The challenge: Strong in-country data, fragmented systems

The NOC maintained extensive in-country asset-level data for its operated and non-operated portfolio. However, this information was fragmented among multiple teams and systems, creating inconsistencies in definitions, limited visibility across the organization and slow alignment on key decisions. Three core challenges emerged:

1. Lack of a single source of truth: Upstream, commercial and strategy teams relied on different datasets, leading to misalignment in production forecasts, cost assumptions and asset valuations.

2. Limited global benchmarking capability: The NOC lacked consistent access to comparable global datasets to measure asset performance against international peers (e.g., lifting costs, breakevens, recovery factors).

3. Inefficient screening and partner evaluation workflows: Evaluating farm-in opportunities, licensing rounds and potential partners required manual consolidation of internal data with external market intelligence, slowing down decision cycles.

Partnering with Rystad Energy: Integrated data platform combining proprietary and global intelligence

Rystad Energy delivered a customized Cube Browse solution integrating the NOC’s proprietary upstream data with Rystad Energy's global datasets.

Key elements of the solution included:

1. Data harmonization and standardization: Internal asset data was aligned with Rystad Energy’s global taxonomy (fields, operators, cost structures), enabling consistent cross-portfolio and cross-country comparisons.

2. Single platform for internal and external data: The NOC’s internal production, reserves and cost data were combined with Rystad Energy’s forecasts, enabling side-by-side benchmarking against global assets.

3. Tailored dashboards and workflows: Custom views were built to mirror internal decision-making processes across teams, reducing reliance on offline analysis.

In addition to the customized platform, the NOC leverages Rystad Energy’s partnership to bring global context into day-to-day decision-making across technical, commercial and strategy teams.

Key workflows include:

1. Screening upstream opportunities by benchmarking assets against global peers, comparing production profiles, breakeven prices and operating costs.

2. Supporting subsurface and field development analysis with access to global exploration wells, geological data and basin-level insights.

3. Validating internal assumptions using global supply-demand balances, supporting decisions on project timing, commercial positioning and market entry strategies.

4. Assessing crude competitiveness in key export markets alongside refining dynamics and demand trends.

5. Evaluating gas monetization pathways based on infrastructure availability, trade flows and regional market conditions.

6. Running portfolio-level economic evaluations by adjusting key inputs such as price assumptions, fiscal regimes, costs and operational performance to generate updated NPVs, valuations and production profiles for consistent comparison across assets and investment scenarios.

Results:

The partnership has strengthened the NOC's use of data to support analysis and decision-making across its upstream and commercial activities. By combining internal datasets with consistent global intelligence and flexible analytical tools, teams can work more efficiently, benchmark more rigorously and produce more reliable outputs for both day-to-day analysis and senior-level discussions.

1. Improved internal efficiency across upstream teams through a standardized platform that consolidates asset-level data, enabling consistent benchmarking against global peers and reducing time spent reconciling inputs across multiple sources.

2. Strengthened analytical depth by incorporating global datasets across upstream and commodity markets, allowing teams to contextualize assets using supply-demand trends, infrastructure availability and broader commodity market dynamics.

3. Enhanced preparation for senior stakeholder discussions, with teams using customizable tools to generate tailored outputs such as production outlooks, cost benchmarks and valuation scenarios for board-level materials.

4. Increased use of structured market intelligence to support ongoing analysis, with teams regularly leveraging global data to stay up to date on market developments and validate internal assumptions against external benchmarks.

Rystad Energy is committed to client confidentiality. Names have been altered for privacy.