At Wood Mackenzie’s Gas & LNG Conference, GK EPM joined Oracle for a fireside chat exploring a challenge facing many energy and asset-heavy organisations today: how do you plan long-term assets in a world where assumptions can change constantly?

The session, titled “Planning a 50-year asset in a world that changes every second”, brought together Ed Graham, Founder and Managing Director of GK EPM, and Andy King, Senior Director of Product Management at Oracle EPM.

The discussion focused on the growing need for more dynamic, connected and scenario-led planning across the energy sector. From long-life assets and volatile market assumptions to spreadsheet complexity, AI and decision confidence, the session highlighted how planning is becoming a strategic capability rather than just a finance process.

Here are five key takeaways from the conversation.

1. Long-term asset planning needs to become more dynamic

Energy companies often make decisions around assets that can last for decades. Upstream assets, pipelines, LNG terminals and other major infrastructure projects require long-range planning across production, capital expenditure, operating costs, funding, cash flow and end-of-life considerations.

However, the assumptions behind those plans can change quickly.

During the session, Ed Graham explained that long-term asset planning needs the ability to model different scenarios on demand and change assumptions when conditions move. This is especially relevant in gas and LNG, where companies are planning assets with multi-decade lives while operating in volatile markets.

The key point is simple: long-term planning can no longer mean static planning.

Organisations need planning models that can flex as prices, demand, production, costs, funding and regulatory assumptions change.

2. Spreadsheet-heavy planning does not scale

One of the clearest examples from the session was the challenge of spreadsheet-based planning at scale.

Ed shared an example of an asset-heavy energy organisation managing planning across more than 100 assets. Each asset had its own spreadsheet, with monthly forecasts and multiple scenario versions. At that scale, the organisation was looking at roughly:

100+ assets
× 12 monthly forecasts
× 3–4 scenario versions
= around 4,000 Excel workbooks per year

The issue is not simply the number of files. It is the difficulty of maintaining control, consistency, speed and confidence across every version of the plan.

Spreadsheets remain useful, but they are not designed to operate as robust enterprise planning systems for complex, long-range, multi-scenario planning.

As the number of assets, scenarios and assumptions grows, the “spreadsheet factory” becomes harder to manage.

3. Scenario modelling is becoming essential for better decisions

The session also highlighted the importance of scenario modelling and sensitivity analysis.

For energy organisations, one forecast is no longer enough. Leaders need to understand how different assumptions could affect the business. What happens if prices move? What if production changes? What if demand shifts? What if costs rise? What if funding assumptions change?

Ed described the need to model different price and volume assumptions, while Andy King linked this to the broader discipline of stress testing and risk modelling used in other sectors, including financial services.

The message for energy organisations is clear: the ability to model multiple scenarios quickly is becoming a competitive advantage.

Better scenario modelling gives leaders a stronger basis for capital allocation, funding decisions and long-term investment planning.

4. Connected planning links operational drivers to financial outcomes

A major theme from Oracle’s perspective was the need to move away from planning in silos.

Andy King described the role of connected planning in bringing together demand, supply, cost, capital expenditure, funding, equity, cash flow and other financial elements into a more integrated planning framework.

This matters because operational changes do not stay operational. A change in production, price, demand, cost or funding can affect revenue, cash flow, profitability and investment priorities.

Connected planning helps organisations understand those relationships more clearly.

Instead of manually updating disconnected spreadsheets, teams can use a structured planning model where operational drivers flow through to financial outcomes. This creates a stronger foundation for decision-making because leaders can see not only the final numbers, but also the drivers behind them.

5. AI is moving planning from forecasting to explanation

The final part of the discussion looked at the future of planning and the role of AI.

The speakers discussed how planning tools are already supporting predictive forecasting and variance analysis. But the next step is more powerful: helping teams understand what changed, why it changed and what actions should be considered.

AI is not just about producing a forecast faster.

Its value lies in helping teams interpret the forecast, explain variances, identify drivers and support better decision-making.

Andy also discussed the move towards more natural language interaction, where users could ask questions of the planning system rather than relying on one person to run models manually in Excel.

This points towards a future where planning becomes more accessible, more interactive and more embedded into everyday decision-making.

The bigger takeaway

The session reinforced a clear message: planning is no longer just about producing an annual forecast.

For energy and asset-heavy organisations, planning is becoming a core business capability.

The organisations that succeed will not simply be the ones with the most data. They will be the ones that can turn changing assumptions into informed decisions faster.

That means moving from spreadsheet-heavy planning to connected, scenario-led planning models that support long-range assets, changing assumptions, faster reforecasting and stronger decision confidence.

GK EPM helps energy and asset-heavy organisations design and implement planning solutions using Oracle EPM, supporting the move from manual planning processes to connected, driver-based and scenario-led planning.