North Shore has an internal team of consultants that specialize in corporate consulting. Our corporate consulting team has years of industry experience and has provided support to many private firms to help them effectively manage their various liability programs.
Our experts have completed projects related to business analysis, project management, data management, liability assessments, acquisitions and divestitures, asset retirement obligation, and SiteView consulting.
Acquisitions & Divestitures
North Shore has an experienced global acquisitions and divestiture team. We provide professional, cost effective services to a wide range of clients in the oil and gas industry. From the initial evaluation process to defining liability to the set-up of data rooms, North Shore provides the complete package. Working with a qualified acquisitions and divestitures professional will help you manage a more effective process; all of our staff on the acquisitions and divestitures team have upwards of a decade of experience within the environmental industry.
The Supreme Court of Canada’s 2019 Redwater Decision has resulted in insolvent oil/gas companies being legally bound to fulfill provincial environmental obligations prior to disbursing asset-sale funds to creditors. North Shore has the experience and expertise to provide high-quality, detailed environmental liability assessments for lenders, trustees/receivers, and companies, allowing for a more accurate assessment of financial risk and economic viability throughout the acquisition process.
Services provided related to acquisitions and divestitures include:
- Environmental Liability Assessments
- Due Diligence File Reviews
- Risk Based Comparisons
- Full Data Analysis and Data Migrations
Siteview Consulting
North Shore provides SiteView consulting services to our clients in the areas of set-up, implementation, data management, data integrity, data QA/QC, user acceptance testing and training. Our professionals have the environmental, construction, and SiteView expertise to ensure the implementation project meets the day to day corporate needs of the end user.
- Implementation & Enhancements – We complete gap analysis and requirements elicitation to determine the most useful configuration for each user group with the minimum amount of data entry requirements; AdminView configuration; Database Security Manager configuration; software add-in creation on schedules, Excel-based single and multi-site reports, SiteView-based single and multi-site reports, batch report setup, queries, data audit requirements, manual/guide creation and training, user acceptance testing, ongoing maintenance.
- Data Integrity – Reporting and query creation are carried out to ensure previous (and ongoing) data is correctly tracked; data cleanup (manual, data cleanup tool, scripts) of information as required.
- Inventory Integrity – We compare various data sources (public, internal – Client, internal – North Shore) to ensure all abandoned sites are accounted for, all reclamation certified sites are accounted for, and all sold sites are identified; updating SiteView as needed to reflect new sites and reclamation certified sites, as wells as ensuring sold sites are not worked on.
- Acquisitions – Full reviews of incoming data, data mapping to SiteView, data migrations using scripts, and data integrity checks are carried out by our team. Depending on the incoming data, this can be a very manual, labour-intensive process, or very automated.
- Integration – Full integration of third-party program/applications based on requirements and frequency of updates can be completed by our team; for example – AFE system/SiteView integration – information from the AFE system is sent to a staging table and AFE values present in SiteView draw in the estimate codes/amounts to the applicable tables in SiteView; this reduces data entry efforts, as SiteView users now only need to enter in the AFE number in SiteView, opposed to each individual cost line item. Configuration files allow for only certain codes to be brought in based on SiteView data (e.g. Job Type).
- Upgrades – Reviews of current configuration vs. upgrade data model for potential issues, recommendations for new table use as required, and data migrations from removed tables to new tables can be carried out by our team.
Site Specific Liability Assessments
North Shore offers a variety of liability assessment options, including Site-Specific Liability Assessments required under the Alberta Energy Regulator, including:
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- Directive 001
- Directive 006
- Directive 024
- Directive 075
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We have successfully assessed a number of facilities for new developments, existing facilities, licence transfers, and required updates. Utilizing our comprehensive remediation and reclamation expertise, coupled with an in-depth knowledge of the applicable directives, North Shore is able to provide timely and accurate liability assessments for our clients.
Asset Retirement Obligation
North Shore has completed asset retirement obligation (ARO) projects for number clients in the past, including several of Canada’s top producers. Our dynamic team has the expertise to accurately assist clients with establishing ARO goals and deliverables based on current regulations and realistic objectives.
North Shore’s strategic reports have been gaining popularity within the oil and gas industry, as companies are looking to effectively manage and distribute funds required for end of life costs, which include responsible environmental and fiscal considerations.
Liability Management
North Shore has an in-depth understanding of the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) directives related to liability management and licensing. Using this knowledge, coupled with extensive past experience and expertise, North Shore has developed several techniques to reduce deemed liabilities in the following programs:
- Licensee Liability Rating (LLR) Program
- Large Facility Program (LFP)
- Oilfield Waste Liability (OWL) Program
After reducing deemed liabilities, a company’s Liability Management Rating (LMR) is improved and their current or potential security deposit requirements with the AER are reduced. When using desktop means to reduce liabilities, costs are minimized and benefits are maximized.
Additionally, North Shore has completed numerous environmental liability due diligence projects for clients seeking to acquire oil/gas assets, as well as for clients seeking to review their existing holdings. Past projects have ranged in size from 350 to 5700 wells/facilities and in total estimated environmental liability from $11 million to $347 million. Utilizing information provided from data rooms and publicly available sources, coupled with North Shore’s extensive reclamation and remediation experience, our team has the ability to efficiently and accurately estimate environmental liabilities. Given the 2019 Supreme Court of Canada’s Redwater Decision, lenders, trustees/receivers, and companies will be better situated to assess their obligations and risk by ensuring a detailed, reliable estimate of their environmental liabilities has been completed.
Business Analysis & Project Management
North Shore has the experience and expertise to work with clients on project workflows, reporting requirements, data analysis, budgeting, and project management. Our team has completed full data analysis projects for clients to ensure abandoned wells are accounted for, reclamation certificates are properly tracked, divested assets are removed from project portfolios, budgets and costs are properly accounted for, and programs run efficiently and effectively.
By drawing on our diverse resources, we are able to ensure clients receive high quality project management, accurate data analysis, and high value recommendations.