Onshore Study: Identify Where Performance Gaps Exist

Low-cost, efficient operators are more likely to survive in the long run. Price volatility will always be with us and higher oil prices can’t be expected to persist. Companies that want to thrive, or even survive, in a tough business environment marked by greater investor and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) scrutiny, skills shortages and inflation, must be vigilant.

Our experience and data show that there are often large opportunities to improve operating efficiency and costs. Do you know where your performance gaps exist against the best in the industry? A peer comparison sheds light on where you stand and what improvement opportunities exist. The Worldwide Onshore Production Operations Performance Analysis (Onshore Study) can help.

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We got far more than what we expected. I would recommend this process to any company wanting to move to 'best of class. OPERATIONS MANAGER, INDEPENDENT PRODUCER

The study typically identifies benefits more than 10 times study fees.

Leverage a vetted, proprietary performance database of: >3,700 onshore production and processing facilities from 40+ countries, including the major production hubs such as, US Shale, Western Canada, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Australia.

Can you answer these questions of your onshore operations?

How do your performance gaps compare against top-industry performers?
What is an achievable performance improvement target considering your operational characteristics?
What financial resources are needed to achieve top operational performance?
Where are your fields on their energy efficiency journey?
How do your scheduled and unscheduled downtimes, and rate reductions due to reliability and maintenance, issues compare to peers?
How effective are your corporate, site, and unit sustainability strategies?

The Onshore Study uses Solomon’s proprietary Comparative Performance Analysis™ (CPA™) to compare the operational performance of onshore operators around the world. The study uses a range of key performance indicators (KPIs) and normalized cost and efficiency models to optimize onshore operations and cost management strategies.

Onshore Study Focus Areas

A major challenge of benchmarking is to compare assets with common core characteristics that affect operating costs, such as type of recovery (primary, secondary, and enhanced oil recovery [EOR]), watercut, acid gas content, or use of compression. The Onshore Study compares performance against peers at the “asset-to-asset” level. Oil and gas operations are analyzed within separate peer groups. This detailed view identifies cost and production facility improvement opportunities.

Major Onshore Asset Types & Peer Groups

We have found Solomon studies to be of benefit in assessing our competitive performance and identifying performance gaps. The deliverables provide a solid basis for setting short and long-term performance targets and for monitoring our progress in closing performance gaps. INDEPENDENT PRODUCER

I believe that the study is very well done and shed’s good light on opportunities that would otherwise go unnoticed. INDEPENDENT OIL COMPANY

The value for changes we implemented was estimated at 5M USD, a very good return on investment. MAJOR OIL COMPANY

Why Participate?

Uncover areas of underperformance and identify realistic improvement opportunities

Prioritize optimization efforts that have the greatest sustainable impact

Identify significant cost drivers for each asset type

Compare direct support or overhead against your peers

Understand year-on-year cost and production performance trends for each asset and peer group

Compare direct and indirect support costs with peers

Study Deliverables

Customized diagnostic analysis, including conclusions, recommendations, and valued opportunity potential for each asset

Specific cost targets and recommendations to achieve top level performance are presented

Private debriefings with Solomon advisors

New Metrics that Support Emissions Strategies

Energy Intensity Index™ (EII^®)

Carbon Emissions Index (CEI)

Operations Delivery Index

WEBINAR RECORDING COMING SOON

Key Strategies for North American Shale Operators to Reduce Downtime & Improve Profitability

WHEN: Tuesday, June 17, 2025, 11 AM CDT
LENGTH: 30 Minutes (20 min presentation, 10 min Q&A)

Watch our recent webinar, where upstream industry expert, John Caldwell, highlights strategies and metrics North American shale operators leverage to prioritize opportunities with the greatest economic impact. Whether you're looking to optimize your shale operations or make more impactful data-driven decisions, this webinar will help jumpstart your journey to sustainable success. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from top operators’ performance and stay ahead of the competition.

Watch On-Demand

Gain Actionable Insight

Learn How You Can Participate

The study’s goal is to help operators optimize and improve their onshore operations, enhance production efficiency, and combat the impact of volatile oil prices on operating margins. Join other industry operators that leverage the Onshore Study to help identify and prioritize optimization efforts, validate concerns, manage resources more effectivley, improve financial outcomes, and enhance competitiveness.

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A Foundation for Effective Comparative Performance Analysis and Decision Support

DATA QUALITY, BENCHMARKING METHODOLOGY

We prioritize the integrity and confidentiality of participant-submitted data and rigorously review that data before benchmarking begins. Then, we employ our normalization process and benchmarking methodology to provide valuable and trusted peer group comparisons that deliver meaningful KPIs. Finally, our staff of senior consultants apply their deep industry experience to develop practical insight and recommendations to enable your success.

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR METHODOLOGY

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

Q: What is the Onshore Study?

A: The Onshore Study uses Solomon’s proprietary CPA benchmarking methodology to compare the operational performance of onshore operators around the world. The study’s goal is to help operators optimize and improve their onshore operations, enhance production efficiency, and combat the impact of volatile oil prices on operating margins.

Q: What is the boundary of the Onshore Study?

A: The study scope includes the operations of wells from subsurface to wellhead equipment, surface gathering and processing facilities/equipment, in-field flowlines/pipelines, and the field general administration that directly supports the above operations.

Q: How does the Onshore Study compare different asset types?

A: The onshore benchmarking reviews are an “asset-to-asset” comparison considering the complexity associated to each asset.

Q: Since cost accounting systems for Exploration and Production (E&P) companies worldwide differ significantly, what does Solomon do to account for these differences?

A: As the cost accounting systems for E&P companies worldwide differ significantly, Solomon has developed a standardized set of cost categories that are used in every benchmarking study. This important step levels the comparison of operating expenses for each asset.

Q: How does Solomon normalize the Onshore Study data?

A: Solomon’s key approach for cost normalization is to define relations between cost drivers related to each cost category. Solomon normalization models are developed for each cost category and each peer group. The normalized assessment works to pinpoint performance gaps between the asset and peer group leaders and discovers potential cost optimization opportunities in every major category.

Q: What type of companies participate in the study?

A: The study includes assets from National Oil Companies, Integrated Oil Companies, Independents, and Joint Ventures.

Q: What is the typical benchmarking timeline?

A: The typical Onshore Study takes about six months to complete.

Q: What type people get involved in the study data collection process?

A: Field Engineering, Finance, Human Resources, Asset Management

Q: What success factors does the Onshore Study use to maximize its benchmarking value?

A: The success factors that the Onshore Study uses to maximize benchmarking value are as follows: Stakeholders Commitment, Data Quality, Findings Relevance, and Opportunities Prioritization.