What future at BPRL? Ask Boston Consulting
Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) hopes to revive its upstream business with help from the Boston Consulting Group India (BCG).
On March 29 (2024), BPCL awarded a Rs2.59cr ($311,000) contract to BCG to prepare a strategic roadmap for BPCL's upstream arm Bharat PetroResources (BPRL). BCG must assess the profitability of BPRL's assets and net cash flow through a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Tests) analysis.
In addition, BCG must create detailed forecasts of BPRL's revenue, profitability and net cash flow along with a portfolio strategy for the long-term (more than ten years), medium-term (five to ten years) and short-term (two to five years). Also to be evaluated are the energy outlook, market conditions, regulatory framework, demand and supply for fossil fuels, and unconventional and alternate energy sources.
BPCL wants BCG to identify growth opportunities for BPRL in the upstream sector and opportunities in Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS). Within eight weeks of the award, BCG must submit a draft report and a final report within two weeks after receiving final comments on the draft report.
On January 19 (2024), BPCL invited offers for consultants with a February 22 (2024) bid deadline and, on the same day, opened technical bids from McKinsey, BCG, and AT Kearney. "All the bidders qualified in the technical round," says a source.
By end-March (2024), BPCL opened price bids and evaluated them under the Quality and Cost Based System (QCBS), where 80% is assigned to technical competence and 20% to price. BCG quoted Rs2.59cr and secured the highest marks against the technical and price parameters.
McKinsey quoted Rs1.5cr ($179,850) and received the second highest marks. AT Kearney quoted Rs2.48cr ($297,120) and secured the third-highest marks.
Incorporated in 2006, BPRL is a 100% subsidiary of BPCL. In India, it is the operator with a 100% interest in the OALP-1 block CB-ONHP -2017/9 and has non-operator stakes in five other onland blocks: AA-ONN-2010/3 and AA-ONHP-2017/12 in Assam; CB-ONN -2010/11 in Gujarat; and CY-ONN -2002/2 and CY-ONN-2004/2 in the Cauvery Basin.