Connecting the spokes at Newfield Exploration

In 2003 the systems utilized by the different business units at Newfield Exploration Co., would have been characterized as the spokes of a wheel, none of which were attached to its hub. Today, through the concerted efforts of Newfield employees and P2 Energy Solutions’ Enterprise Upstream suite of products, combined with the Oracle eBusiness Suite and Oracle technology platform, all of the spokes are connected to a central hub that now serves as the center of our business model—a comprehensive oil and gas management system that supports Newfield’s continued growth.

As an independent crude oil and natural gas exploration and production company founded in 1989, Newfield Exploration has developed a proven track record of success for profitably growing reserves and production. Today, the company’s domestic areas of operation include the US onshore Gulf Coast, the Anadarko and Arkoma basins of the Mid-Continent region, the Rocky Mountains, and the Gulf of Mexico. Newfield also has international operations in Malaysia and China.

The company’s historic success stems from a long-held strategy of doing more with less. As we grew, like other mid-size producers, we had trouble getting consistent data out of our systems, departments and offices. Why? Because we relied on disparate data systems throughout the United States and abroad.

Early on, we recognized the need for a single global platform that would allow us to accurately capture, transact, analyze, and report while enhancing business transparency for our employees and executives. That’s when Newfield began to exploit P2 Energy Solutions’ Enterprise Upstream suite and Oracle’s eBusiness Suite, to serve as the foundation for all of its worldwide production, land, and accounting data.

With Enterprise Upstream, Newfield can now open an office with little more than a high-speed internet connection. Once the new organization is set up in the system and new employees are trained, they can immediately gain access to the same tools and capabilities as their counterparts in our other offices, even if they are half way around the world.

Groups now focus on work that adds value rather than keeping up with their own silos of data. Because of the P2 Enterprise Upstream and Oracle solutions, we have integrated land, production, accounting, and financial data and functions, which allows us to be extremely efficient, accurate, and consistent in all of our processes.

Phased implementation versus big bang

Newfield decided to systematically deploy its ERP solution in offices throughout North America and internationally instead of launching them at all locations simultaneously. This permitted Newfield to begin to extract value from the system sooner than if we had attempted to implement simultaneously in all locations. This approach also helped the company determine what worked well and what did not. As a result, we are very efficient when integrating newly acquired properties or companies into own business.

Today, Newfield’s Houston, Tulsa, Denver, Malaysia, and China offices operate from the same database system. When someone in one office creates a report, it can easily be shared with other locations. In addition, the data is consistent and meaningful to everyone, unlike before when different groups each maintained their own reporting that was only meaningful or valid for those groups.

Now, if someone in the Mid-Continent office creates a land-analysis report, it can be published to the company’s intranet as a “best-practices” model that can be adapted to other locations. Consistent reporting ensures everyone works with the same data to make decisions. Our meetings are now focused on solving business problems and adding value instead of quarrelling about the accuracy of data.

Managing change

Despite its obvious benefits, implementing Enterprise Upstream into an agile organization like Newfield wasn’t easy. Change is still change, and most employees initially balked at the six- to nine-month timetable required to completely implement and learn the comprehensive enterprise software suite of products. However, the phased implementation across the company made the process much more manageable and IT evolution occurred in parts versus all at once.

In 2008 we continue to exploit P2 Energy Solutions’ Enterprise Upstream suite of products and Oracles eBusiness Suite to enhance our corporate wide functions and systems such as marketing, planning and budgeting, business intelligence reporting and document management. These enhancements will help us realize maximum returns on our investment. This is the big payoff, and we expect nothing less as the Newfield wheel keeps rolling along. OGFJ

About the authors

Brian L. Rickmers [[email protected]] is corporate controller and assistant secretary responsible for the corporate accounting function at Newfield. Prior to this, he served in various capacities from accountant to financial analyst and assistant controller. He joined Newfield in December 1993 after serving nearly four years in public accounting. Rickmers holds a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University. Rickmers is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Mark Spicer [[email protected]] has over 24 years experience in the petroleum industry. He is currently vice president of information technology for Newfield and is responsible for setting strategic IT direction and delivering information services to all exploration and production business units. He has past experience with Tenneco and Amerada Hess working in both IT and operational units. Spicer has bachelor of science degrees from New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.