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Micah Smith

Senior PartnerDallas

Leads our Oil & Gas Practice globally, advising energy-sector companies on topics ranging from digital, lean methodology, procurement, capital productivity, and fleetwide performance transformation

Micah is the global co-leader of McKinsey’s Oil & Gas practice. He has particular expertise in the areas of oil and gas, electric power, and natural gas. Most of Micah’s focus is in helping major energy and industrial companies design and execute industry-leading performance transformations that unlock the full potential of assets and engage the workforce, creating a performance culture of excellence.

Examples of Micah’s recent client engagements include the following:

  • leading the full digital transformation of a leading global integrated oil company’s (IOC’s) supply chain and logistics function, delivering approximately $150 million per year in margin expansion
  • unlocking $100 million per year in third-party-spend opportunity for a leading IOC and launching a $1 billion per year cost transformation
  • developing a leading global chemical company’s cross-cutting capital-productivity-improvement program, which delivered $200 million per year
  • analyzing a top global refiner’s performance, leading to delivery of $700 million per year in improvement over an 18-month period
  • supporting a top US refiner in using advanced analytics that increased yield and throughput, delivering an approximate $0.5 per barrel free-cash-flow improvement
  • leading a top electric utility’s transformation, which delivered $200 million per year in earnings in a nine-month period by focusing on sourcing excellence, frontline operations, and back-office efficiency and effectiveness
  • supporting a leading merchant electric generator and retailer in its industry-shaping M&A deal and 18-month performance transformation of gross margin, operations and management, and fuel cost, leading to the removal of $50 million per year in technical overheads and the delivery of $500 million per year in operations improvement

Before joining McKinsey, Micah provided capital-funding validation and execution-performance tracking at a global oil and gas company. His responsibilities included financial oversight of three $30 million-plus refinery-outage periods and more than $500 million of capital projects. He also served as an officer in the US Navy’s submarine force for six years, leading teams in the safe operation and maintenance of a 165-megawatt reactor and propulsion system and specializing in mechanical systems and chemical and radiological controls during major refits.

Published work

Global Energy Perspective 2023: Oil outlook,” McKinsey & Company, January 2024

Global Energy Perspective 2023: Refining outlook,” McKinsey & Company, January 2024

Crunch time in the North American LNG industry: How to meet demand,” McKinsey & Company, December 2023

Powering up new leadership for a changing energy environment,” McKinsey & Company, February 2023

Powering up new leadership for a changing energy environment,” McKinsey & Company, February 2023

Could supply-chain issues derail the energy transition?,” McKinsey & Company, December 2022

How the Gulf of Mexico can further the energy transition,” McKinsey & Company, September 2022

The autonomous plant: Entering a new digital era,” McKinsey & Company, September 2021

Digital transformation in energy: Achieving escape velocity,” McKinsey & Company, September 2020

Downstream oil and gas amid COVID-19: Succeeding in a changed market,” McKinsey & Company, September 2020

Capturing margin opportunities in oil and gas refining,” McKinsey & Company, October 2015

Education

Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
MBA (Palmer Scholar)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MS, mechanical engineering

US Naval Academy
BS, mechanical engineering