What is your role at Xodus?

My role at Xodus is a Senior Energy Developments Consultant working on consultancy studies across Oil and Gas, Hydrogen and CCUS projects. I am responsible for shaping, de-risking and progressing projects from early concepts through key development decisions, providing trusted technical and strategic advice to our clients across the energy transition.

How does this role support the development of the industry?

I work at the very front end of energy projects, supporting clients to determine whether proposed developments are viable and to understand the key risks, constraints and value levers that will ultimately define success. A major constraint on industry progress is the gap between ambition and deliverability, particularly as the sector navigates the energy transition.

By helping clients identify credible development concepts early, I support the industry in reducing uncertainty, identifying potential flaws at an early stage and progressing projects to a point where robust investment and sanction decisions can be made. This early framing is critical to avoiding late-stage failure and inefficiency.

The energy industry is undergoing significant change, with increasing focus on CCUS, hydrogen and offshore wind alongside traditional oil and gas developments, which are becoming ever more marginal. My role allows me to apply established oil and gas development rigour, such as structured optioneering, risk management and integrated decision-making, to these emerging sectors, supporting their maturation and improving delivery confidence.

By enabling better early development decisions, my work contributes to more resilient project designs, fewer late-stage surprises, reduced re-work, and a lower likelihood of cost overruns or project cancellations. In doing so, I help improve capital efficiency, delivery certainty, and overall confidence across the industry, supporting its evolution through the energy transition.

What is the most interesting North Sea development project you have been involved in and why?

One of the most interesting North Sea development projects I have been involved in recently was the electrification of an oil and gas platform using local offshore wind generation. This project was particularly compelling because it sat at the intersection of late‑life oil and gas operations and emerging energy transition solutions. The work provided direct insight into the floating offshore wind market, including the technical and commercial challenges associated with deploying wind solutions in a harsh offshore environment. It highlighted the complexity of integrating intermittent renewable power with existing offshore facilities that were never designed for electrification, requiring careful consideration of power stability, reliability, redundancy and asset integrity.

What made the project especially challenging and interesting was the scale of capital expenditure required on a mature asset. The development required a clear understanding of remaining asset life, infrastructure limits and the balance between emissions reduction benefits and long‑term economic viability. Decisions needed to be made under significant technical, commercial and schedule uncertainty, reinforcing the importance of robust front‑end development and risk‑based decision‑making.

Overall, the project demonstrated how legacy North Sea infrastructure can be repurposed or adapted to support decarbonisation objectives, while also underlining the practical challenges operators face when transitioning from traditional oil and gas operations to low‑carbon solutions. It was a strong example of where good early‑stage development thinking is critical to making the energy transition deliverable rather than aspirational.

How do you think consultants can help at this moment when the North Sea is facing commercial challenges? 

Consultants can play a critical role in supporting the North Sea at a time when operators are facing significant commercial pressure from fiscal uncertainty, cost inflation, aging infrastructure and the complexities of the energy transition.

In a mature basin, value is often created or lost at the front end of a project. By providing objective, integrated development advice, consultants can help identify credible development concepts, challenge assumptions and focus effort on reducing the uncertainties that matter most to investment decisions. This helps operators protect capital and avoid committing to projects that are unlikely to be viable under current conditions.

Unlike asset‑tied teams, consultants are able to draw on lessons learned from multiple operators, developments and energy sectors. This perspective is particularly valuable when operators are reassessing portfolios, considering infrastructure reuse or navigating unfamiliar areas such as CCUS, electrification, hydrogen or offshore wind integration. Independent challenge and benchmarking can improve development robustness and confidence.

Developments now sit across traditional oil and gas, power and low‑carbon solutions, often involving multiple stakeholders and regulatory bodies. Consultants are well placed to integrate technical, commercial, regulatory and schedule considerations into a coherent development narrative, helping projects remain deliverable rather than aspirational.

Overall, at a time of commercial challenge, consultants add most value by helping operators make clearer decisions, spend capital more wisely and progress fewer but more resilient projects that are aligned with both economic reality and long‑term energy transition goals.