Market Cost Data, Now Inside Execute AFE

Upstream oil and gas capital planning has always been a detail-intensive process. But in today’s market, those details are moving faster than ever. Equipment pricing shifts, tightening service availability, supply chain disruptions, and broader geopolitical uncertainty can all influence project economics within a single planning cycle. Cost assumptions made early have a way of compounding by the time a project reaches approval.

Upstream capital planning teams are already well-equipped. Market benchmarking data and cost indices are standard tools, and most organizations have mature processes built around them. The challenge is not access to data itself — it’s making sure current, reliable market intelligence is available at the exact point where decisions are being made.

That’s where Quorum and Rystad Energy’s latest integration comes in.

Market cost intelligence from Rystad Energy is now being integrated directly into Execute AFE, bringing current market benchmarking and cost data into the workflow where upstream operators evaluate project economics and move capital commitments toward approval.

Bringing Market Intelligence into the Workflow

Rystad Energy is one of the energy industry’s leading independent research and analytics firms, with benchmarking expertise spanning basins, service categories, and equipment types across the upstream market. By integrating that intelligence directly into Execute AFE, engineering, finance, and asset teams can validate assumptions against current market conditions without leaving the planning environment.

No platform switching. No exporting to spreadsheets. No manual pulls mid-process.

Instead, teams can work from a more connected system where operational workflows and market intelligence live together in the same environment. That matters in an industry where drilling costs, equipment pricing, and supply chain conditions can shift quickly — often due to forces outside operators’ control.

As Erik Holm Reiso, Managing Director and Global Head of Partnerships at Rystad Energy, notes, “The need for reliable, verifiable numbers has become increasingly important as volatility across global energy markets continues to intensify. Embedding that intelligence directly into the workflow where decisions are made is where the practical value shows up.”

What it Changes in Practice

The impact becomes most visible during the moments that matter most — when teams are pressure-testing whether project assumptions still hold, evaluating economics across assets, or moving approvals forward on compressed timelines.

With Rystad Energy’s cost intelligence embedded directly in Execute AFE, upstream teams can:

1. Validate Earlier Cost assumptions can be checked against current market benchmarks during the planning process, not after the fact when changes are more expensive and disruptive to absorb.
2. Reduce Reconciliation Work When engineering, finance, and asset functions are working from the same underlying market intelligence, the back-and-forth caused by inconsistent assumptions and disconnected spreadsheets is significantly reduced.
3. Move Approvals Faster When assumptions are already grounded in transparent, verifiable market data, the review process has fewer unresolved questions and less reason to stall.
4. Improve Auditability Capital estimates tied to trusted third-party benchmarks are easier to document, explain, and defend throughout the approval lifecycle.

Support More Consistent Capital Allocation

With current market intelligence available directly inside the planning workflow, organizations can evaluate projects across assets with greater consistency and better context around changing market conditions.

As Gabriel Terrel, Senior Director of Product at Quorum, puts it, “Our customers execute capital commitments with greater confidence when critical data is available at the point of decision.”

For Operators Already on Execute

For teams already using Execute, this isn’t a workflow overhaul. It’s an enhancement to a process they already rely on.

Rystad Energy’s market intelligence becomes part of the Execute AFE environment itself, available as needed without requiring separate research steps or context switching to outside systems. The result is a more connected planning experience that bridges the gap between market intelligence and operational execution.

Capital planning involves enough complexity without adding friction to the data-gathering process. Giving teams access to current, verifiable cost benchmarks inside the system they’re already using makes the existing process less complicated and more reliable.

As the industry continues moving toward more connected, data-driven operations, integrations like this one are becoming increasingly valuable. The ability to combine operational workflows with real-time market intelligence helps operators respond faster to changing conditions, manage capital more efficiently, and move projects forward with greater confidence.

Learn more about Quorum’s Execute AFE and how connected cost intelligence supports faster, more confident capital approvals.