Introduction

In the peak of the coal seam gas development in Queensland the three major proponents were competing with each other for resources, equipment and skills. Members of the Tribus team were engaged by a new player in the market to help do things differently to succeed.

Assessing the Initial Situation

When we first joined the project, the company was transitioning from a focus on conventional oil to its greenfield CSG project. The need for a different way of thinking was identified by the CEO and the team were empowered to work differently.

The old way of working would not cut it in a changing market with significant competition from larger projects. Procurement needed to support the organisation to grow, not be a handbrake on progress.

Achieving Results

• Streamline Processes: reducing corporate red tape to make us more attractive to suppliers and to encourage innovation in the market.

• Planning Integration: re-designed processes embedded procurement into early engineering phases to ensure time to plan and leverage new strategies was achieved.

• Build a Strategic Focus: look to changes in development and technology in more mature markets in North America but focus on local low-cost execution.

  • Team Upskilling: ensure our procurement teams and our users in the business understand what our role, where we add value in the project and how we better work together.

• Improved Supplier Relationships: working collaboratively with suppliers, communities and councils that we impact enabled a culture of collaboration in our supply chains

Conclusion

We achieved a number of industry firsts on the project, and secured the lowest drill, complete, connect cost in the Queensland CSG industry. Our focus on alternative strategies and relationships enabled highly sophisticated contracts with warranties and risk protections that transformed the sector.