everyone has an opinion on, but few take the trouble to understand what it’s all about. The two parts are as follows: Part 1:...
Comparison of Coal-bed Methane to Other Energy Resources
How clean is coal-bed methane (CBM) as an energy source? A comparison of CBM to other non-renewable energy sources in the context of future energy predictions provides some useful insights in this regard. Introduction Our team has been working on a coal-bed methane...
Natural Gas in Southern Africa, Part 2: Available gas resources and future development
This is the second part of a 2-part series of articles covering the natural gas industry in southern Africa. For these articles, we view southern Africa as comprising South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The two parts focus...
Natural Gas in Southern Africa, Part 1: Current supply and demand
This is the first part of a 2-part series of articles covering the natural gas industry in southern Africa. For these articles, we view southern Africa as comprising South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The two parts focus...