Run your oil and gas operations on a connected ERP system. Dynamics 365 Business Central helps you control costs, manage assets, and keep projects on track across upstream, midstream and downstream activities.
Oil and gas operations are complex when data sits in separate systems. Dynamics 365 Business Central brings together finance, projects, supply chain and field operations, so leaders can plan with confidence using one version of the truth.
Dynamics 365 Business Central is a comprehensive ERP system for the oil and gas industry. It brings together financial management, project accounting, asset and equipment control, procurement, inventory and reporting in one connected platform.
With it, you can replace multiple disconnected tools with a single system that supports better decisions, stronger cost control and clearer visibility of performance. If you want to see what an ERP built around the realities of oil and gas can do for your business, keep reading.
An ERP system designed for oil and gas will help you manage complex operations, high-value assets and regulatory demands. Here is how Dynamics 365 Business Central supports that.
Oil and gas organisations often run separate systems for finance, production, maintenance and supply chain. Business Central connects these core areas into a single ERP platform. This gives leaders and managers a clear view of costs, volumes, utilisation and profitability, all in one place. When everyone is working from the same data, it becomes easier to plan, prioritise and respond quickly when conditions change.
Capital projects, exploration work, maintenance campaigns and shutdowns all carry significant cost and risk. Business Central gives you detailed visibility of budgets, commitments and actuals, so you can see where money is being spent and where savings are possible. Project and cost centre reporting helps finance teams and operational leaders track spend against plan, keep projects on budget and protect margins.
Equipment downtime is expensive in oil and gas. Business Central helps you plan and track maintenance work, manage work orders and ensure the right parts are available when needed. By linking maintenance activities, inventory and costs, you can understand the real cost of keeping assets running and support decisions about repair, replacement or investment in new equipment.
When data is delayed or stored in spreadsheets, it is hard to make timely decisions. Business Central offers dashboards, alerts and reporting that update in near real-time. Finance and operations teams can monitor key metrics such as production costs, project performance, cash flow and inventory levels. This helps you spot issues earlier, respond faster and make better decisions based on data, not guesswork.
Oil and gas businesses operate in a heavily regulated environment. Business Central supports compliance with strong access controls, audit trails and structured financial processes. Standardised workflows, approvals and reporting reduce the risk of errors, help you prepare for audits and support your wider governance and risk management efforts. Built on the Microsoft cloud, it also benefits from enterprise-grade security and regular updates.
Data taken from a survey we commissioned in December 2024. Click here to view
of businesses are utilising an ERP
businesses are dissatisfied with their current ERP
of businesses say using an ERP has contributed to achieving business outcomes
Oil and gas organisations deal with fluctuating prices, high capital costs and complex operations across multiple locations and entities. Dynamics 365 Business Central is designed to help you handle these challenges, giving finance and operations teams the tools they need to manage projects, assets and supply chains more effectively. Its flexibility means it can support organisations focused on upstream, midstream, downstream or a mix of all three.
Business Central gives finance leaders a clear view of income, expenditure and profitability across assets, fields, projects and business units. You can manage general ledger, payables, receivables, fixed assets and cash flow in one system, with reporting that reflects your business structure. This helps you control operating expenditure and capital expenditure, improve forecasting and support more confident investment decisions.
In oil and gas, control and visibility matter. Business Central is an ERP for the oil and gas industry that connects your finance, projects, assets and supply chain in one system.
Finance teams in oil and gas need accurate, timely information to manage cash flow, investments and ongoing costs. Business Central supports day-to-day financial operations, from invoicing and payments to fixed asset depreciation and period end close. With a single source of financial data, you can consolidate results, analyse performance and provide leadership with clear, reliable reports.
Planned shutdowns, turnarounds and major maintenance events demand tight planning and control. Business Central allows you to set up dedicated projects with defined budgets, tasks and timelines. You can allocate resources, track progress and monitor costs in real time. This gives project managers and operations leaders the information they need to keep activities on schedule and within budget.
Field teams need clear work orders, accurate asset information and access to the right parts. Business Central helps you coordinate maintenance activities, allocate jobs and track completion. Integrated inventory and purchasing means you can ensure required parts are available before work begins. This reduces delays, supports safer operations and helps extend asset life.
Oil and gas businesses often work with a wide range of suppliers, from global manufacturers to local service providers. Business Central centralises purchasing processes, supplier data and contract information. Standardised approvals and workflows help you control spend, while better visibility of purchasing data supports stronger supplier negotiations and more effective cost management.
Many oil and gas organisations operate across multiple entities, regions and sites. Business Central can support multi-company structures, helping you manage inter-company transactions, shared services and consolidated reporting. This makes it easier to understand performance across the whole organisation while still giving local teams the tools they need to run day-to-day operations.
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Most trials drop you into a generic demo company that looks nothing like the way you actually work. Ours doesn't. We configure your free trial around your business and the use case you care about, so you and your team can test real scenarios with data and processes you recognise.
It starts with a short questionnaire about your industry, your current systems and what you want to prove out. Once that's back with us, your tailored trial can usually be made available within a few working days. Prefer a guided walkthrough first? A standard demo is still on the table - just tell us which you'd like.
Complete a short questionnaire covering your industry, processes and the things you most want to test.
We set up a Business Central environment around your use case, so you're not clicking through a generic demo company.
Your tailored trial is typically ready within a few working days of the questionnaire coming back to us.
These are the problems that come up again and again when we talk to oil and gas businesses about their systems. If two or three of them sound familiar, the issue is usually structural rather than a matter of trying harder with the current setup.
Cost sharing between partners, cash calls and joint interest billing all need to be handled at transaction level. Retro-fitting them through journals creates disputes with partners.
Spend against an approved AFE should be checked when the commitment is made, not discovered afterwards during reconciliation.
Critical spares and equipment held offshore, at supply bases and with suppliers are difficult to see in one place, which drives duplicate purchasing.
Day rates, standby rates and mobilisation charges make contractor invoices complex, and validating them against agreed terms is manual in most organisations.
Three situations that reflect the patterns we see most often in oil and gas. Each one describes a type of business, the problem it started with and what changed once Business Central was set up around it.
These are anonymised, illustrative scenarios built from common patterns in the sector. They aren't customer stories, and no figures here are attributed to any individual organisation.
Upstream operator with non-operated interests
Illustrative scenarioOilfield services business, equipment-intensive
Illustrative scenarioEnergy services contractor working on day-rate contracts
Illustrative scenarioLicensing is published and predictable. Implementation isn't, because it depends on what you ask the system to do. Here's the licence position, then the things that genuinely move the number in this sector.
£6.20per user / month
Read, approve, enter time and expenses. No full transactional access
£61.50per user / month
Finance, sales, purchasing, projects, basic stock and warehousing
£84.60per user / month
Everything in Essentials plus manufacturing and service management
Microsoft UK list prices, per user per month on an annual subscription, correct at the time of writing. Check the current figure on Microsoft's pricing page.
Oil and gas operations generally need Business Central Premium, and joint venture accounting typically requires a specialist add-on built on the platform rather than core functionality. Budget for that add-on as a separate licence line. Multi-entity structures licence per entity.
Decide early whether joint venture accounting is in scope for the finance system or handled elsewhere. It's the single biggest factor in the cost and length of an oil and gas implementation.
To learn more about Business Central, or to see what an ERP for oil and gas could look like for your organisation, get in touch via this short form.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is an ERP system that brings together finance, projects, supply chain, asset management and reporting in one integrated platform. For oil and gas businesses, it helps manage complex operations, high-value assets and multi-site activities while giving leadership clear visibility of costs and performance.
Yes. Business Central is flexible enough to support organisations focused on upstream exploration and production, midstream transportation and storage, and downstream refining and distribution. It can be configured around your specific processes and reporting needs, whether you operate in one area of the value chain or across all three.
Business Central gives finance teams a single source of truth for financial data. It supports general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed assets and cash flow in one system. With built-in reporting and analytics, finance leaders can analyse costs by asset, project, location or business unit, improve forecasting and support more informed investment decisions.
Yes. Business Central includes strong project and job management capabilities. You can set up projects for exploration work, drilling programmes, shutdowns or facility upgrades, assign budgets and track costs in detail. This helps you monitor capital expenditure, understand variances and keep projects within agreed limits.
Business Central helps you plan and manage maintenance work by linking assets, work orders, inventory and costs. Field teams can receive clear job information, while planners can see which parts are needed and whether they are available. This supports more efficient maintenance, reduces unplanned downtime and helps extend asset life.
Business Central can support multi-company and multi-entity structures. It allows you to manage inter-company transactions, share data where needed and produce consolidated reports. This is particularly valuable for oil and gas groups that operate through joint ventures, subsidiaries or separate legal entities across different regions.
Business Central is typically delivered as a cloud solution on the Microsoft platform, which includes strong security, compliance and data protection features. This means your organisation benefits from regular updates, resilience and built-in security capabilities, helping you protect sensitive operational and financial data.
Business Central is part of the wider Microsoft ecosystem, which makes integration with other Microsoft tools, such as Power BI and Microsoft 365, straightforward. It can also be connected to third-party systems, such as industry-specific tools or field data capture solutions, so you can build a connected landscape rather than adding yet another isolated system.
Implementation times vary depending on the size of your organisation, the complexity of your processes and the scope of the project. A focused implementation that targets core finance and operations will usually be quicker than a programme that covers multiple entities and extensive customisation. The right partner will help you define a realistic scope and roadmap that fits your priorities.
Dynamics 365 Business Central is designed for small and medium-sized organisations that want a connected ERP system for finance and operations. Other Dynamics ERP products, such as Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management, are aimed at larger enterprises with more complex requirements. Many oil and gas businesses find that Business Central offers the right balance of capability, flexibility and cost for their needs.
Looking at Business Central beyond oil and gas businesses? See the full Dynamics 365 Business Central overview for features, pricing considerations and how implementation works, or read our guide to choosing a Business Central partner.
