Independent Energy Standards IES Corp
Independent Energy Standards (IES) Corp.: Helping O&G Industry Improve and Leverage Best Practices

As pressure builds on the oil and gas industry to develop our resources responsibly, the need for a pragmatic, independent, and action oriented risk assessment has continued to grow. Armed with unique data, advanced algorithms, and years of industry experience, Independent Energy Standards Corp. (IES) has emerged as a trusted ratings and analytics provider enabling oil & gas operators, investors and insurers to manage risks and drive best practices in the industry. IES brings a balanced, independent perspective which allows customers to systematically understand best practices and value responsibility by highlighting operators who are going above and beyond.

IES’ suite of solutions—categorized into SwiftScan, RiskView Analytics, and TrustWell Ratings—is designed with an eye toward addressing risk analysis needs across the industry value chain. First off, SwiftScan is a data driven evaluation which systematically evaluates the risk and exposure of oil and gas assets with respect to everything from their age to local surface water, aquifers and environmental sensitivity. “SwiftScan changes the game for insurance companies and investors by providing them a comprehensive overview of their assets, allowing them to build a holistic story and focus their efforts on specific pain points that need attention,” says Devin Luquist, IES’ Head of Product and Strategy.

Sometimes just understanding risk and exposure characteristics isn’t enough and stakeholders need to see how risks are actually being managed. Coupling decades of industry experience with novel technology from neural networks to probabilistic graphical models, IES’ RiskView Analytics boils down the immense complexity of risk in the oil & gas industry into simple, digestible, and actionable results. It benefits insurers, investors, and operators as they can use RiskView analytics as a powerful tool to frame risk and prioritize actions that ensures best practices in their operations. Additionally, it analyzes the performance of client’s system across a broad range of event risks, facility types, and geographies to allow comparison, tracking and transparency.

We are reimagining oil and gas risk management in a more systematic and pragmatic way via advanced data & analytics, a unique group of stakeholders and decades of industry experience

Finally, IES is also enabling operators to engage with their stakeholders via TrustWell Ratings. These ratings, which are awarded after a representative sample of facilities have been analyzed through the RiskView process, are being used to engage with communities, regulators, corporations, and NGO’s. For example, a small salt water disposal company in Colorado, which has demonstrated exemplary performance and earned platinum rating, leveraged IES’s rating as a marketing tool with considerable success. In yet another case, a Marcellus operator is using the company’s rating as part of a community engagement and communication strategy, which they view as critical to the ongoing success of their operations.

The unique advantage that IES bring over its competitor is how they consolidate oil and gas data and analytics expertise together. Working with a couple of biggest insurers in the space, the company has helped them to get access to higher quality data and minimize impact on their account.

IES has truly ambitious goals to harness the growing demand for responsibility to drive the industry forward by bringing a new twist to an old trade. “We are reimagining oil and gas risk management in a more systematic and pragmatic way via advanced data & analytics, a unique group of stakeholders and decades of industry experience,” Luquist says. It’s this powerful approach that IES is confident will allow them to value environmental and community impact and thereby enable the industry to drive itself forward.