A prominent independent oil and gas company, operating over 600 wells across the Gulf of Mexico, faced significant financial friction following a major acquisition of 19 offshore fields from a supermajor. The primary goal was to resolve high-stakes disputes regarding over $37 million in operating expenses billed under a complex Transition Services Agreement (TSA).
As the client integrated these vast assets, spanning from Florida to Texas, they encountered substantial commodities price volatility and technical accounting challenges that made verifying TSA charges difficult. The client required an independent expert who possessed both deep senior-level expertise in energy and the forensic capability to challenge a supermajor’s billing practices in an arbitration setting. Opportune was uniquely qualified due to its specialized knowledge of Gulf of Mexico OCS operations and its proven track record in high-stakes dispute resolution.
Opportune rapidly deployed a value-focused team of financial professionals to perform a granular forensic analysis of the disputed charges. Our experts meticulously analyzed over 12,000 documents provided via legal production, mapping invoice-level support to individual charges to ensure every dollar was accounted for.
Leveraging our agile implementation approach, Opportune modeled and structured a detailed expert report that exposed systemic billing errors. When the counterparty provided insufficient documentation for over $10 million in charges, our team authored a robust rebuttal report and delivered a high-impact presentation to the arbitration tribunal. By focusing on the client-centric benefit of cost recovery, we successfully secured an unprecedented opportunity for the client to conduct a formal, on-site audit at the seller’s corporate offices to verify the remaining contested amounts.
When you choose Opportune, you gain access to seasoned professionals who not only listen to your needs, but who will work hand in hand with you to achieve established goals. With a sense of urgency and a can-do mindset, we focus on taking the steps necessary to create a higher impact and achieve maximum results for your organization.