Warren Phillips
Frimley,UK
Summary
Offshore wind cost and value engineering specialist with subject matter expertise in LCOE and CAPEX modelling, cost benchmarking, quantitative risk analysis and investment decision support, underpinned by nearly 20 years in major energy infrastructure estimating across oil, gas and offshore wind. Track record spans front-end project stages (from origination screening and lease bids through development-stage estimates to Financial Investment Decisions) across the UK, Europe, US and Asia-Pacific, with independent cost assurance experience gained as a project benchmarking analyst evaluating 50+ major capital projects across multiple operators. Currently establishing company-wide estimating standards and governance frameworks at JERA Nex bp covering a 17 GW / 12-project development portfolio, with a reputation for translating complex cost and value analysis into clear outputs that drive competitive, investment-ready business cases at senior leadership level.
Overview
21
21
years of professional experience
6
6
years of post-secondary education
1
1
Certification
Work history
Senior Value Engineer, Offshore Wind
JERA Nex bp
Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex
2025.08 - 2026.03
- Appointed company SME for project cost estimation at JERA Nex bp, leading the establishment of a unified cost discipline framework across the newly merged organisation, consolidating methodologies and ways of working inherited from bp, Parkwind and JERA.
- Personally authored the suite of foundational cost standards now being rolled out across a 17 GW / 12-project development portfolio, including: LCOE Estimating Guide, Cost Assurance Guide, Cost Escalation & Indexation Guide, LCOE Basis of Estimate template, and a Class 5 deterministic contingency-setting framework; also provided significant input to the company-wide Work Breakdown Structure.
- Lead cost engineer for the 4 GW Oceanbeat offshore wind project (Germany), tracking and communicating a €1.2bn (10%) CAPEX reduction across the portfolio through 2025 via identification and monitoring of value opportunities, procurement developments and scope optimisation.
- Developed Power BI LCOE and CAPEX trending dashboards for Oceanbeat, replacing manual reporting processes and providing management and the wider project team with a real-time, accessible view of the current cost basis.
- Conducted independent cost assurance for the €1.9bn Katagami offshore wind project (Japan) ahead of its Financial Investment Decision; reviewed cost files, interviewed project team members and presented findings and recommendations directly to the JERA Nex bp CTO, including recommendations for integrated cost and schedule risk analysis and formal basis of estimate preparation.
- Delivered independent cost benchmarking and validation reviews across 3–4 further projects in the JNbp portfolio.
Senior Value Engineer, Offshore Wind
BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd
Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex
2022.10 - 2025.08
- Founded and led BP’s Offshore Wind Value Engineering team from inception, recruiting and onboarding 6 value engineers, establishing team roles and responsibilities, authoring foundational guideline documents on Estimate Classification and Cost Escalation/Indexation, and becoming the go-to SME for offshore wind cost estimating across the organisation.
- Developed the CAPEX and LCOE models that formed the central analytical foundation for BP’s successful 2023 lease bid for Oceanbeat (a 4 GW offshore wind project in the German North Sea and BP’s first offshore wind lease win).
- Led LCOE and CAPEX estimating and value engineering across BP’s offshore wind development portfolio as primary cost lead, supporting 15 GW+ of projects representing €50bn+ in CAPEX across the UK, Europe, US and Asia-Pacific; including Morgan, Mona (UK) and Beacon Wind and Empire Wind (US).
- Key contributor to CAPEX and LCOE bid preparation for the following lease rounds: Hollandse Kust West (Netherlands), He Dreiht (Germany), Ijmuiden Ver (Netherlands), Celtic Sea floating wind (UK), Sørlige Nordsjø II (Norway), California floating wind (US), Akita-Katagami / Yamagata Yuza (Japan).
- Drove value opportunity initiatives across pre- and post-bid business cases to improve project competitiveness, identifying directional CAPEX and LCOE improvements across multiple projects.
- Developed and maintained a standard global CAPEX screening tool with regional and project-specific adjustment capability, supporting rapid and consistent early-stage cost assessment across the portfolio.
Senior Estimation Engineer (Offshore Wind)
BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd
Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex
2021.01 - 2022.10
- Proactively identified offshore wind as BP’s strategic direction and self-initiated development of OFW cost models ahead of any formal assignment; appointed offshore wind squad lead within the Projects Estimating team on the strength of this groundwork, becoming the organisation’s go-to cost estimating resource as the portfolio scaled.
- Built and maintained BP’s standard global CAPEX screening tool for offshore wind, which became the basis for Class 5 origination estimates across 40–50 considered developments worldwide, enabling rapid and consistent early-stage investment screening.
- Served as lead cost estimator on Calder (BP’s first operated offshore wind project), working within a small, focused project controls team through both lease bid and FID stages, gaining end-to-end front-end estimating experience on a landmark project for the organisation.
- Covered a broad range of project types and geographies including Empire Wind (US; pre-FEED), He Dreiht (Germany; M&A opportunity), California floating wind (US; lease bid) and BP’s successful Japanese M&A with Marubeni, providing CAPEX estimating support across origination, M&A, bid and development stages.
- Gained specialist experience in floating offshore wind concepts at both demonstration and commercial scale, researching cost drivers and supporting feasibility-stage estimates.
- Acted as Agile Champion for the Projects Estimating team, leading development of the team’s mission, objectives and activity planning tools.
Lead Cost Estimator, Global Concept Development
BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd
Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex
2019.04 - 2020.12
- Oversaw feasibility and screening cost estimates for major global concept development projects, managing estimating inputs from multiple contractors and vendors and providing thorough assessment of competing development concepts across onshore, subsea and offshore platform configurations.
- Identified, evaluated and recommended adoption of Safran Risk as BP’s enterprise quantitative cost and schedule risk analysis tool, subsequently used across all major projects; this directly informed the probabilistic risk analysis methods now central to my offshore wind estimating practice.
Lead Cost Estimator, Azeri Central East (ACE) Project
BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd
Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex
2016.05 - 2019.03
- Led the estimating workstream within a broader project optimisation effort during the Select/Define stage of ACE, identifying and quantifying $1.4bn (27%) in cost reductions during a project recycle; a critical enabler of the successful extension of the Azerbaijan ACG Production Sharing Agreement. Managed a mixed team of 2 direct reports and 2 KBR contractor estimators.
- Supported construction contract negotiations throughout 2017–18 and prepared the final cost package presented to BP management, SOCAR and international ACG field partners ahead of FID; the FID facilities CAPEX estimate of $3,261m was validated by a final outturn cost of $3,380m (within 3.7% accuracy despite significant COVID-related disruption during execution).
Cost Estimator, Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey (AGT) Projects
BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd
Leatherhead, Surrey
2013.01 - 2016.05
- Contributed to the final sanction cost estimate package for the $28bn Shah Deniz Stage 2 programme, taking ownership of commissioning, pre-operations and owners cost elements across this landmark project.
- Led sanction-stage estimates for subsea water injection projects in the ACG field, gaining broad estimating experience across offshore jackets, subsea, pipelines and brownfield facilities in a complex, part-closed market environment.
Project Performance Analyst, AGT Projects
BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd
Leatherhead, Surrey
2011.01 - 2012.12
- Delivered project performance reporting and external benchmarking for major AGT region projects including Shah Deniz Stage 2 and Chirag Oil; authored the regional external benchmarking guideline and recognised as SME in this field by senior management.
Upstream Project Analyst
Independent Project Analysis Ltd (IPA)
Reading, Berkshire
2007.04 - 2010.12
- Conducted independent cost benchmarking and front-end loading assessments for 50+ major upstream capital projects as lead analyst, working across operators including BP, Shell, Chevron and Statoil; served as client coordinator for BP and BG Group, presenting portfolio performance findings to senior management at annual industry benchmarking conferences.
Geologist
IHS (Energy) Inc.
Tetbury, Gloucestershire
2004.10 - 2007.03
- Conducted oil and gas field reserves analysis and estimation before transitioning into economic modelling and financial screening tool development, marking the beginning of a career-long focus on cost and financial analysis.
Education
Master of Geology, 2.1 (Hons) -
University of Southampton
UK 2000.10 - 2004.06
A-levels: Geography (B), Mathematics (B), Chemistry (B), General Studies (A)
Colchester Royal Grammar School
1998.08 - 2000.07
Skills
- LCOE modelling and optimisation
- CAPEX and DEVEX estimating and benchmarking
- Quantitative cost risk analysis: Monte Carlo simulation (Safran Risk, @Risk)
- Cost assurance and independent cost validation
- Basis of estimate development and estimate classification (Class 5–2)
- Value engineering and value opportunity identification
- Cost escalation and indexation modelling
- Power BI cost and LCOE reporting (including DAX and Power Query M)
- Advanced Excel cost modelling and analysis
- Stakeholder engagement and board-level communication
- Team leadership, mentoring and cross-functional collaboration
- Project management (PMP certified)
Certification
- ‘Renewable Energy Project Finance’, Informa IFF, May 2025
- ‘Decision Quality’, University of Texas, May 2022
- ‘First Level Leadership’, BP, June 2017
- PMI Project Management Professional (PMP), Project Management Institute, July 2016
- ‘Upstream Cost Estimating’, IFP Training, November 2012
Timeline
Senior Value Engineer, Offshore Wind
JERA Nex bp
2025.08 - 2026.03
Senior Value Engineer, Offshore Wind
BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd
2022.10 - 2025.08
Senior Estimation Engineer (Offshore Wind)
BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd
2021.01 - 2022.10
Lead Cost Estimator, Global Concept Development
BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd
2019.04 - 2020.12
Lead Cost Estimator, Azeri Central East (ACE) Project
BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd
2016.05 - 2019.03
Cost Estimator, Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey (AGT) Projects
BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd
2013.01 - 2016.05
Project Performance Analyst, AGT Projects
BP Exploration Operating Co. Ltd
2011.01 - 2012.12
Upstream Project Analyst
Independent Project Analysis Ltd (IPA)
2007.04 - 2010.12
Geologist
IHS (Energy) Inc.
2004.10 - 2007.03
Master of Geology, 2.1 (Hons) -
University of Southampton
2000.10 - 2004.06
A-levels: Geography (B), Mathematics (B), Chemistry (B), General Studies (A)
Colchester Royal Grammar School
1998.08 - 2000.07