Oil&Gas Financial Journal
This article originally appeared in the Oil & Gas Financial Journal.
The boom in oil and gas production in the US from 2009 to 2014 fueled an infrastructure supercycle in midstream, with more than one hundred companies building out the gathering lines, processing facilities, and pipelines that bring crude oil or natural gas liquids from the wellhead to distribution centers or refineries.
Steep price declines in oil and gas have helped bring that chapter to a rapid close-although it was reaching its limits even before oil prices began to drop last summer. Now, as oil and gas producers reconsider new investments and, in some cases, draw down production, midstream operators are also adapting their expectations and plans. Many midstream companies are taking immediate action to lower costs and defer capital expenditures. But executives should not lose sight of the opportunity this downturn presents to establish and extend leadership positions.
Experience in other sectors in oil and gas, including exploration and production and oilfield services, as well as in other industries, shows that downturns create extraordinary threats and opportunities, often reshuffling the leader board. Bain research found that during the 2001-2003 downturn, leaders across industries grew their earnings 4.5 times faster than their peers, compared with only 1.5 times faster during the subsequent economic growth cycle through 2008. The gains or losses built during these periods tend to endure, with major gains more likely to be sustained through the next boom cycle.