With 2020’s unexpected COVID-19 pandemic, many previously used techniques were shifted forever. One of the most significant shifts was reflected upon strategies involving Exploration and Production (E&P) Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) attraction. The following article will touch base on the evolution of E&P FDI strategies in the past few years, and how energy companies need to act in order to stay in the competitive loop.
Unexpected changes worldwide
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the energy industry has forever changed, and so has the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) landscape. Global Ministries of Energy, National Oil Companies (NOCs), and regulators, all responsible to attract FDI to their assigned economic sectors, are beginning to realize the effect the global pandemic is having on the energy industry as a whole.
It is clear that oil and gas nations, both traditional and frontier, now compete for much shorter Exploration and Production (E&P) budgets from companies that have severed their risk aversion for greenfield projects. Therefore, the challenge to compete for and acquire this said E&P budget and FDI is extremely challenging. This being said, Institutional teams are making an effort to execute new marketing strategies and gain the attention of potential investors.
Pre-COVID-19 best practices and new strategies
As a reminder, pre-COVID-19 era best practices for Government and NOC promotion included:
Spending six-figure-budgets on single conferences;
Obsolete banners and articles written and published in outdated platforms such as oil and gas magazines; or even
Ad-hoc door-to-door campaigns in E&P hubs such as Houston, London, Singapore, Perth, among others.
Currently, most activity has even frozen, driving E&Ps and investors even further. So, why are these conventional strategies not enough? Nowadays, E&P investors need and expect specific strategies, such as:
One-to-one, personalized and consistent engagement, to gain exclusive interest and commitment;
Proactivity and hand-holding clients throughout the entire process, starting with general awareness to ensure investment commitment in the target country;
A specialized and experienced approach;
An approach by the best-trained and qualified business development experts, since they receive literally hundreds of calls per month, and all targeting their budget; and
A meticulous follow-up strategy, in order for them not to de-prioritise, or even naturally forget opportunities in the target country, especially during a global crisis.
What to do in 2022 and beyond
IN-VR has identified all of the previous points, and trained a department for months with one single purpose: bringing Governments, NOCs, and regulators, closer to securing new investment. How is this achieved? By building strong communication channels between a client and its existing and potential investors, and organizing all the prospecting and meetings arrangements they need to achieve industry growth.
Today, it is clear that new times require new approaches, tailored for a pool of investors extremely hard to persuade and convince. IN-VR is able to maximize chances of success through its business development services for Governments, NOCs, and regulators.
For more information on how to implement your new E&P FDI attraction strategy through IN-VR, contact our Chief Growth Officer, Madalena Soares de Albergaria at madalena@in-vr.co