Founded in 2013, Powered Australia was created with one major purpose: to help great service companies win work in the Australian resource sector.
Powered built its reputation providing business development services to two main bases: North American companies entering the Australian market, and in turn, smaller Australian providers looking to build their order books.
"I started Powered to help niche companies bring their products and services to market. It's a company that exists for one purpose - to find opportunities for our clients and help them make profitable sales," explains Powered Australia Chief Executive Officer Wade Elofson.
"And because we represent a massive spectrum of clients engaged in both up- and downstream gas production we gain insight into a large number of projects. We exploit this knowledge for the benefit of our clients.
"Over the past nine years we have earned a track record we are extremely proud of which has equated to hundreds of millions of dollars in sales."
A native Calgarian, Elofson first moved to Australia in 2009 as an employee of Enerflex and possesses more than 20 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. In the first years of his move he took note of the region's burgeoning LNG market, sensing a strong business opportunity.
By 2014-15, he explains, when the LNG terminals had started shipping gas and the fields were entering operations, he decided to focus on helping mid-sized specialists that had previously been overlooked by the major CSG to LNG asset owners. He sought our companies which could potentially help our CSG companies lower the cost of production.
"Between roughly 2009 to 2013 the supply chain in Australia required large companies capable of handling massive orders," he says.
"As a result, the only companies capable of winning work were the large multinationals who could underwrite big dollar contracts.
"By 2014 the industry was in a transition phase, and many of these mid-sized companies were having trouble getting their foot in the door with the majors. I started Powered to help niche companies bring their products and services to market."
As such, Powered has from its inception worked to seek out clients with innovative or disruptive technologies and processes that can help drive down costs for industry partners. The success of this approach has led to significant growth for the company. It even recently launched a data capture-focused offshoot called Powered Digital, which has sold lean technologies into several energy industries such as coal seam gas, wind and solar.
The launch of Powered Digital is indicative of the company's growing focus on sustainability, a topic Elofson says has "sat squarely in the spotlight" over the past 12 months.
"At Powered we have helped many clients sell this message," Elofson says. "As an example, we represent Focus Valves, which manufactures high point vent valves.
"Focus's product is unique in that it can capture methane from CSG wastewater lines and passively reinject it into the neighboring gas pipeline so that no fugitive emissions escape to the atmosphere. They're also going a step further and developing the capability to provide active reinjection, which is when the water pressure is lower than the gas pressure in the neighboring gas pipeline.
"We have helped spread this message through our work with them, and the response from the industry has been amazing.
"Suppliers like Focus Valves have the ability to help our asset owners become more lean and green, so that's really an exciting focus for us down the line," Elofson concludes.
