This year E&Ps are doubling down on cost efficiency as they work to squeeze every penny of value out of operations. The fall in natural gas prices in recent years refocused the spotlight on cost control, and even though gas prices have enjoyed a modest comeback of late, the trend to pad drilling and other environmental and cost innovations signals a long-term commitment.

Closely watching these trends is Tom Curran, financial analyst : with Strad Energy Services, a Calgary-based company with U.S. headquarters in Denver. He forecasts exploration and production, commodity price and other industry metrics that service providers must anticipate and respond to in 2013 and beyond.

Strad was founded in Canada in 2003 as a private company before going public on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2010. It launched U.S. operations in 2009. Today it focuses on Canada's Western Sedimentary Basin unconventional resource plays; in the U.S., it has operations in the Bakken, Marcellus/Utica, and Rockies.

Curran is a native of Portage, Wisconsin, and the first generation of his family to work in oil and gas. He went west for college, receiving his undergraduate degree and MBA from the University of Denver.

He joined Bank of the West in Denver after graduation and worked there five years as an analyst and relationship manager, primarily focusing on exploration and production lending in the Bakken and the Rockies, as well as providing senior debt to oilfield service companies. He then joined Strad Energy in December of 2011 to get "closer to the wellhead, and the operational side of the industry."

Curran has been involved in Young Professionals in Energy, the Western Energy Alliance and other industry groups, and has mentored students from the University of Denver interested in oil and gas or finance.

In a recent interview, he described his work and E&P trends he's tracking.

Investor You wanted to get more involved in operations; how does your work today differ from the banking world?

Curran In banking, decisions were made focusing primarily on historical trends of companies, whereas the operational side is more focused on current market conditions. I wanted to get directly involved with drilling activity in the Bakken, the Marcellus, and the Rockies.

One of my goals during the first year was to get into the field to see how the E&P business is run on a daily basis, and how service companies assist.

Investor What is your role at Strad?

Curran I work with Strad's financial planning and analysis team to monitor, track, and forecast revenue based on the company's U.S. capital-spending program: where and what type of assets to add, and how these capital purchases align with market demand. This year we're focusing on our core regions since there's tremendous opportunity in the Bakken, the Marcellus/Utica, and the Rockies.

Investor What was Strad's business strategy when it was formed?

Curran Strad's founders saw a market niche to deploy high-quality assets for the oilfield rental industry while bringing together exceptional people with the mindset of flexibility and top-rate service. The business is relationship driven. We offer ancillary equipment to support drilling and completions operations, including surface equipment, environmental and access matting, drillpipe, and solids control and waste management. We also provide EcoPond, a frac water storage solution that can store up to 45,000 barrels of water in one tank on location.

Investor How did the fall in gas prices affect you?

Curran We enjoyed fast-paced growth until 2012, when the softening of gas prices and the subsequent reduction in the Marcellus rig count affected our operations, particularly during the second half of 2012.

The market opportunity for Strad, especially in the Marcellus, is to help operators achieve cost efficiencies and decrease drilling time by deploying rental equipment that is complementary to pad drilling.

The trend to closed-loop drilling is also something we're focused on. With the current administration, there's additional pressure for operators to move to closed-loop operations.

Investor What is one of the bigger challenges?

Curran Commodity price fluctuations are a big challenge since service companies cannot hedge oil and natural gas prices the same way operators can. The challenge is to forecast and model revenue and capital spending without the ability to lock in forward revenue, and to forecast how commodity prices will impact rig count and demand for our services.

Investor What is the most interesting aspect?

Curran Helping operators find ways to extract the next barrel of oil and next cubic foot of gas. There are so many resources that remain undiscovered, and it's figuring out how to develop those in a cost-efficient and environmentally friendly way so the U.S. economy is adequately supplied with the energy it needs, and to hopefully one day gain energy independence here in North America.

Investor Have you had mentors?

Curran Todd Berryman, senior vice president at Bank of the West in Denver, has had a tremendous impact on my career due to his downhole knowledge from his days as an engineer.