Consultancy Overview

Case Studies

Custom Development: Coding & Implementation

A global commodity merchant, who is also a software licensee of Pastore Houldsworth & Co., inquired about the applicability of our storage software for the iron ore market. We worked with the client to successfully customize StorNav to handle the features of iron ore warehousing in Asia.

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An energy merchant, and licensee of StorNav, sought to streamline and automate its end-of-day risk management tasks. Pastore Houldsworth & Co. worked closely with the client to speedily integrate StorNav’s code into the relevant components of the client’s risk management reporting system.

Energy Trading & Risk Management (ETRM) Implementation

A prominent independent power producer in N. America approached Pastore Houldsworth & Co. to assist in a review and update of several valuation components of the client’s ETRM system. Pastore Houldsworth & Co. performed independent validation, stress-testing, custom model prototyping, and software development, as well as testing of non-linear trade types and portfolio simulation. We also provided appropriate math and technical documentation to accompany the deliverables.

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Confronted with portfolio valuation issues, a N. American power generator hired Pastore Houldsworth & Co. to build an independent Value at Risk (VaR) tool to measure various components of the company’s generation portfolio. Pastore Houldsworth & Co. delivered such an effective and useful solution that the company incorporated it as the VaR module in its day-to-day risk management and valuation practices. Pastore Houldsworth & Co. also provided hedge review and assistance in marking non transparent parameters.

Litigation Consulting & Valuation

The owner of a natural gas storage facility hired Pastore Houldsworth & Co. to assist in litigation involving a tax dispute with the local county’s appraisal district. In a supporting role to the client’s certified real estate appraiser, Pastore Houldsworth & Co. provided expert market analysis and discussion of key valuation dynamics for natural gas storage.

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A department of the U.S. government tapped the consultancy to provide expert witness services in the context of litigation pertaining to eminent domain / public condemnation of an underground salt cavern asset. We acted as the government’s market expert delivering an in-depth market report, fundamental analysis, and various financial analyses supporting the efforts of the government’s certified appraisers.

Strategic Consulting & Transactional Support

A multi-billion dollar investment fund, with no prior experience in natural gas storage, was beginning to explore opportunities in storage and needed a consultant to assist in detailed valuation assessments to be presented internally to the fund’s investment board. Working closely with the fund’s analysts and decision makers, Pastore Houldsworth & Co. developed various in-depth regional analyses, reviewed plans for competing infrastructure, provided forecasts of fundamental factors, and studied the various influences on the facilities’ storage rates and subsequent rates of return on investment(s). Over the course the engagement, Pastore Houldsworth has supported the client’s acquisition of more than 30 Bcf of working gas storage capacity in N. America.

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An independent midstream developer with a salt dome position in Texas wanted a third-party opinion on the prospective future lease rates for underground crude oil storage. Working with the client and collaborating with a team of other technical consultants, Pastore Houldsworth & Co. delivered a concise presentation which the client then used to support its interaction with prospective customers and project investors.

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A project company with a new energy concept to be applied to salt dome storage (compressed air storage) needed a detailed analysis of the idea’s value proposition. Pastore Houldsworth & Co. carefully reviewed the economic models of the client and delivered an enhanced model that integrated hourly electric price data and business logic, providing detailed simulations of the technology’s economic potential. This simulation fully explored the unique optionality of the new technology and quantified its market value. In conjunction with this detailed analysis, the firm also provided summary presentations to be used by the client when interacting with investors and prospective customers.

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A technology development company with an innovative design for gas-fired combined cycle power plants contacted Pastore Houldsworth & Co. to act as a strategic consultant throughout the various stages of product development. The consultancy performed fundamental research to substantiate the market potential of the product; developed all of the detailed financial projections for prospective partners and investors; arranged presentation content; assisted in the coordination of marketing strategy; and cultivated critical relationships with regard to prospective off-take agreements, finance, and equipment vendors.

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A privately held midstream gathering and processing company in its early stages of expansion issued preferred equity options to some of its investors. The company, wishing to properly quantify the value of these options, contacted Pastore Houldsworth & Co. Working with the company’s accounting firm, the consultancy examined the underlying value of the company to provide a reasonable determination of share price underlying the options.

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An independent explorer and producer of oil and gas owned a declining production asset in New Zealand. Believing there to be significant economic potential associated with the conversion of the depleted reservoir to gas storage, the E&P company sought the opinion of Pastore Houldsworth and Co. to corroborate or refute the value potential of the concept. The consultancy performed a thorough examination of the local market which included detailed supply-demand analysis, hourly consumption patterns for electricity and gas, and in-depth research and forecasting of the energy segments of the market: gas, electric, oil, wind, and geothermal. The final presentation combined these elements to provide a concise valuation assessment of the opportunity which led to a successful undertaking of the project.

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The CEO of a well-established marketer/distributor of various residential and commercial fuel types hired Pastore Houldsworth & Co. to help his company analyze the prospective acquisition of a U.S. Gulf Coast natural gas storage business. Pastore Houldsworth & Co. worked closely with the client’s team of executives and the client’s investment banker to evaluate the proposed transaction and develop reasonable operating margin assumptions for the client’s acquisition model.

Market Analysis and Supply/Demand Modeling

A midstream company sought to bolster its internal market analysis with a third-party review of N. American supply-demand fundamentals and future natural gas pricing trends. Pastore Houldsworth & Co. performed a detailed review of the relevant fundamentals and developed an econometric model to generate price forecasts. This information supplemented the client’s data as they prepared to position various midstream assets for sale.