drillers.com expert profile

Harish Pillai

Energy/Investment Professional

About Harish

An energy and investment professional with more than two decades of comprehensive experience in operating, expanding, and enhancing businesses. He has effectively overseen consulting assignments for energy companies, private equity firms, and family offices. His passion lies in addressing intricate operational challenges, firmly believing that organisations can attain a transformative performance by skillfully integrating People, Process, and Technology.

Areas of Expertise

International strategy and business development
M&A deal origination, commercial evaluation and due diligence
Business transformation and operational performance improvement
Capital raising, startup mentoring and exit planning

Career Highlights

Licenced Investment Banker working on capital raising and project finance assignments with clients in the Energy, Healthcare, and Financial Services sectors, having raised and deployed over $200 million.
Managed the screening of opportunities and led technical and commercial due diligence of midstream (Shipping, Logistics, Oil and Gas storage, etc.) business investment opportunities for a Middle East NOC (National Oil Company).
Oversaw the acquisition and turnaround of a distressed EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) company in the UAE, involving financial restructuring, the establishment of a new leadership team, and management of the change process.
Responsible for developing and implementing portfolio strategies in focus sectors such as Oil & Gas and New Energy for a Family Office. This included deal origination, financial due diligence, post-transaction integration, portfolio company business planning, business turn-around, and internal consultancy. Managed and deployed $100 million in capital.
Developed a capability development programme to enhance nationalisation and local contractor development in Iraq for an IOC (International Oil Company).
Conducted market analysis and developed an international Business Development (BD) Strategy for a Drilling and Subsurface Consultancy owned by a Private Equity group in Norway.
Designed a Business Development and portfolio optimisation toolkit to screen opportunities for an NOC.
Performed consulting assignments for various IOCs and drilling contractors, focusing on drilling optimisation using the Technical Limit methodology, which resulted in up to a 30% increase in operational performance and improved safety standards. Additionally, oversaw the implementation of the identified opportunities on offshore rigs.
Worked on business intelligence and transaction advisory support for business development projects as part of the International Strategy team. Constructed a business intelligence database and portfolio optimisation tool for screening opportunities.
Developed and implemented drilling contracts and a performance plan for a $2 billion Rumaila field redevelopment programme, which included overseeing operations with 20+ rigs in operation.

Selected Recent Transactions

Commercial evaluation and due diligence of $400 million Canadian Oil & Gas assets for a family office backed operator based in Houston, TX.
AI-based Fitness wearable - $7 million series A and raising $20 million Series B
Independent E&P company - $15 million to drill and develop onshore oil assets in Texas
Texas Steel Mills - $45 million of senior debt to construct a state-of-the-art highly energy-efficient steel mill in Texas utilizing recycled scrap metal and turning it into steel rebar
Logistics operator India - $35 million to grow its successful long-haul transport and logistic services platform in India
Sensor Tech - $3 million to launch the WellnessDetector, a touchless IoT multi-sensor, multi-symptom screening device using patented AI and ML algorithms that automatically scans for signs of infection
EdTech - $6 million to create a low-cost, online, fully automated tutoring service
Healthcare Tech –A medical device (spinal implants) company - $7 million for additional product development and enhancing marketing efforts
EV Retrofit- Converts fossil fuel vehicles to electric at a fraction of the cost of new EVs - $5 million capital through Reg CF
LNG Operator – Responsible for capital raising process and roadshows with PE/Family Office and Strategic investors. Prepare Investor presentation, investor documents. Set up and manage VDR. Raised $30m project capital from Family Office investor
Ecommerce platforms with presence in Amazon, eBay, Etsy and Shopify – $2m raised
Energy Training – Finishing school and training solutions provider for oil/gas clients – $1m raised from family office
Engineering/EPC – General contracting company providing services in Electrical, Instrumentation and transmission lines – $5m
Oilfield Service Company – Led sourcing and due diligence of $200million transaction for PE client

More About Harish

Harish completed an Executive MBA at Cranfield School of Management in 2009, with a focus on International Strategy and Organisational Behaviour. He also holds engineering degrees in Mechanical Engineering (B Eng, India, 1997), Marine Engineering (1999), and Oil and Gas Engineering (MSc, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, 2003).

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