James Black Directorjames.black@sigma2c.com
Tel: 07768 176966

Twenty three years experience in the oil industry, seventeen of which have been in a commercial role for various oil companies. Employed by Phillips Petroleum, BP and Chevron from 1985 to 1996. Became an independent commercial consultant to the oil industry in 1996 by forming Fabian Ltd.

Left Fabian in 2008 to form Sigma with Ashley Horobin.

Significant work undertaken in the last 10 years includes:

Commercial management for mature field operation and development, Commercial negotiation for Merlin, Waveney, Orion, Cook, Halley, Howe, Sycamore and Braemar satellite developments (covering all or various aspects - JOA, development planning/construction, processing, oil & gas allocation, oil & gas transportation and gas sales). Commercial negotiation for Schiehallion trans-shipment and Post 2000 negotiations for Sullom Voe Terminal, Brent System and Ninian Pipeline System agreements. Joint venture management and representation, commercial support for "new-start" oil companies, and commercial support on a variety of asset acquisitions and divestments.

Ashley Horobin Directorashley.horobin@sigma2c.com
Tel: 07879 812882

Twenty years experience in the oil industry, eighteen of which have been in a commercial role for various oil companies. Employed by Total from 1992 to 2000 and by Enterprise Oil from 2000 to 2002. Became an independent commercial consultant to the oil industry in 2002 by joining Fabian where he became a director.

Left Fabian in 2008 to form Sigma with James Black.

Significant work undertaken in the last ten years includes:

Negotiation of decommissioning arrangements for 4 fields and commercial support for decommissioning project, dataroom reviews for a number of transactions, creation of innovative buy-back deal to circumvent high transportation tariff, settlement of tariff dispute, introduction of trigger price mechanism for terminal gas/ngl production targeting, defence of court case and Appeal regarding termination of a long term gas sales contract, negotiation of terms for the purchase of Greater Kittiwake Area assets from Shell/Esso for Dana. Negotiated gas swap terms for Braemar gas in the the Brae system. Substitute operator for Maclure host selection process, negotiation of Maclure terms over Gryphon, negotiation of Leadon pipeline terms for Beryl and SAGE. Commercial support for Beryl / Quad 9, ECA and various SNS assets. Renegotiation of third party access rights (in light of EU competition law) at BP Bacton terminal. Negotiation of Hewitt gas balancing arrangements and various allocation / hydrocarbon accounting agreements.

Caroline Bolam Core Consultantcaroline.bolam@sigma2c.com
Tel: (07794) 171541

Seventeen years experience in the oil industry, fifteen of which have been in a commercial role for various oil companies. Employed by Enterprise Oil from 1993 to 2002 before joining Hess. Joined Centrica in 2007 rising to UD&P Senior Commercial Manager before joining Sigma in 2009.

Significant work undertaken in the last ten years includes:

Joint venture management for a number of assets including SNS gas fields and West of Shetlands oil fields, asset acquisition in Cairo including renegotiation of the GSA with the national oil company, third party business negotiations (both as a new field owner and infrastructure owner), renegotiation of an operated Joint Field Operating Agreement, business support for operatorship transitions on 2 assets, development of country strategy in Brazil and Morocco.

David Keating Core Consultantdavid.keating@sigma2c.com
Tel: (07769) 742633

Twenty nine years’ Finance and Commercial experience within the oil and gas industry all gained with BP. Posts held in Upstream, Downstream and Corporate Head Office.  The last 15 years have all been spent in Upstream North Sea activity, both as accountant and commercial manager.  Joined Sigma in 2008.

Significant work undertaken in the last 10 years includes:

Commercial Manager for the Bruce then Magnus Fields. Commercial Operations Manager for BP’s Northern UKCS Field Group and latterly the Commercial Operations manager for the whole BP North Sea portfolio. Negotiation of Clair gas purchase and transportation agreements. Negotiation of Rhum tie in agreements. Review of BP’s gas sales contracts. Review of EOR strategy on Magnus.

Richard Lewis Core Consultantrichard.lewis@sigma2c.com
Tel: (07872) 633583

Thirty six years in the oil and gas industry with Marathon rising to become VP and Project Manager for the Volund development snf and Lundin as commercial rep for the Peik development.

Significant recent assignments have included:

A&D valuation services, project manager, set up of Norwegian office for Marathon, Foinaven and Heimdal non-operated asset development manager, Brae commercial manager and business development manager, JV coordinator for Norway, Libya, Netherlands, Tunisia, Egypt and Indonesia.

Alex McFarlane Core Consultantalex.mcfarlane@sigma2c.com
Tel: (07771) 730860

Eighteen years in the oil and gas industry with a background in economic analysis. Experienced gained in Exploration, Development and Strategic Planning departments before becoming a commercial negotiator in 2000.

Formerly employed within the Amerada Hess Commercial Department looking after a number of UK assets, both operated and non-operated before becoming an independent consultant in 2003.

Significant recent assignments have included:

Lead role in the renegotiation of the SAGE terminal operating agreement to comply with divided rights and EU Competition Law, review of commercial framework of a major player's SNS assets, the transfer of Scott/Telford operatorship, lead negotiator in development of JUNO area fields from joint development agreement to product allocation agreements and successful representations to DTI for late field life development options.ltrices elit.

Richard Owen Core Consultantrichard.owen@sigma2c.com
Tel: (07876) 791577

Thirty two year’s experience in the oil industry, as an employee of Amoco, both UK and overseas, and latterly with BP within the UKCS.

Working primarily in a commercial capacity Richard has developed a broad range of commercial skills in field development and operations, and in third party negotiations, both as a provider and user of offshore production and/or transportation and processing systems.

Significant work undertaken in during the past 5 years includes the commercial lead for a BP-operated gas field subsea tieback development in the northern North Sea, and developing business cases for promoting BP’s Northern North Sea gas pipeline infrastructure. These studies lead respectively to the Magnus EOR development and to the diversion of significant quantities of Norwegian gas to the UK. Richard has also negotiated several agreements for the processing of third party hydrocarbons on BP-owned host platforms and a potential synergistic field acquisition. For a time, Richard was BP’s management representative for a non-operated field situated on the UK/Norwegian median.

Greg Parkin Core Consultantgreg.parkin@sigma2c.com
Tel: (07709) 057488

Over 30 years experience in the oil and gas industry. Joined Britoil as an economist in 1984 before moving to British Gas as Energy Policy Manager. Moved to Mobil in 1991 before joining Enterprise Oil as a Commercial Advisor in 2000. Joined Talisman in 2002 before joining Sigma in 2009.

Significant recent assignments have included:

Responsible for representing Talisman’s commercial interests in the Mid North Sea assets (Beatrice, Buchan/Hannay, Clyde, Fulmar, Halley, Orion, Ross and Beauly). Talisman’s Commercial Code of Practice Champion, commercial lead for suite of agreements required for sale of Beatrice and Nigg assets, lead negotiator for a number of construction and tie-in agreements and transportation and processing agreemenys (Burghley, Tweedsmuir, Affleck, Fiddich), commercial member of team that purchased Fulmar and Auk from Shell and ExxonMobil. Put in place commercial agreements relating to the development of the Beatrice Wind Farm project, provided commercial input into compliance with a number of Abandonment Credit Agreements, negotiated a Bare Boat Charter agreement with Bluewater on behalf of the Ross field partners and oversaw compliance of all Talisman’s Mid North Sea area commercial agreements. Lead the negotiations with Bluewater to re-structure the current FPSO services agreement with the Pierce owners.

Stewart Petrie Core Consultantstewart.petrie@sigma2c.com
Tel: (07817) 649167

Thirty–two years experience in the oil industry with BP. Joined BP as a geologist in October 1974. Involved in exploration, appraisal, development, and operational assets both in the UKCS, Mid East, and South America – laterally as BP Brazil Senior Explorationist, BP Ireland Exploration Team Leader, and Wytch Farm Subsurface Team Leader (Appraisal, Developments and Operations). Moved into the commercial arena in 1991 and involved in a range of new business development, project development, acquisition and divestment, and business process development activities.

Significant work in the past 10 years includes:

Commercial Lead/Manager on four BP Major Projects in the UKCS (Schiehallion, Clair Phase I, Rhum Field, and Q204 Redevelopment), and for BP’s UKCS exploration activity. These roles included (i) Negotiating and subsequent implementation of all joint venture development and operating agreements and oil/gas transportation, processing, and sales agreements, (ii) Management of joint venture activities and representation on joint venture committees, (iii) Development of business cases for formal management approval, and (iv) Development of performance management processes – e.g. risk and opportunity management.

Paul Rayner Core Consultantpaul.rayner@sigma2c.com
Tel: (07769) 913628

More than twenty years oil and gas experience with commercial roles in British Gas, Amoco and BP. Experience of upstream, midstream and downstream projects in the UK, Trinidad, North Africa and South America.

Developed a deep understanding of different oil and gas contractual structures across different fiscal regimes. Extensive experience of third party and government negotiations. A high level of analytical and planning expertise and an excellent understanding of planning processes. Commercial consultant since April 2008.


Significant work undertaken in the last 10 years includes:


Commercial Manager for central North Sea Columbus gas development. Non-operated Asset Manager for ETAP, Nelson and CATS. Managing the host selection commercial evaluation process on behalf of the Cygnus southern North Sea gas field. Managing the commercial and negotiations process for potential tiebacks to the Brae system. Commercial Manager for BP Wytch Farm. Commercial negotiations and analysis for BP’s Farragon, Harding Gas and Devenick projects. Commercial negotiations and analysis of BP’s gas business in Trinidad, including upstream developments, pipelines and LNG plants.

Andrew Sanders Core Consultantandrew.sanders@sigma2c.com
Tel: (07739) 201213

Twenty years experience within the oil and gas industry, initially with Total and more recently with Perenco.

Joined Perenco UK Limited in 2003, after an MBA, to manage the transfer of operatorship and the ongoing managment of commercial operations of "the Bacton assets" bought from BP. The portfolio was expanded in 2007 with the integration of purchases from ExxonMobil of the LAPS and Thames assets.

Significant work within the last 10 years includes:

Restructuring of Perenco's long term gas sales agreements (Leman, Inde and Pickerill); full suites of agreements for tie in, transportation, processing and allocation (including in some cases a separate backout agreement) for seven fields tying into Perenco operated infrastructure; marketing and optimisation of gas sales into the gas market; and development and negotiation of agreements required for gas storage.

Russell Streether Core Consultantrussell.streether@sigma2c.com
Tel: (07890) 020073

Twenty nine years Technical, Commercial and Audit experience within the upstream sector

Breadth of knowledge and competencies developed in all stages of the E&P lifecycle. Qualified Chartered Surveyor overseeing BP’s survey operations in UKCS and internationally. Moved into Commercial roles in 1992 following completion of the BP Group sponsored Executive Integrated MBA Programme at Warwick University.

Work undertaken in the last 15 years includes:

JV Manager for BP-Operated ACG Fields in Azerbaijan, development of National staff, lead business advisor for Exploration and BP-Operated Deep Water Projects, West of Shetlands Region, UKCS (including Clair Phase 2), Senior Business Advisor for New Developments, Alaska, Senior Commercial Analyst for BP’s Exploration activities UKCS and Faroes, Internal Audit Manager, Senior Auditor for Commercial operations, UKCS and Europe (including Clair Phase 1, Northern Export Systems, UK-Europe Gas Interconnector, Major Projects. Business Advisor for BP-Operated and Non-Operated gas fields, Southern North Sea, UKCS.

John Tan Core Consultantjohn.tan@sigma2c.com
Tel: (07872) 536657

Eighteen years experience in oil and gas and management consultancy with Shell, Coopers & Lybrand and BP. Commercial experience includes negotiations and dispute resolution in upstream and midstream, joint venture management, launching new developments particularly for those in the LNG value chain and project managing setting up JV companies. Background in process engineering and project management.

Significant work undertaken in the last 10 years includes:

New Business Manager for the Forties Pipeline System structuring and negotiating Transportation & Processing, Gas Sales and Purchase, Construction and Tie-in and Operations and Maintenance Agreements. Member of the leadership team that launched the Tangguh LNG project monetising 14tcf of gas in Indonesia with specific responsibility for programme management of the multi-functional activity strands, and leading the team that wrote the Plan of Development and securing co-venturer and governmental approvals.

Jelte van der Veen Core Consultantjelte.vanderveen@sigma2c.com
Tel: (07815) 077549

Over thirty five years of experience in the oil industry of which 25 years in Shell’s downstream activities and since 1993 working in the upstream activities of Shell. During my time with Shell in the upstream I have mainly worked in a commercial role on a variety of assets

Became an independent commercial consultant in May 2007, forming VDV Consultancy Ltd. and becoming an Core Consultant with Sigma.

Significant work undertaken in the last 14 years includes:

Part of the Brent System management team for the operation of the Brent System Pipeline and Brent System’s interest at Sullom Voe terminal. Providing operational support for amongst others Shearwater, ETAP and Goldeneye and the associated export systems.

Joint venture commercial management, commercial negotiation for offshore satellite developments involving oil and gas processing and transportation and hydrocarbons allocation and valuation, pipeline crossings, JOA's, onshore and offshore offtake procedures.

Richard Woollcombe Core Consultantrichard.woollcombe@sigma2c.com
Tel: (07748) 933198

Twenty five years experience in the upstream oil & gas industry with BP in a wide range of commercial and financial roles in the UK, Egypt and Indonesia. Has significant experience in working “pre-project” issues with multi-disciplinary teams as well as business development and running commercial operations for producing fields.
Left BP in 2008 to become an independent commercial consultant, now working with Sigma.

Significant work in the last 10 years includes:

Commercial Manager for BP’s Southern North Sea gas business where key achievements were the sanction of a $250 million terminal upgrade, restart of drilling after a break of over 5 years and completion of contracts for gas sales and new third party fields. 3 years as part of BP’s North Sea strategy and planning team with a focus on reserves management and capital allocation. Prior to that, work on a range of new fields including taking Rhum field from concept to FDP / sanction, Devenick field to appraisal and Keith field through execution.

Pat Cosgrove Associated Consultantpat.cosgrove@sigma2c.com
Tel: (07763) 937659

Thirty two years experience in the oil & gas industry,sixteen of which have been in commercial roles. Employed by Occidental and Elf rising to become Frigg System Commercial Manager.. Became an independent commercial consultant to the oil industry in February 2002, forming Prob-Solve Consulting Ltd and becoming an Associate Consultant with Sigma.

Significant work undertaken in the last 10 years includes:

Review of a major mismeasurement using statistical analysis, audit of pipeline allocation system and gas transportation agreements, subsea pipeline surge analysis audit, review/critique of cost sharing/tariff proposals relating to an Indian gas terminal, and supervision of a North Sea platform metering system upgrade to accommodate a new field tie-back development together with defining scope of the new oil and gas allocation system requirements and subsequent implementation of a new database and allocation reporting system.

Hugh Falconer Associated Consultanthugh.falconer@sigma2c.com
Tel: 07885 856541

Over 30 years experience in the oil industry, with 22 years working with oil major Chevron, initially in senior operational roles including OIM and senior operations engineer, then specializing in commercial negotiations, covering work in the UK, Norway, Colombia, Netherlands and Denmark.

Resent work included negotiation of the full suite of commercial agreements for Shetland Island Gas Gathering System, which included the JOA, construction and commissioning agreement, hydrocarbon accounting and allocation, and decommissioning and security agreement for the transmission system operated by Total. A substantial amount of work associated with the negotiation of agreements for shipping gas from Danish offshore assets for sale in Denmark and the Netherlands, this included several transportation agreements with complex hydrocarbon accounting procedures with hourly allocation these involving large partner groups and government agencies. The most recent work on these Danish assets has included crude valuation adjustment agreements, third party processing and hydrocarbon accounting and allocation agreements, and several enquiries from third parties for processing.

Also experienced in development of complex business economics models for business planning and asset acquisition.   

Andrew Knights Associated Consultantandrew.knights@sigma2c.com
Tel: (07810) 524223

31 years experience in the oil and gas industry, 27 of which were for Total before becoming an independent contractor in 2004.

Key competancies include regulations (a key point of contact with Government regarding emergency response, future regulation and legislation and industry representative of the Gas Terminal Operators) and a specialist on gas import arrangements especially in relation to Norway.

Significant work undertaken in the last 10 years includes:

Lead industry participant in the development of low cost long-term capacity allocation in the UK gas Network. Lead negotiator in the development of information provision requiring the management of national gas supply emergencies. Lead representative for the gas industry regarding the implications of gas quality change in Europe and the UK. Key participant in the development of national gas and electricity emergency plans. Major involvement in LNG developments in UK and Europe. Significant participant in providing gas management advice for a major gas development in India. Major involvement in storage developments in UK and Europe.