Speaking at yesterday's RIU Good Oil Conference in Fremantle, EY's Russell Curtin and Darryn Hall said the industry was surfing a wave of volatility, something EY has seen by working with companies across the sector, both large and small, but there's more to life than energy prices.
Each year the global consulting business looks across multiple sectors for its Capital Confidence Barometer, with around 1000 corporate leaders polled, including around 100 oil and gas executives.
In June, around one fifth of those surveyed saw the downward trending market as an investment opportunity, and 85% saw reasons to be optimistic, although many were concerned by the pressure facing the oil price, and many companies were going into cash conservation mode.
Curtin, EY's partner and energy leader, said it was clear the market was split between those companies in survival mode, and those nimble companies that would be able to adapt to the changed environment.
And adaptation will be needed, with digital technologies changing the way oil and gas companies will do business, because the digital future brings both positives and negatives with it.
Around 21% of oil executives surveyed highlighted digital disruption as an issue they were concerned about, which Curtin believing that figure was surprisingly low.
The convergence of social media, mobile data, big data and cloud storage technologies, and the growing demand for any time anywhere access will all change how E&P companies will operate.
"They are already disrupting all areas of our businesses across industries and geographies, and the entire energy value chain. It will be key to operational efficiencies within oil and gas organisations," Curtin said.
"The adoption of digital technology really will constitute a fundamental change and opportunity in terms of reservoir recovery, optimisation of production, HSE [health, safety and the environment], and collaboration with service companies and the logistics parts of the business."
But the digital world also brings a downside.
Hall, an EY energy partner, said today's digital requirements in the merger and acquisition space are "a recipe for a cybersecurity attack."
While the M&A market is currently flat, distorted by massive deals like the Shell/BG merger or the Baker Hughes/Halliburton marriage, most of the M&A action will be under $US250 million, a space that Australian juniors and mid-caps are well placed to play in.
That will likely see consolidation, a focus by companies on existing geographies, and a push to gain increased market share.
But, in the case of M&A data, company systems can be hacked or compromised during the deal process, Hall warned, with third parties looking to gain inside information.
"One obvious risk is manipulation of the stock price during the deal process, and a less obvious, but equally significant risk, is the potential to gain strategic information that could either be disruptive to a company's competitive position or its core business," he said.
The M&A process centralises a company's strategy and information into a single repository, a unique situation.
Hall said companies should be pro-active by considering who could target an organisation and which information could be targeted.
It should not only consider entities outside the organisation and those potentially attackers who have authorised access to data, such as suppliers and other partners.
