Geoscience · Engineering · Regulatory · Operations · Since 1999

The full technical and regulatory bench for an oil & gas operator

Numeric Solutions provides every element required to acquire, permit, develop, operate, and retire a hydrocarbon asset—subsurface interpretation, reservoir and drilling engineering, UIC and agency permitting, field operations, compliance, and the accounting behind it. One firm, senior practitioners, from prospect to plugging. Founded in Ventura, California in 1999.

27
years serving California and U.S. operators
30+
geoscientists, engineers & specialists
60+
Class II UIC projects permitted or reviewed
$150MM+
in transactions advised or evaluated
5
lease groups under contract operations
Full-cycle delivery

Everything an operator needs, under one roof

Most operators buy these disciplines from four or five vendors and spend their own time stitching the answers together. Numeric carries them as one team—so the geologic model, the injection pressure, the permit narrative, the AFE, and the monthly production report all agree with each other.

Geology & Geophysics

Subsurface mapping, structural and stratigraphic interpretation, petrophysics and formation evaluation, seismic interpretation, prospect generation, and 3D geocellular modeling built for handoff to simulation.

Reservoir Engineering & Reserves

Reservoir simulation, material balance, decline-curve analysis and type curves, waterflood and thermal surveillance, IOR/EOR screening, and SEC- and lender-grade reserve reports with probabilistic risking.

Drilling, Completions & Workovers

Well planning and directional design, AFE and cost estimation, geosteering and real-time drilling support, completion and stimulation design, artificial-lift optimization, and recompletion candidate selection.

Abandonment & Legacy Fields

P&A planning, sequencing, and cost estimation; asset retirement obligation and idle-well liability modeling; wellbore integrity and zonal-isolation review; and certified risk assessments supporting surface development over legacy wells.

UIC Permitting (Class II–VI)

Class II project applications and project-by-project reviews, AOR/ZEI determination, MASP and injection-pressure modeling, aquifer exemptions, and Class I and Class VI application authorship. 60+ California projects.

Regulatory & Compliance

CalGEM, Regional and State Water Boards, EPA, air districts, TXRRC, and county/city land use. Permit strategy, NOI and land-use applications, CEQA support, NOV and deficiency response, and agency negotiation.

Contract Operations & Field Oversight

Day-to-day operations management for working-interest owners—pumper and contractor supervision, production surveillance, workover and repair execution, facility and tank compliance, and agency inspections.

Accounting, JIB & Royalty Administration

Monthly joint-interest billing, revenue distribution, royalty and NPI calculation and payment, accounts payable and vendor management, lease-level cash management, and owner reporting packages.

A&D, Due Diligence & Expert Witness

Buy- and sell-side technical and financial diligence, offering memoranda and data rooms, valuation for litigation and bankruptcy, ARO and liability quantification, and testifying and consulting expert support.

What that means in practice

Service detail by discipline

Scope is built to the asset. Below is the working inventory of what Numeric delivers—engage any one line, or the whole stack.

Geology & Geophysics

Defensible subsurface interpretation is the foundation everything else rests on—the reserve number, the permit, the drilling target, and the abandonment plan.

  • Structure, isopach, and isochore mapping
  • Structural cross sections and type logs
  • Petrophysical analysis and log normalization
  • Core-to-log calibration and facies modeling
  • Sequence stratigraphy and depositional-system analysis
  • Fault interpretation, seal analysis, and compartmentalization
  • 2D/3D seismic interpretation and attribute analysis
  • 3D geocellular model construction in Petrel
  • Static-to-dynamic handoff and model upscaling
  • Volumetrics with uncertainty ranges
  • Prospect generation, ranking, and risking
  • Geologic database build, QC, and management
  • GIS mapping, lease and well-spot cartography
  • Hydrostratigraphy and USDW delineation

Reservoir Engineering & Reserves

From single-well decline work to full-field simulation and third-party reserve reports built to survive lender, auditor, and courtroom scrutiny.

  • Decline-curve analysis and type-curve construction
  • Material balance and pressure-transient review
  • Numerical simulation (tNavigator, OPMFlow)
  • History matching and forecast generation
  • Waterflood pattern design and surveillance
  • Thermal (cyclic steam and steam flood) evaluation
  • CO2 and polymer flood screening
  • PDP / PDNP / PUD classification and booking
  • Third-party reserve reports (PHDWin)
  • Probabilistic risk analysis (@RISK, Crystal Ball)
  • Full-field development and cash-flow models
  • Economic limit and abandonment-timing analysis
  • Return-to-production and behind-pipe screening
  • Production allocation and surveillance reporting

Drilling, Completions & Workovers

Thirty-five years of California operating experience on the engineering side—planning the well, costing it honestly, and being on the phone while it is drilled.

  • Well planning, targeting, and directional design
  • Casing design and cement program review
  • AFE preparation and drilling cost estimation
  • Rig and service-contractor selection support
  • Real-time drilling monitoring and geosteering
  • Formation-evaluation and logging program design
  • Completion and perforation design
  • Hydraulic fracture and acid-stimulation design
  • Artificial-lift selection and optimization
  • Recompletion and workover candidate ranking
  • Wellbore integrity and casing-repair diagnostics
  • Surface facility and flowline design coordination
  • Drilling and injection well permit packages
  • Post-well review and lessons-learned capture

Abandonment, Idle Wells & Legacy Fields

Retirement obligations are now a first-order economic driver in California. Numeric quantifies them, sequences the work, and defends the result to CalGEM and to local agencies.

  • P&A program design and regulatory sequencing
  • Abandonment cost estimating and multi-year budgets
  • Asset retirement obligation (ARO) modeling
  • Idle-well fee, testing, and management-plan compliance
  • Idle well elimination plan preparation
  • Historical well-record research and reconstruction
  • Wellbore diagram generation from legacy records
  • Zonal isolation and cement-integrity evaluation
  • Re-abandonment scope definition and oversight
  • Abandoned-well risk assessment for surface development
  • Well location surveys and site reconnaissance
  • Soil gas and methane mitigation coordination
  • Setback, overlay, and land-use code analysis
  • Certified technical reports for city and county review

UIC Permitting — Class II through Class VI

Numeric's deepest specialty. 60+ California Class II projects for 25+ operators since the 2019 regulations, plus aquifer exemptions, Class I, and 15+ Class VI applications.

  • Class II project applications and data updates
  • CalGEM project-by-project reviews (PPRs)
  • Area of Review (AOR) determination and mapping
  • Zone of Endangering Influence (ZEI) analysis and rebuttal
  • MASP and injection-pressure modeling
  • Conduit and offset-well analysis
  • Injection zone and confining zone characterization
  • Water-well survey and USDW protection demonstration
  • Injection plan, volumes, and facility mapping
  • EPA aquifer exemption applications and extensions
  • Monitoring and mitigation (M&M) plan development
  • Class VI site characterization and permit authorship
  • Class I industrial and non-hazardous applications
  • RAI and deficiency-letter response strategy

Regulatory Strategy & Compliance

We read the operative regulation before we concede anything. Where an agency request is supported, we comply and cite it; where it is not, we say so and make the agency identify its authority.

  • CalGEM permitting, NOIs, and construction-site plans
  • Regional and State Water Board WDRs and monitoring plans
  • Air district permits and Rule compliance filings
  • CERS, HMBP, and SPCC filings
  • Tank thickness testing and facility compliance tracking
  • Well stimulation notices and SB 4 compliance
  • SB 1137 health protection zone analysis
  • Conditional use permits and variance requests
  • CEQA / NEPA technical support
  • Coastal Development permits
  • NOV response and curative action plans
  • Texas Railroad Commission permitting
  • Compliance calendars and reporting schedules
  • Agency interface, negotiation, and pre-submittal meetings

Accounting, Land & Owner Administration

The back office that keeps a small operator out of trouble: bills paid, royalty owners paid correctly and on time, and a clean monthly package the owner can actually read.

  • Monthly joint-interest billing (JIB) preparation
  • Revenue distribution and check runs
  • Royalty, ORRI, and NPI calculation and payment
  • Division-order and ownership-decimal maintenance
  • Accounts payable and vendor invoice approval
  • Lease-level cash management and cost allocation
  • Property tax, rental, and shut-in royalty administration
  • Severance and production tax filings
  • Operating budgets, LOE tracking, and variance reporting
  • Owner and sponsor reporting packages
  • Lease and title record maintenance
  • Insurance, bonding, and financial assurance tracking
  • Vendor contracting and MSA administration
  • Audit and lender reporting support

A&D, Valuation & Litigation Support

Numeric has prepared and closed transactions on both sides of the table, and has stood behind the numbers in deposition, in bankruptcy court, and in front of lenders.

  • Buy-side technical and financial due diligence
  • Sell-side offering memoranda and data rooms
  • Virtual data room build and management
  • Buyer/seller marketing and process management
  • Mineral and royalty interest valuation
  • ARO and liability quantification for deal models
  • Regulatory and title risk screening
  • Operator transfer and change-of-operator filings
  • Fair-market valuation for bankruptcy and insolvency
  • Damages and takings analysis
  • Testifying and consulting expert engagements
  • Exhibit preparation and demonstrative graphics
  • Lender and investor technical reporting
  • Fundraising and capital-markets technical support
We run fields, not just study them

Contract operations and asset management

Numeric acts as contract operator and asset manager on behalf of working-interest owners—end-to-end responsibility for the field, the filings, and the checkbook. That operating seat is the reason our technical work is practical: we have to live with the recommendations we write.

Field & production

  • Pumper and contractor supervision
  • Daily production surveillance
  • Downtime response and troubleshooting
  • Workover and repair scoping and execution
  • Facility, tank, and flowline upkeep
  • Crude marketing and trucking coordination
  • Produced water handling and disposal
  • Site security and vandalism response

Regulatory & HSE

  • Monthly and annual production reporting
  • CalGEM and air district inspections
  • Idle well testing and fee management
  • Tank thickness testing and integrity records
  • Discharge permits and water sampling
  • Signage, spill, and release compliance
  • NOV tracking and closure
  • Permit renewals and bonding

Financial administration

  • Invoice review, approval, and payment
  • Lease-level cash position management
  • Joint-interest billing to partners
  • Royalty and NPI runs and distributions
  • Property tax and lease obligations
  • Operating budget and LOE tracking
  • Owner distribution planning
  • Monthly reporting package

Asset & capital planning

  • Field development and reactivation plans
  • Capital project scoping and AFEs
  • Abandonment sequencing and budgeting
  • Vendor contracting and rate negotiation
  • Acquisition screening and bolt-ons
  • Divestment preparation
  • Insurance and risk review
  • Board- and sponsor-level reporting
Contract operations — case study

Yoelin — five lease groups, Los Angeles and Orange County

Numeric provides full contract operations and asset management for the Yoelin properties, a portfolio of legacy Los Angeles and Orange County oil leases. Our team runs field operations and contractor oversight, carries every CalGEM, South Coast AQMD, and sanitation-district filing, executes workovers and facility upgrades, manages accounts payable and lease-level cash, and prepares and pays the monthly royalty and net-profits distributions. The owner receives one monthly package and one point of accountability—without carrying an in-house operating staff.

5
lease groups under active management
2
counties and regulatory jurisdictions
Monthly
JIB, royalty, and owner reporting cycle
Full
field, regulatory, and financial scope
Track record

Twenty-seven years across every California basin

Numeric has supported majors, independents, private equity, municipalities, developers, and law firms—in the Ventura, Santa Maria, San Joaquin, Salinas, and Los Angeles basins, and across Texas, the Rockies, the Gulf of Mexico, and internationally.

60+
California Class II UIC projects permitted or reviewed since the 2019 regulations update
25+
operators served statewide, from single-well disposal projects to 50-well waterfloods and steam floods
$70MM
Ventura County acquisition supported end-to-end—diligence, permitting, and post-close development
$50MM
Permian Basin mineral divestment advised on behalf of the mineral owner
15+
EPA Class VI CCS applications led or supported, several administratively complete or approved
Map of California showing Numeric Solutions project areas
Numeric project areas across California's producing basins
Representative engagements include reservoir modeling for Aera Energy and Statoil, expert testimony for SoCalGas on the 2015 Aliso Canyon event, a $70MM+ Ventura Basin acquisition for California Natural Resources Group, legacy-field risk analysis for FivePoint Holdings and Toll Brothers, and third-party review of the Tambaredjo polymer flood for Staatsolie Suriname.
Selected clients
Aera Energy California Resources Corporation Southern California Gas Company Sempra Energy Occidental Petroleum Statoil Gulf Services Staatsolie Suriname E&B Natural Resources West Energy Operating Patriot Resources Brea Cañon Oil Carbon California Mirada Petroleum HKN Energy Texican Energy Santa Maria Energy Bridgemark Corp. Bridge Energy Griffin Resources Team Operating SMG Oil Driltek City of Newport Beach Newhall Land and Farming FivePoint Holdings Toll Brothers Morgan, Lewis & Bockius Locke Lord B. Riley Financial Stifel
How we engage

Scoped to the problem, priced before we start

Most engagements begin as a single defined task. Many become a standing relationship covering the whole asset—but that is the client's decision, made after the first deliverable, not before it.

Scope conversation

Tell us the asset, the constraint, and the deadline. We tell you what the work actually requires—including when it requires less than you expected.

Written scope & fee

A defined scope of work with deliverables, schedule, assumptions, and a fee estimate against a published rate schedule. No open-ended engagements.

Execution

Senior practitioners do the work. You get direct access to the person building the model or writing the application—not a relationship manager.

Carry it through

We stay with the deliverable through agency review, board presentation, lender diligence, or field execution until it lands.

Who you work with

Senior practitioners, not handoffs

Numeric is roughly thirty geoscientists, engineers, regulatory specialists, and finance professionals—most with twenty to forty years in the business, and most of that in California.

JH

John Harris

President & Founder

Founded Numeric in Ventura in 1999 after Texaco and Statoil. Twenty-five-plus years in E&P, geologic modeling, reserves, and energy finance; leads the firm's asset-evaluation practice. BS, University of New Hampshire; MS, University of Michigan.

EW

Eric White, PG

Vice President / Geologist

Professional Geologist in California (#9675) and Wyoming (#4303), with twelve-plus years in E&P, asset evaluation, and legacy-field redevelopment. Leads the Class II UIC practice—50+ CalGEM project reviews overseen—and Class VI permit authorship. BS, Union College; MS, UC Santa Barbara.

PC

Paul T. Codd, PE

Vice President / Engineering

Professional Engineer with thirty-five-plus years of California drilling, completions, and production operations at West Coast Petroleum, Bitech International, and Renegade Petroleum. Directs injection, pressure, facility, and abandonment engineering.

CL

Christian Laber, PG

Vice President / Senior Geologist

Hydrogeologist and geochemist with twenty-five-plus years in exploration geology, groundwater, field operations, and regulatory compliance. BA, Wittenberg University; MS, Duke University.

MJ

Mike Jones

Director of Energy Finance

Investment banking and capital markets background at Stifel, Imperial Capital, and FBR. Leads California A&D processes, M&A execution, financial modeling, and financial assurance work. BA, University of Virginia; MA, American University.

PB

Paige Billings

Petroleum Engineer / Operations

Reservoir engineering and reserves background at Noble Energy and East Daley Capital. Runs day-to-day contract field operations, regulatory compliance, and owner financial administration across Numeric's operated leases. BS, Colorado School of Mines.

Extended bench

Behind the leadership group: petrophysicists and formation-evaluation specialists (Texaco, Chevron), reservoir simulation and geomodeling engineers, geophysicists (Amoco, Benton), structural geologists and geomechanics PhDs (ExxonMobil, Arco, Aera), completions and thermal-operations engineers (BP, Venoco), certified engineering geologists, civil and facilities engineers, air quality and CARB specialists, hydrogeologists, land and title professionals, GIS technicians, and technical writers—scaled onto a project only when the scope calls for them.

What's the constraint on your asset right now?

A permit that won't move, a reserve number you can't defend, an abandonment liability nobody has priced, or a field that needs someone to run it. Tell us the situation and we'll tell you what it takes.

Email info@numericsolutions.com