American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2021 - 73

managing and paying for field work, " he
outlines. " We ended up creating ENGAGE, which uses machine learning to
automatically dispatch services as they
are needed. "
To illustrate how the platform works,
Ratchinsky points to hauling crude to
market, one of the first services it managed.
" When ENGAGE predicts that a tank is
about to be full, it will automatically dispatch a truck to pick up the oil, " he
relates. " For example, it might tell the
truck to arrive at 9:25 a.m. tomorrow so
it can pick up as much oil as possible,
but arrive before the tank gets too full,
reducing short loads. "
Through the GPS on the driver's
smart phone or tablet, the platform tracks
the truck's routing and timing, as well
as the driver's movement on site. If the
truck picks up the expected volume-
say 140 barrels of oil-at or slightly
past 9:25 a.m. and drops it off at the expected time, ENGAGE automatically
schedules payment to the trucking company for transport and requests payment
from the midstream partner. But if something unusual happens, it will flag the
transaction for review.

" By automating routine transactions,
we can reduce the amount of time the
operator's engineers and back-office staff
need to spend reviewing paper or e-mail
transactions to catch mistakes, " Ratchinsky
details. " For engineers and some executives
at smaller companies, that is often a
quarter of their day. "
Based on field trials, Ratchinsky estimates that 40% of field tickets contain
errors. " There can be as many as 17
human touches between work getting
done and the invoice clearing accounting,
and with each one, someone might mistype
or misread a number, " Ratchinsky explains.
" Our platform saves time for both the
operator and service provider by eliminating 70% of those steps. "
This means the service company gets
paid more quickly and the operator has
immediate visibility into its spending,
Ratchinsky says.
Ensuring Trust
The platform triggers work and payments by looking at data points the operator and service company have agreed
on ahead of time, such as flow volumes
for crude oil and produced water hauling
jobs. Ratchinsky says it can also schedule
repairs based on events such as leaks, as
well as preventative maintenance or compliance work based on schedules.
The operator controls what data each
service company sees. According to
Ratchinsky, both the operator and service
company can use the platform to monitor

their operations and identify ways to improve. " Over time, shaving 30 minutes
here and there can add up, " he assures.
" For example, we had a large operator in
Utah that was able to complete what previously would have been a year's worth
of workover work by August.
" ENGAGE tracks and approves more
than 250 oil field services, " Ratchinsky
reports. " On the production side, that includes everything from hot oiling a well
to shoveling snow and controlling pests.
On the completion side, we help move
sand from the mine to the specific frac
stage and oversee the logistics associated
with water, chemicals and rental equipment. Drilling is similar, with everything
from grading the pad to delivering mud
and rig fuel.
" We have been able to expand to
such a broad scope in part because
many of the large companies that use
our software have become partners as
well as clients, " he continues. " They
are investing millions to help us add
functionality, which will benefit not
only their operations, but also those of
much smaller firms. "
The platform's user base includes independents and private equity-backed
firms that only have a few wells, as well
as majors such as Chevron, Ratchinsky
reports. Most of the users are in the
onshore United States, but he says the
company is now going live in Canada
and plans to expand into international
and offshore plays this year.
❒

FourPoint Energy Assets, Maverick, Initiate Unbridled

Through the ENGAGE platform, operators
and service companies can oversee
more than 250 kinds of field work. The
company says the platform analyzes
data from the field alongside historical
trends to automatically dispatch drivers
and technicians as they are needed, allowing employees to focus on more
valuable tasks.

DENVER-FourPoint Energy LLC says
has it merged itself and its Western
Anadarko Basin with a subsidiary of
Maverick Natural Resources to form Unbridled Resources LLC. The move is the
culmination of a consensual restructuring
between FourPoint and its debt holders.
All past and future liabilities and commitments associated with the FourPoint
reside with Maverick.
Following the transition, the core
management team and key members of
the FourPoint organization plan to launch
their next venture while continuing to
manage the assets of LongPoint Minerals,
LongPoint Minerals II, and executing
responsibilities relative to the master
service agreement it retains with FourPoint Permian LLC in relation to its
Permian Basin joint venture, DoublePoint
Energy. FourPoint Energy will retain its
company name and existing office headquarters in Denver.
The management team at FourPoint
says it remains resolute on the future
potential in the oil and natural gas in-

dustry and looks forward to identifying
and exploring new opportunities. " We
are taking our core team of top oil and
gas professionals we assembled in the
FourPoint franchise to prioritize building
value in our two mineral companies,
LongPoint Minerals and LongPoint
Minerals II, " says FourPoint Chief Executive Officer George Solich. " We
continue to see the mineral space as a
durable and sustainable sector of longterm value and near-term yield generation. Beyond the mineral space, the
FourPoint team intends to put its considerable talents to work in the management and acquisition of producing
assets along with the exploration and
development of undeveloped resources.
Our goal will be to deliver shareholder
value through an opportunistic approach
of low cost, safe and environmentally
responsible operations and state-of-theart technical drilling and completion
framework derived from over two
decades of horizontal drilling activity. "
❒
JANUARY 2021 73

American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2021

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