Capital Projects

We help clients deliver world-class projects that yield maximum return on invested capital.

Following cost deflation and scope reductions, oil and gas capital projects are looking for new ways to improve value. We help clients identify and adapt proven best practices from other industries to create opportunities on supply chain optimization, process digitization, learning curve benefits, planning, and contract innovation.

Over the past 5 years, we have advised 55 percent of the world's top 20 oil and gas companies on capital productivity, on more than 285 projects spanning all major hydrocarbon basins. We offer clients fresh insights, proven methods, and access to an unequalled pool of expertise—70 specialists supported by more than 300 experienced practitioners and dedicated implementation teams.

How we work

We support clients at every stage of their capital projects:

During planning, we help clients to develop a project concept that delivers the greatest value at the lowest risk, using design tools to drive project value and applying a modular approach to reduce capital expenditure.
In contracting and procurement, we help clients define a contracting model, select contractors, and establish appropriate price structures, contract terms, and incentives.
During project execution, construction, drilling, commissioning, and ramp-up, we help and boost project management through schedule optimization, contractor management, and lean execution—including waste and performance loss elimination—at the yard, on-site, and offshore.
To enhance project governance, we help clients define an operating model covering all dimensions of capital expenditure—from technical processes to mind-sets and behaviors—and manage small projects as rigorously as large ones in order to capture savings of 20 to 30 percent.

Examples of our work

A Design-to-Value Approach

A leading regional oil and gas company saw its capital expenditure rise threefold in 10 years, while production grew by just 2 percent. We helped the client adopt a design-to-value approach, it identified five value levers that saved 30 percent of the total cost of ownership in its tank farms, and 40 percent in gas conditioning.

Value-Creation Opportunities

An Eastern European national oil company embarking on a huge program to modernize its refineries sought our support with identifying the biggest value-creation opportunities. We helped the client achieve a 30 percent reduction in the level of investment while seeing a decline of only 1 percent in commodity yield and revenue.

Capital-Expenditure Processes

With our help, a refining and marketing company redesigned its governance processes and set up a capital-excellence team to address capital-expenditure projects of all sizes across the organization. This five-month effort led to a 25 percent savings in capital expenditure.

Featured capabilities

We invest heavily in developing proprietary tools, databases, and methods, including:

Project Delivery Services, a group of seasoned project directors and professionals to boost your project team
a cloud control tower solution for insight into the real status of projects
a Lean Greenfield tool for optimizing design from plant to production loop to equipment loop, and enabling lean manufacturing
a suite of purchasing tools for reducing capital expenditure
a contractor dashboard tracking key metrics to create a robust basis for performance dialogues
E&C benchmarking, a three-stage analysis pinpointing the drivers of performance in engineering and construction companies
McKinsey Infrastructure Diagnostic, an algorithm-based pipeline-assessment tool that helps in evaluating the regulatory and financial environment

We also provide procurement support via our global sourcing centers located in China, Eastern Europe, India, and Latin America.