Not Your Grandfathers 1984

We recently noted that people who participate as early adopters in the user community would be in essence making a choice in how they want the oil and gas industry operated. To continue on with the current bureaucracy, with their legacy of losses and stagnation in place for the decades to come. Or, begin the restructuring of the industry around a dynamic, innovative and profitable framework based on the early adopters initial action of becoming a People, Ideas & Object user community participant. And in doing so set the path of the industry on one which the individual actions of people within the industry are what makes it dynamic, innovative and profitable. This is the choice that can be made. It certainly doesn't have to be made, but I can assure everyone if people don’t make this decision to act, there is no one else that will make the necessary changes to the industry. And the bureaucracy will remain in place.

What we do in terms of this decision will have significant consequences in terms of what happens next. If we do nothing, then of course nothing will happen as a result. However, if we choose to break away from the bureaucracy and begin the process of building an alternative organizational capability then the investment community will see that they have alternatives in which to manage their assets. And it will be in a few years time that they will be asked to fund the user community and People, Ideas & Objects to develop that alternative organization. This is how I see the situation becoming a reality in the next few years. No one is going to be able to sit and one day decide that this project is a go. No one holds that type of power in the industry. The bureaucracy won't enable us, as what we are doing contradicts their survival and best interests. Therefore the only opportunity we have is to provide the investment community with the choice of the bureaucracy, or a means to operate the industry in a dynamic, innovative and profitable manner by joining us.

In order to make that decision the investors have to see that there are people that are ready, willing and capable of making this new industry structure operate. A leadership team and a community of like minded people capable of managing their assets under an overall sound vision. And this is the user communities choice to provide this alternative. That they are as dissatisfied with the standards set by the bureaucracy as the investors are. That the user community believe that the industry should be reestablished under the vision of a dynamic, innovative and profitable means of operations and that they have that with the Preliminary Specification.

As I have mentioned this initial first step is the beginning of the user community. But also becomes the manner in which the industry is operated in that dynamic, innovative and profitable manner. It is with this first act of individual participation, either as a member of the leadership team or as an early adopter in the user community that the industry is transformed. It will be on the basis of these individual actions by members of the user community in the future that the industry achieves what it sets out to do today, tomorrow and in the future.

I can't see how change of this scale can take place in any other way. There is no one to ask permission of. If we want this done then the only way that it is going to get done is that if we do it. Our timetable is such that we will have two years remaining in which to develop the user community and then we will turn to the investor community to fund these developments. We won't be asking for their money specifically, we will be asking them to direct their producer firms to pay their share of the development costs. And then when we have the funds we can develop the application and the user community, create the service providers and begin the process of converting the producers over to the new method of managing their properties. I'll have more to discuss regarding that integration tomorrow.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Job Opportunity for the Early Adopters

As a result of yesterday’s post we now have two clearly defined categories of people within the user community. The leadership group which consists of around thirty people that we are currently recruiting to actively lead the user communities development. And now the early adopters that we defined yesterday. These people are the ones willing to invest some time and energy early on in the process to position themselves within the user community and take advantage of the long term opportunities that are made available there. Advantages that include participation in the user community where the fees that will be paid by People, Ideas & Objects are commensurate with the skills and challenges. And most specifically, the positioning in terms of establishing the service providers that will be necessary to provide the software and services to the industry when the final implementation of the software is complete. It is these opportunities in the new economy that are what prompt the early adopters to invest their time and energy now in what may be the future of the oil and gas industry.

No one knows what the future of the oil and gas industry will be. I know what is necessary. And that of course is a dynamic, innovative and profitable industry for the foreseeable future. Which is what the Preliminary Specification and specifically the decentralized production model provides. They lay out a vision of what the industry could be like and give people a choice. Do you want to stay with the bureaucracy, or choose something more dynamic, innovative and profitable. A choice where the actions of individuals within the user community and the service providers are what matter to how the industry responds to the issues and opportunities that it faces. Then, as far as I know, these are the only choices that you are being provided with. And I know how long it took me to come up with the Preliminary Specification. Not years, but decades. So don't expect too many other alternatives to show up soon.

The service providers are the manner in which the bureaucracy, the administration and accounting resources of the industry are removed and replaced. Under the decentralized production model the prototypical oil and gas producer is reduced to the C class executives, the earth science and engineering resources, some land and legal, and support staff. The remaining resources are reorganized into service providers who are focused on a process or subprocess and use the entire industry as their client base. It is these service providers who will take as their revenue streams the $40 to $60 billion in annual G&A expenses that are incurred in the North American industry today. Therefore you can see that when we state that the business opportunity that the early adopters are provided with from a service provider point of view is substantial.

I have to provide people with these two forms of motivation in order to achieve what I think we need. An industry that operates in a dynamic, innovative and profitable nature based on individual initiative. The two forms of motivation for people to join People, Ideas & Objects user community is the altruistic objective of providing the industry with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. And it is that which we do. However we also need to provide people with a sense that they can build a career and or a business as a result of their participation in this environment. Which is what we also can do. Its no use trying to recruit people for one of these objectives and not the other. Especially when we have both in such abundance, as we do with this project.

Best of all we can do this with no risk to anyone. No one needs to quit their day job to participate as an early adopter. Or expose yourself to the bureaucrats who are seeking revenge on anyone who does participate here. Your time and energy can be done on a part time basis up to the January 2017 funding deadline. And then when we are funded we would proceed at 100% and I think, truly enjoy ourselves with some exciting, interesting and lucrative work.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

An Individual Plan

Having invested your time and effort as an early adopter in the early years of the user community of People, Ideas & Objects. You were able to position yourself well to take part in the further development of the user community. Now in the post January 2017 environment, the time when the financial resources of the investment community have been forwarded and the project is funded you are able to prosper in this new environment. Now you have established yourself with the revenues and resources to fully participate in the development of the Preliminary Specification, and are beginning the investment of your time and effort in the creation of a service provider to manage the process that your expertise is in. As a result, you have personally managed the transition from the old oil and gas industry to the new one with little difficulty and are well positioned to prosper in what has always been referred to as the new economy.

I think this spells out the opportunity that stands before those people that believe the oil and gas industry must transition itself to a more dynamic, innovative and profitable business model. One that is based on the Preliminary Specification, the user community and service providers. I have no conceptual vision that the bureaucracy will be continuing and in control in ten years time. If they do, there are two things I can guarantee, they are losing money, and there are ten years fewer gas reserves. Losing money has to stop and the people that will stop it are the people within the industry who choose to act and take the opportunity that is described in the first paragraph. It is the individual actions of the people in the industry that will make the industry the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas industry. Their first act is to commit to People, Ideas & Objects, the user community and the service providers. And then to continue to act for the remainder of their careers in the best interests of the most dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producer.

To act is counter to the bureaucracies best interest. To act is counter to the bureaucracies ways and means. To act is the natural way in which we respond to a situation. With the user community in control of the Intellectual Property that makes up the Preliminary Specification, and the derivative works of the user community. It is the participants within the user community who will be to determine what is the manner in which to conduct the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. When it comes to the policies and procedures of the oil and gas industry, by controlling the Intellectual Property, the user community participant will be the ones that write these. Giving them the power that was held by the bureaucrats but never used.

However, not only will the user community have the ability to write the policies and procedures. They will be the exclusive audience of the People, Ideas & Objects developers. It will be through the software developers that they are able to use their understanding and creativity to build the kind of applications that can make the difference in the oil and gas industry. Solving the issues and taking advantages of the opportunities that occur in the industry as they happen. When a new business model is developed that can bring new value to the industry, the software can be developed and implemented at will by the user community. No more muddling along for decades while money is lost irretrievably.

And it will be those early adopters who participate in the user community before the January 2017 funding deadline that will have the opportunity to establish the service providers. We all need to make a transition from the old economy to the new. Its important that we get this one right.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Today's Lesson is Production Discipline

Last week we discussed how the oil prices were breaking down as a result of the Saudi’s not curtailing their production. That they were not assuming their traditional swing producer role due to their desire to teach the shale oil producers a lesson in production discipline. We learned this a few weeks ago from none other than T. Boone Pickens on Bloomberg. Now that oil prices are in “play” we could see any scenario develop in terms of what average oil prices might be in 2015. It also happens to be the end of the season in which natural gas will be injected into storage. Storage volumes aren't quite at last years levels but they are well within their five year average. Not many people thought that the storage levels could be rebuilt to the level that they currently are after such a cold winter. Weekly injections have reached well over 100 bcf at times and have provided the market with excess demand during these past summer months. This demand from storage will now be waning and the problem is that none of the producers have been praying for a cold winter. So we are likely to see a mild winter and the prices for natural gas may be weak as well as the oil prices.

Who would of thought that both the oil and gas businesses would enter a period where both commodities would be performing poorly from a financial point of view? In an age of abundance maybe that is a stupid question. And maybe we need to eliminate that question from the mindset of the oil and gas producer. And replace it with the understanding that they need to have control over the commodity prices through the ability to allocate production, on both the oil and gas side of the business, based on profitability. If the property can produce a profit, it produces. Period. Nothing more or less. Not that the producer has some properties that are profitable and others that are marginal. Only properties that are profitable are produced. That way the industry can deal with the resource abundance that it finds itself in today and probably for the next 20 to 30 years.

The Saudi’s can punish the shale oil producers for many years. We saw them punish the other OPEC members for many years in the 1980’s. The oil and gas producers in North America are not structured to deal with production allocation in any way. They are only structured to produce at capacity. And the bureaucracy within a producer firm is therefore fixed. It is the same bureaucracy that exists at 100,000 bpd as it is at 60,000 bpd. And they are expensive. It is also the same bureaucracy that has been determined not to consider our decentralized production model. Which has been discussed in this blog since 2007, and the draft of the Preliminary Specification was completed in June 2012. Plenty of time for the bureaucracy to jump on board and start pushing. But as we know they never will because it eliminates them from the scene and for some reason they don't like that fact.

How the Preliminary Specifications decentralized production model will provide the oil and gas producer with the much needed production discipline for both their oil and gas production is through a reorganization of the producer firm and the industry. We strip the dynamic, innovative and profitable producer down to the C class executives, the earth science and engineering resources, some land and legal, and support staff. The remaining administrative and accounting resources are reallocated to service providers who are focused on an individual process or subprocess and use the entire industry as their client base. By making these changes we are moving from a producer based administrative and accounting capability to an industry based administrative and accounting capability. The costs of having each individual producer develop the capabilities to administer and account for all of their activities are one of the reasons for the lack of profitability in the industry. Another reason is that those capabilities are not shareable between producers.

The real magic comes in to play when the producer shuts-in an unprofitable property. When the property is shut-in the service providers receive no information, activity or action in the People, Ideas & Objects task or transfer network. And as a result there is no action taken by the service providers and no billing is generated by them and no Joint Operating Committee incurs any costs for any of the administrative or accounting at that property. Therefore the property records no profit but also no loss. The reserves are therefore kept for a time when they can be produced profitably. And the commodities markets find a floor on their prices as the industries production volumes are reduced by the marginal production.

It is the Preliminary Specifications use of the Joint Operating Committee as the key organizational construct of the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producer that makes this all work and enables the production discipline in this age of abundance. And this is what the Saudi’s are trying to teach us, that if we all want to produce at capacity, they can do it too.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

No Posting Today

In recognition of the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday.

Software Quality Through User Community Developments

With natural gas prices being so weak these past few years. There has always been one thing that the bureaucracy has been able to count on to bail them out in terms of covering the losses in the natural gas business. And that is the general health in the oil side of the oil and gas business. If there is one thing that you learn to count on in the oil and gas business is that you can't count on anything. Oil prices seem to be breaking down in terms of their pricing structure. If prices continue their current slide then the industry could be in for a difficult time from a financial performance point of view. One which the investors will be looking for some scalps and maybe some new ways of doing business. If only there was a group of like minded people interested in providing the investor with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations.

And there is. That is to say I see you in our logs. And we are at the very beginnings of this software development. The user community has been our focus since January 1, 2014 and will continue to be so for the life of our firm. People, Ideas & Objects are user based software developments. Our commitment to the user community is our commitment to software quality. This is fundamentally different than what has been developed before in oil and gas. First there is the Preliminary Specification which is revolutionary in its application of the oil and gas culture. We are not using a technological focus, but one based on the Joint Operating Committee the legal, financial, operational decision making, cultural, communication, innovation and strategic framework of the industry. By moving the compliance and governance frameworks of the hierarchy into alignment with the seven frameworks of the Joint Operating Committee we achieve a speed, innovativeness, accountability and profitability in our producer firms.

Next, we are not looking for the traditional technologically focused people to be involved in the development and integration of the People, Ideas & Objects Preliminary Specification. You know who I'm talking about. The accounting firm specialists in SAP integration, or consultants who come in and know the SAP application from stem to stern and are going to make your integration the best integration you can imagine. The kind of people who talk about user involvement until they look at the budget and then skip that process. We don't want these people. We don't need these people. And I won't be letting these people into the user community.

It’s pretty easy to filter these people out of the user community. One look at their resume shows that they are not employed in the accounting or administration of the oil and gas producer. It is after all these people in accounting and administration that are the prospective members of the user community. The ones who are on the ground with their hands on the systems and are in touch with the needs of the producer, because for all intents and purposes they are the producer when we are discussing their ERP needs. These are the user community participants that we want and need. And they are the ideal candidates to form the service providers who will provide these services to the producers in the environment where People, Ideas & Objects applications are operational. What does a community like ours need an individual who is a specialist in SAP integration for?

Our commitment to the user community began almost one year ago. And will continue for at least two more years before we even begin the developments of the Preliminary Specification. Unlike the SAP integration specialist we are not skipping the user participation part of the systems development or integration. It is our key competitive advantage and the key to our quality.

Yesterday on Bloomberg, T. Boone Pickens had a few things to say about the breakdown in oil prices. He thought that it was a result of the Saudi's not curtailing their production when the market was oversupplied. Which is what they normally do as the swing producer. Pickens felt that the Saudi's were trying to teach the shale producers a lesson. I assume that lesson that Pickens meant was the production discipline lesson. The bureaucrats may therefore be seeing some increased pressure as a result of their even poorer financial performance being recorded in the quarters to come. Their ways and means are failing. This alternative, the People, Ideas & Objects user community needs you, and offers an interesting, dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas industry in which to pursue your career in.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Who, as in You

Continuing on with our discussion of who we are looking for in the People, Ideas & Objects user community. It's maybe best to remember the size of the user community as it is currently contemplated. The budget is for 2,000 man years of user community time in the initial commercial release. There are also thirty members of the leadership team. It is expected that the population of the user community will total approximately 3,000 people as not all of our user community participants are considered to be full time. So from this makeup, who are we looking for in terms of the user community participants.

It is those that are currently employed in the oil and gas producer firm, and the oil and gas service industry. These makeup the type of work that is done in oil and gas. And for a comprehensive ERP system to provide for these services it is necessary to include them in the user community as participants. In order to more full understand the need for their inclusion we need to discuss the reorganization that we are conducting within the application.

It is in this process of organizational change that we have touched on every aspect of oil and gas exploration, production and operations. By using the Joint Operating Committee as the key organizational construct of the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producer we change everything within the producer firm. Nothing is unaffected by this change. What we are doing is aligning the compliance and governance frameworks of the hierarchy with the legal, financial, operational decision making, cultural, communication, strategic and innovation frameworks of the Joint Operating Committee. Nothing is therefore untouched within the producer firm and the scope of the Preliminary Specification takes on the entire producer firm, the service industry, reorganizes the administrative and accounting resources into service providers and throws out the bureaucrats.

The Preliminary Specification strips the prototypical producer down to the C class executives, the earth science and engineering resources, the land and legal, and some support staff. The remaining resources are reallocated to these service providers who are organized around a single process and use the entire industry as their client base. This reorganization allows the oil and gas producer to shut-in any unprofitable production and save those reserves for when they can be produced profitably. This also removes the commodity from the marketplace, reducing the marginal supply and positively affecting prices. Another advantage is that the property records a null operation. There is no profit, and no loss as there are no operating, royalty, or overhead costs incurred during times when a property is shut-in. With People, Ideas & Objects Preliminary Specifications decentralized production model a producers overhead is variable based on their production profile.

This variable overhead feature operates in the following manner. The service providers receives no activity or transactions for any shut-in production and therefore bills no administrative or accounting fees to the Joint Operating Committee for the shut-in properties. Therefore the oil and gas producer records a null operation on any shut-in properties. A fundamentally different situation than with today’s inability to adjust a producers production profile from anything but 100% capacity. The overhead costs are the domain of the service providers and it will be their responsibility to manage them within their annual budgets.

Therefore to fill the population of the 3,000 people within the user community we need Engineers, Geologists, Geophysicists, Administrators, Accountants, Service Industry Representatives and more or less anyone else who works in the oil and gas industry. Except for the bureaucrats. We’re leaving them out. If we plan on leaving them out, they'll stay out. Everyone needs to keep a close eye on these people, and don't let them sneak back in.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Thinkers and Doers

We'll be starting this week off with a discussion of who generally we are looking for to populate the user community. What types of people are needed to make the user community function to provide for the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations.

The world is divided by two different types of people. There are “thinkers” and there are “doers.” Lately thinkers haven’t been appreciated too much, I know I'm one of them. The problem with the oil and gas industry is that they have only rewarded doers for their actions. Thinkers have been shunned and discouraged at every opportunity. As a result little if any “thinking” gets done in the industry and the thinkers have had to transform themselves into doers in order to keep themselves employed. This is a bad situation from the long term perspective of the industry. No one is looking after the store. This turns out to be a good situation for me as it has left a rather large hole for me in which to work.

The proportion of thinkers to doers in society is very small. Nonetheless their effect is tangible. What the user community needs to do is to recruit a disproportionate number of thinkers within the community in order for it to do its job effectively. Therefore if you fall within the category of a thinker, and have been frustrated by the inability to use those talents the user community is the place where you should be. There you will find the kind of environment where the work will challenge these talents on a consistent basis.

For example, assume that you were working on the Material Balance Report. What you would do is start with the understanding that nothing existed in the marketplace and you had to build something to deal with the needs of the producers. You would need to determine what those needs were today. And think what those needs might be in the future. And also think what those needs “could be” if we provided additional information or capabilities. You would then have to design the various processes and subprocesses, thinking through all that exists within the industry in terms of a Material Balance Report. And engineer the kind of solution that is possible for the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas industry.

The enormity of this task would be a team effort, for that there is no doubt. The Material Balance Report would take hundreds of man years of user community and software developer time. It would be the first time that such an undertaking would be accomplished. This is beyond the scope of what one producer firm can do. And since we are aggregating the resources of the industry we can apply ourselves to the time and effort necessary to really solve this difficult and poorly served area of oil and gas administration and accounting. And in saying that I realize that I've probably unnecessarily limited the Material Balance Report to those domains. And maybe it should include the engineering and production concerns as well?

We all know what the problem is in terms of the Material Balance Report. What is the solution. I’m sure there are a few with their hands up now. It is the thinkers who can help lead the way through the difficult process of finding the answer to these questions. Some thinkers and a lot of doers. I know they're out there, I've met a lot of them. And I know what they like to do. And I know that what I am talking about here is the kind of work that keeps them moving forward.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here.

Caution, Facts Ahead.

Our value proposition is in the trillions of dollars. We provide for the commercialization of the shale gas reserves. Without the Preliminary Specification, the user community and the service providers, the oil and gas industry will continue on in its losing ways for the foreseeable future. Without us providing an alternative method of organization to the oil and gas industry, it will continue to operate in a failed state. These are difficult statements to process. We are a vision that is based on a number of concepts that are unique in the oil and gas industry. How is it that we are able to make such claims and remain free citizens.

Simply we are out to change the world and the statement that was made in the Apple keynote resonated with us. Without seeing things from a different point of view no progress is ever made, and we are seeking to make progress in the oil and gas industry. Something that we feel is distinctly lacking. For many people, things are ok. The capitalization of royalties is consistent with good policy and there is no need for change. People, Ideas & Objects and our associated communities have nothing for you. Our strategy is to remove you and replace you with our vision.

And so it is that we have a plan in how to implement this vision. January 2017 is when we expect that the investors who are concerned about the industry. Concerned that the shale gas reserves provide a significant endowment of value and resources to the economy. Are being wasted and destroyed by the current bureaucracies. And the progressive producers who may see things in the same way that we do. Fund our budget in its entirety. Once our funding is in place we will have the resources for the user community to develop the Comprehensive Specification and complete the first commercial iteration of the software. Our costs are high, however our value proposition as we noted is in the trillions of dollars.

Until January 2017 we have much to do. We have specified a number of positions within the user communities leadership team. These positions are being actively recruited as we speak. We need these people in place in order to secure the funding from the investors and progressive producers. These positions have been detailed in our user communities vision and number approximately thirty people. I guess we need to ask ourselves, who are the future leaders of the oil and gas industry? And what structure will they use in order to exercise their skills as leaders. Will it be through the classic bureaucratic structure of the oil and gas producer? Or will there be new ways in which to exercise those skills.

Wherever the new leadership is established in the oil and gas industry they will need the power and control over the environment in which they operate. The user community and service providers have at their disposal the Intellectual Property that is the Preliminary Specification and its derivatives. They have the software development capability of People, Ideas & Objects dedicated to the user community. And the sole point of contact for the dynamic, innovative and profitable producer to turn to for their software needs. That is the foundation of power and control that the user community has today with the policies that have been established in the user community vision, and that which the user community leadership team can draw upon.

One of the defining qualities of this new environment will be the dynamic nature of the user community and service providers. The actions of individuals will make a difference in the oil and gas industry. And that begins today with your actions. By joining the user communities leadership team or by preparing to join the user community in the future. Individual actions within the oil and gas industry, and an organizational methodology made up as described, facilitates the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producers needs.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Revolutionary Information Technology Based Change

If an individual working in the oil and gas industry believed that technology was about to revolutionize the way in which people worked. Much in the fashion of the industrial revolution. And that industry after industry would be converted to more rational ways of organization. Where technology would be a key ingredient in the reorganization of that industry. Where could they go and what would they need to do in order to participate in this new, Information Technology driven environment? There may be multiple initiatives offering these types of opportunities to people in oil and gas. I am only aware of this one. The opportunities that are open to those that are looking for this type of participation in this new economy are significant and are available now with People, Ideas & Objects, the user community and service providers.

Does anyone foresee the current bureaucracy surviving the next few decades? Will it serve the needs of the oil and gas industry? Will it suddenly transform itself into the organizational form necessary to make the industry the dynamic, innovative and profitable industry that everyone needs oil and gas to be? I don't see this happening, ever. It should have happened by now as the need is significant. What’s worse is this is not even identified as an issue. The closest thing we have seen from the bureaucracy is last years hopes and prayers for a colder winter. And this year there has been nothing in terms of discussion of the issues and opportunities that the industry faces.

As a result there is little else that we can do other than remove and replace the bureaucracy with an alternative form of organization based around the Preliminary Specification. The Preliminary Specification is People, Ideas & Objects product that is based on the Joint Operating Committee, the legal, financial, operational decision making, cultural, communication, strategic and innovation framework of the oil and gas industry. By moving the compliance and governance frameworks of the bureaucracy into alignment with the seven frameworks of the Joint Operating Committee we achieve a speed, accountability, innovativeness and profitability in the producer firm.

Building on the eleven module Preliminary Specification we have established the user community to direct and develop the software developments that we conduct. It is participation in the user community that people should consider as an opportunity to participate in the oil and gas industry of the future, and a place where they can make a difference. On September 9th Apple started their keynote presentation for their iPhone 6 and 6 plus with the following text.

Here’s to all those who have seen things differently. The ones who follow a vision, not a path. Where others perceive first as valuable, you value the first thing that actually matters. While others are distracted by the new, you focus on the significance of a whole new take. Even before you could see how, you never doubted we would change things. And then we did change things together again and again. Relentless optimism is what moves the world forward. So keep seeing things differently. Keep trusting there is always another way, a better way, a bigger way. One that lifts up humanity, breaks down our barriers and heals the landscape. You are the difference between the world as it was and the better place it will become. And being different is the one thing about us that will always be the same.

It is these kinds of people that participation in the People, Ideas & Objects user community will appeal to. Ones that can see a better way in which to operate the oil and gas industry. One based on profits that provide value for all concerned. These are the things that we are working on at People, Ideas & Objects.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Continuous Development of the Dynamic, Innovative and Profitable Oil and Gas Producer

Two of the tools that the user community and service providers will use are specialization and the division of labor. These tools will be used on a consistent basis to provide the oil and gas producers with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. In order to expand the output of the industry it will have two choices. Employ more resources or utilize specialization and the division of labor. With the configuration of the software developers of People, Ideas & Objects, the user community and service providers. The capability to analyze and determine what is the current optimal specialization and division of labor is will be what this groups tasks are. “How” and “What” the specialization of the positions within the service provider will change and develop as time passes.

In many ways this type of analysis, experimentation and implementation of the business process is not being conducted today. What is being done is the software is dictating how the process will be managed, and that is the same as it was for the past decade. With no software development capability within the producer organizations, or within the industry, to deal with the ability to change a process, no processes change. Our organizations stay the same and the bureaucracy are quite pleased with themselves. Pleased because they have not spent any money on developing a software development capability, or on changing any of the software the producer uses. And as a result their empire continues to expand and they are needed more than at any time in the past. The fact that they don't make any money doesn't concern them as there is nothing really anyone can do about that. As they will tell their investors at the next annual meeting.

This environment that we are creating is designed to use specialization and the division of labor in the oil and gas industry for the long term. People, Ideas & Objects is configured on the basis of change. That is we only generate revenues when changes are made to the software code by the user community. Constant development of the code base is what is needed by the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producer and that is what this environment has been structured to provide. Specialization and the division of labor is responsible for all of the increases in our standard of living since the discovery of these principles in 1776. If we stop developing the software then we stop the development of the progress of the oil and gas producers. And become our own little bureaucracies.

What has happened with the implementation of the computer and ERP software has been the cementing of the organization in time and place. They become stagnant and unmoving as a result of the inability to change with the organizations. With so many of the producers using SAP software and none of the producers employing SAP capable software developers they just continue to use the software that worked last year. For one or two years this is probably ok. For a decade or more the concrete sets and becomes impervious to the changes needed within the organization. All the money in the IT budget is spent on licenses to support the SAP infrastructure and hardware upgrades. And little if any money or time is spent on what the business or the organization needs.

This was detailed in my master’s thesis when I published it in May 2004. What the bureaucracy did was took this understanding and made it policy. That at no time would they change their ERP systems, and therefore, at no time would their franchise be challenged. A completely corrupt interpretation of the understanding. But then what would you expect from them.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

How We Implement the Preliminary Specification

We have discussed at length the Preliminary Specification, the user community and service providers over the last few years. One area that we haven’t directly discussed is how the software and services would be implemented within the oil and gas industry. We can see in yesterday’s discussion with the user community and service providers making up such a large portion of the industry. That the transition from the current status quo to this new environment might provide some interesting challenges. The question therefore is asked how will the implementation of these technologies be conducted within the industry?

A lot depends on the cooperation that we receive from the current bureaucracy. If they continue in their hostile approach to this project then all bets are off in terms of making this a seamless integration. Their continued refusal to deal with us would cause the implementation to be disrupted in many ways. Their purpose in doing so would be an attempt to stop the implementation from continuing. With trillions of dollars in opportunity costs to be earned by moving to the Preliminary Specification, its existence one day is inevitable. Just as the sun will rise tomorrow the Preliminary Specification will be operational in the oil and gas industry. I read in the U.S. Energy Information Administration weekly report that Marcellus shale gas was selling for $1.79. No amount of prayers from these bureaucrats will stop them from overproducing, and no amount of obstruction is going to stop us.

Our appeal is to the investor class of the North American oil and gas industry. It is they who will directly benefit as a result of implementing the business models inherent in the Preliminary Specification. The sooner the better. We are working towards a ‘remove and replace’ strategy regarding the bureaucracy as the manner in which we are dealing with the situation at hand. With the user communities development as our current priority we are developing the ways and means, or the “what” and “how” in which the industry operates. We expect that the investor class and the progressive producers will direct the bureaucrats to fund our budget on January 2017. At which time we will have the financial resources to begin the development of the systems and procedures, based on the Preliminary Specification, to develop the necessary systems to operate the industry. Once the user community is satisfied that their Comprehensive Specification is complete then we will be able to begin the development of the People, Ideas & Objects systems with the user community.

Once the software is complete and operational. Investors and producers can then begin the process of releasing their processes management to the service providers as they see fit. The reconfiguration of their internal producer organizations can also begin in earnest and they will begin to reap the benefits of the decentralized production model and the other attributes of the Preliminary Specification. Although I expect the bureaucracies to have been raided in terms of the administration and accounting resources for our needs in the user community and service providers. There will be a final transition of these people from the producers as the producers drop their processes under management. It should be obvious that not all people who are currently employed in oil and gas in the producer firms will necessarily be employed in the user community or service providers. There is an inherent efficiency expected in the application of specialization and the division of labor throughout these organizations.

This appears to me to be the most logical form of implementation that we are faced with. Based on the understanding and the level of cooperation that we are receiving from our friends the bureaucrats. This method of implementation essentially ignores them and carries on without their input, needs or concerns. If we had their cooperation it might be a bit more friendly but I don't think a whole lot more productive. They probably would only get in the way and we'd have to swat them like flies.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

The Interactive Nature of User Community Participants and Service Providers

We start this week with a look at how the user community, which writes the policies of the administrative, accounting and operations of the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producer, implements those policies through their control of the software that is developed with the People, Ideas & Objects developers. Operating the industry through their ownership, operatorship and control of the service providers. It is through their early participation in the user community and the leadership that they have shown during their time there that they earn the rights to participate in the service provider sub-industry. The user community will be given the first opportunity to establish these service provider firms.

This is a necessary part of the quality service provider / user community product offering that we are looking for. The user community participant has to have their hands on the situation in which they are working with the People, Ideas & Objects software developers. At the same time they can impart some of the rational as to why the process and software was developed in the manner that it was to the people who are employed within the service provider organization. As they were the ones that designed and implemented it on the basis that it operates on. This feedback loop is necessary for the change dynamic that we are looking for in the industry. For the industry to make a change in the business model, or for the software to change in the smallest of detail, the user community and service providers need to have this crossover in terms of the people who are involved in both organizations.

As we have discussed before the service providers will make up a very large sub-industry. This will not be just a cottage industry approach to the management of processes for the oil and gas industry. With the reorganization required under the decentralized production model the administrative and accounting resources of the industry are reallocated from the producers to the service providers. This reallocation will move a large percentage of the $40 to 60 billion in annual G&A costs of the producers to become the service providers revenues. These revenues are an estimate of the North American based G&A costs of the producers. Therefore the scope of this service provider business operation for the user community participant has the potential to yield significant returns.

Each user community participant will have a limited scope of the entire administrative and accounting processes that makeup the oil and gas industry. This requirement dictates that we have the large population of user community participants in order to cover off the entire scope of the industry. They then can leverage that knowledge across to the service provider who scales the understanding across and throughout the oil and gas industry. Using the People, Ideas & Objects software, derived from the Preliminary Specification, the service provider will manage the process in detail across the oil and gas industry.

This is a business opportunity for those that have the understanding of the oil and gas industry, who are able to solve business related issues, and who have an aptitude for technology and in that order of priority. You may be part of a team of user community participants that own a service provider that take on a large process such as the Material Balance Report. Or you might have a small team that takes care of some unique attribute of accounting. It won't matter. The real value is that the ability to change and focus on the dynamic, innovative and profitable elements of an oil and gas producer are what will be the job at hand. And the fact that as a result of this configuration we will have changed the industry and will begin to realize the many trillions of dollars in opportunity costs that are available from the shale gas reserves and administrative efficiencies we provide.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

The User Communities Ability to Deliver Profits

Shale gas reserves have provided the oil and gas industry with an unbelievable endowment of value and wealth. The bureaucracy are about to turn this resource into the largest commercial failure in the history of human enterprise. They don't care that they produce natural gas unprofitably. They know they can't produce a profit, they don't even pray for a cold winter anymore. Why? because they know that no one is going to do anything about it. That is where I think they are wrong and where the People, Ideas & Objects user community comes in.

The decentralized production model provides a solution to the lack of profitability in the natural gas business. It addresses specifically the issues that are present as a result of the abundance from the shale gas reserves. The decentralized production model reconfigures the prototypical producer to include the C class executives, the earth science and engineering resources, some land and legal, and some support staff. The administrative and accounting staff are reorganized into service providers who are focused on one process and service the entire industry with their unique and specialized capability. Costs for these service providers are billed directly to the Joint Operating Committee. This industry wide administrative and accounting capability vs. each producer having to develop their own administrative and accounting capability is the key to dealing with the unprofitable shale gas situation.

When a property is unable to attain profitable operations it is shut-in until it can return to profitable production through either higher prices or some new innovation. While the property is shut-in, there are no operating costs, royalties or overhead costs incurred by the property. The overhead costs consisting of the administrative and accounting costs that are charged by the service providers to the Joint Operating Committee, and only when there is activity in their task and transfer network. Without production there is no activity to generate any accounting or administrative work or subsequent billing. Therefore the property reports a null operation, no profit or loss. The reserves are kept for a time when the property is able to produce at a profit. And the commodity marketplaces supply is reduced by the marginal production. A significant improvement over the current practice of incurring losses, adding those losses to the reserves to be recovered by even higher prices in the future and flooding the commodity marketplace with unprofitable natural gas.

The People, Ideas & Objects decentralized business model provides the producer with the ability to scale their operation up and down their production profile. One day they could be producing 20,000 barrels / day and the next 100,000 based on the commodity prices and the performance of their properties. At no time should any property be unprofitable. The producer would be profitable at 20,000 barrels / day and if prices allowed they would be profitable at 100,000 barrels / day. The decentralized production model makes their overhead costs variable just like their operating costs and their royalties. It is the service providers who will know that at anytime they may be faced with production declines from the producers in the order of 10 to 15% and are therefore able to account for these in their annual budgets. Essentially providing a means in which the oil and gas producer can control their G&A costs.

It is the decentralized production model that provides the means in which the producers can profitably produce the shale gas reserves. It is the user community that has the power and control of the Preliminary Specification and in this instance the decentralized production model to effectively deliver the profits to the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producer. It is the user community who has the budget, the Intellectual Property, and the key point of contact for the industry to turn to. To make the decentralized production model effective and efficient in the oil and gas industry. If there are issues and opportunities in the decentralized production model that the oil and gas producers want to see, who do they turn to? The user community. It is also the user community that can make the changes proactively to enhance any new and desired benefits are made available to the producers. That is because we have only begun down this road. There are many opportunities when we begin using the Joint Operating Committee as the key organizational construct of the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producer, and the user community is enabled, empowered and in control of the business models and organizational structure of the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas industry.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Oracle's OpenWorld 2014 Conference and Our User Community

Yesterday saw the opening of Oracle’s annual database, application and Java conference, or Oracle OpenWorld 2014. This annual ritual includes all the news and features that Oracle has to present to the world. This year should be no different, other than there will be no sailing. I highly recommend watching Oracle founder Larry Ellison’s keynote address. These have been as interesting and as game changing as Steve Jobs keynotes at Apple. Another one to watch for is Renee’ James the president of Intel Corporation whose topic I think will appeal to many of the larger producer firms who have a concern with the cloud computing configuration of People, Ideas & Objects. What I am sure you'll find in her discussion is that Oracle, Intel and People, Ideas & Objects are able to provide you with your own hardware and software to operate your application from within your own organization. The one caveat is that the service providers and user community are the ones that will need to continue to provide you with the capabilities under the decentralized production model.

It makes no difference where your application is operated from. Centralizing it within a cloud configuration reduces the burden of managing the Information Technology elements and opens up the opportunities for change within the business model. The only real calls for ensuring that the applications remain within the organizations four walls are coming from the bureaucrats themselves. It might be one of their last ditch strategies to keep them in place for a while longer. So lets be wise.

I have written here on several occasions that the members of the user community and service providers need to have a higher level of Information Technology understanding. Specifically about relational theory, the Oracle database and Java. Defining this as augmenting your formal education with three or four related university courses. This would aid in the communication with the People, Ideas & Objects development team as there is no way that they are going to be able to learn what is contained within the scope of the user communities oil and gas understanding. This knowledge has other benefits in that it will give the user an understanding of the basics of the technology in what appears to be an explosion of technologies. When in fact the principles, innovations and concepts are based on some fairly basic technologies. Once you have those technologies the appearance of magic disappears from the equation and the user understands what is happening within the application. This is the type of service that we need to provide the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producer.

There are additional benefits on top of those that I just mentioned. When we look at the Oracle Stack that we use in the Preliminary Specification we see a large number of Oracle specific applications. It is critical to understand that these are not set in stone. If anything I would like to think of them as overall possibilities and suggestions to be built upon. These Oracle Fusion Applications are built using Oracle Fusion Middleware. All of the Preliminary Specification developments outside of the Oracle specific applications will also be built by the Oracle Fusion Middleware server. Think of the Oracle Fusion Middleware server as the plumbing supplies, the lumber, hammers and nails that you would use in building a house. Understanding how to use those tools you could then build any house that you would like, as in the Preliminary Specification. And you would be able to modify any house, or renovate a house, such as the Oracle Fusion Applications. If you understood the Oracle Database and Java at the level that is being suggested here you could conceptually form the ideas of how you want the dining room to look, its features and the People, Ideas & Objects developers would understand exactly what you want and then build it for you. This is where I want us to be.

Building this user community is our current objective. We think that this type of user community and the associated service providers are the necessary ingredient in making sure that the oil and gas industry is provided with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Its Been a Good Week!

We've taken the better part of this week to highlight the power and control that the user community will have in making the oil and gas industry more dynamic, innovative and profitable. It should be clear that the People, Ideas & Objects user community is structured differently than any other user community has ever been structured in the industry before. Participation will provide you with the tools to effectively and efficiently deal with the issues and opportunities that the oil and gas producers face in the years to come. There won't be a bureaucracy, the user community removes and replaces the bureaucracy as the form of organization in the industry. There will only be the participants and their ability to act in the best interests of the oil and gas producers.

Technology is making these changes in every industry today. It may not be as obvious as what People, Ideas & Objects and the user community are doing to the oil and gas industry. But small applications like AirBnB, Uber and Lyft are creating new smaller industries out of old bureaucratic and poorly functioning ones. I guess if we look at the service providers and the app marketplace we are creating our own sub-industries as well. The fact that technology has the power to change the way that industries operate is the trend that will continue for at least the next decade. The bureaucracies are strong and their resistance is effective. However we will succeed in the long term and they will be relegated to the scrapheap of history. Profitability demands it.

The time in which you chose to join the user community is your own decision. There are risks associated with joining People, Ideas & Objects. The bureaucracy will deal with those that they can identify. As we mentioned only those that choose to join the leadership team are asked to have a public profile at this time. User community participants are able to otherwise walk both sides of the street and hide out in the bureaucracy for a few more years. It is important to understand however that although the user community will be rather large. Numbering I think in the area of 2,000 to 3,000 people. That is a small sample of the numbers of people that work within the oil and gas industry.

It is also a very small sample in comparison to the number of people that will be working in the service provider firms. An area where the user community participants will have distinct competitive advantages in which to participate in terms of ownership and operation of. Therefore a balance in terms of the risk of commitment to this project vs the opportunities in the service providers that participation provides.

Our expectation is that we will have one hour of developer time for every hour of user community time. This one to one ratio is high in the development world. The reasons for this are many. The scope of our application is very broad. The change dynamic that we are introducing is strong. There will be significant experimentation within the user community. And lastly the need to determine a consensus throughout the user community will take time. These will add to the burden of the user community in terms of their time and effort.

2,000 man years of user community time is budgeted in the initial development release. This effort will be spread out over a number of years and have at its core 600 to 1,000 user community participants involved in the development at anyone time. The population of user community participants is necessary in order to cover off the broad scope of the understanding involved in the oil and gas industry. It is with this understanding that we provide the user community with the prospect of membership in the community which requires the specific skills in understanding the development process, relational databases and Java. And the fact that these are not full time positions. However they do lead to the prospects that these people are the leaders in the service provider community in terms of ownership and operation of that sub-industry. We will discuss the service providers more next week.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

How the User Community Exercises Its Power

It should be no surprise to anyone the response that Uber, Lyft and Airbnb are receiving from the entrenched Taxi Commissions and tourist associations around the world. Bureaucracies have two choices when faced with the threat of their own demise. To switch to the new technologies or to fight. Unfortunately they choose to fight in every instance. And the governments are willing dupes to the demands of these bureaucrats. Recently Germany banned Uber from the entire country. With fines in the $300,000.00 range if caught providing a ride through Uber. Its not that that will stop the application from replacing taxi’s, its just an irritating annoyance.

People, Ideas & Objects have been subject to our own push back from the bureaucracy. Reading the Preliminary Specification you can clearly see that there is little if any need for a bureaucrat in that environment. Therefore they need to do all that they can to make sure that the Preliminary Specification never sees the light of day is a priority for them. Fortunately they seem to be losing. But this won't deter them. If anything I see a battalion of new recruits being deployed as we speak. One thing they do have going for them is the number of bureaucrats is impressive.

One thing they can't overcome is the nature of the powerful and motivated user community. Users can walk both sides of the street for the foreseeable future. That is participate here with People, Ideas & Objects in the user community and keep your day job with the old bureaucrats and fat paycheck for the foreseeable future. That is the ideal situation actually. Only those members of the leadership team need to have a public profile. The other members of the user community will be covert. The bureaucrats never knowing their star employee is really a mole who is working to replace the bureaucrat and their mind numbing ways.

Usually the mole who is deployed in a covert operation is actively looking to disrupt the operation. That isn't necessary in our case. The fact that the industry, on the natural gas side at least, isn’t making any money is plenty destructive enough. Our focus needs to remain on providing the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. We would do that in the bureaucratic world. Its just that its not possible.

Participants in the user community need to remember that they are very powerful. By adopting the proactive change agent capabilities we discussed yesterday. And knowing of the power that has been endowed in them through the user community vision. They have the capabilities to provide the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. With this power comes the responsibility to do the right thing. One that I’m sure people can appreciate.

With the user community configured in this manner. It is a very different oil and gas industry. The decentralized production model strips the prototypical producer down to the C class executives, the earth science and engineering resources, some land and legal, and support staff. The administrative and accounting resources are configured in service providers that service the industry as a whole through their industry based capabilities. This structure and organizational configuration is controlled through the user community. Changes made by the users within the community will have dramatic effects on the configuration of this structure and organization, and of course the performance of the industry. It is the users who exercise this power, all with the focus of providing the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Changes Needed in You, the User

Back to our primary focus at hand, the user community. People, Ideas & Objects software developments are user community based. Having software developers without a user community that is organized and focused is a waste of everyone’s time. People, Ideas & Objects and our user community are providing the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. The only way to do that in the 21st century is through user community based software developments. I can't express our commitment any clearer than this. This however, requires change at every level in the industry.

We have been working on user community developments since the completion of the Preliminary Specification in November 2013. Our plan involves securing the 30 or so leadership positions of the user community before the January 2017 industry deadline. This industry deadline involves progressive producers and investors funding the development of the Preliminary Specifications budget at that time. With the leadership team in place we will be able to provide the industry with the overall vision contained in the Preliminary Specification, and the user community in which will be able to provide the alternative means of oil and gas operations. An alternative to the current bureaucracy that is losing money, which is leaderless and unwilling to change.

Participants in our user community are empowered to make the changes that are necessary in the oil and gas industry. If an individual sees an element within a small part of an application that is incorrect they will have the mechanisms and processes to make the changes to correct these through the user community. In addition, if an individual develops a new business model that provides substantial value for the dynamic and innovative oil and gas producer. They can have that implemented through the user community as well. Contrast this capability to affect change with the frustrations that the individual faces in the current bureaucracy. Where if you propose something new and innovative, your most assuredly are going to be laughed at.

There is also the scope and scale of the People, Ideas & Objects Preliminary Specification and user community. Any changes that you do make will not be populated to only the one company that you are currently working for. With the cloud computing model, and the structure of the proposed system, ideally these changes would be populated across the entire industry. Providing the user with not only the means in which to make the changes, but also the motivation in having those changes impact the entire industry.

A person with ideas on how to make things better for the industry would have plenty of opportunity to express themselves in this new community. The stifling environment of the bureaucracy has taught you to shut up and sit down. To drone on in an unappreciated manner where the frustration of having to deal with obtuse systems and procedures, designed for unknown criteria, clog and spew. If there is a chance that a system can be developed that eliminates the technology focus. One that is designed to understand the culture of the oil and gas industry. One in which your participation is the priority of its development. People, Ideas & Objects is it.

However, for this to happen your participation is required. It all starts with you. And that is how these changes will begin, and that is how the changes that we discussed in this post will happen, with your action. Time to dust off that computer at home and start participating and begin the developments of the user community. It really comes down to the change you make in yourself. Forgetting how to be a drone and becoming a proactive change agent in the oil and gas industry.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

A Comment on the Economy

It seems every year around this time I feel compelled to discuss the general economy. Last year it seemed to be looking fairly promising with the ability to crawl out of this malaise being a distinct possibility. A malaise that we have found ourselves in since 2008  We've had a good year, but that possibility of breaking out of the doldrums seems like we'll have to wait a while longer. I don’t know about you but I've turned pessimistic about the general economy over the past couple of months. I’ve lost that optimism that we were moving upward and onward. I’m feeling more like its pre 2008 and everyone is partying, thinking it will never end. There are a few that are saying that we should be careful this time and are preparing for some rough times. But I'm thinking of some real rough times. The central banks are out of bullets. And as much analysis and rewriting of history that has gone lately about the great depression. The best description that I can find of what did happen is that it was caused by a failure of governments. If the central banks have fired their ammo, and we head into some difficulty, then the failure of government could be upon us once again.

Turning to brighter news. The bureaucracy have sought and found all the cover that they could have ever wanted in the past decade in corporate America. Don't rock the boat, steady the ship and live to fight another day have been good strategies to make it through these years. And look at the performance of our organizations in general. Never in the history of corporate America has the economy performed consistently so poorly. With interest rates being at zero for so many years investment decisions have been lacking the appropriate discipline in the corporate world. If you make a mistake no one will notice as the consequences are not realized when there is no competition for the investment dollar. Therefore the bureaucrats have become more obese and even lazier than before. Leading to the poor performance in the economy.

At the same time the Information Technologies have matured to the level where it is possible for anyone to do anything with them. The limits of ones imagination are the constraints that we are now living with. And at the same time we are provided with FaceBook and Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat. I guess these types of experiments are useful in ways but as businesses with large valuations I thought we dispatched these useless experiments in the late 1990’s. We are however beginning to see the revolutionary business model driven technology companies begin. Companies like AirBnB, Uber and Lyft are revolutionary. They are changing the accomodation and car ownership models. Other applications of this mature Information Technology are just around the corner.

It is these types of technologies that eliminate the bureaucracies and the power of the Taxi commissions across the globe. Applications that are developing today. These are where the economy needs to move too as soon as possible. The ability and capabilities of these technologies are dependent on societies capacity to change. Currently we are still hunkering down in our jobs, clinging to that paycheck that sustains us and constrains us. I think that, in a very short time, people will begin to see others embracing the technologies and moving to the new environments. Environments like People, Ideas & Objects where the individual matters more in the outcome of the oil and gas industries performance.

It is this transition to the mature Information Technologies that have been temporarily disrupted by the entrenched bureaucracies. In all industries in North America not just oil and gas. The sooner we take the opportunities to remove them from the scene the better off the economy will be and we can resume the normal course of economic development that we had once become accustomed to.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Two Good Examples

My discussions with the industry, or at least the Canadian part of the industry, continue to be frustrating and unfruitful. Talking to people who can make the decision to participate in People, Ideas & Objects development efforts receives the standard response, that they will join in when the product is fully developed. They say its not their job to participate in software developments. To which I ask if its their job to lose money? To which they repeatedly blink. Its this type of attitude that we are fighting in the industry. Why our appeal is to the investors to direct these people to fund our developments. To create our own permanent user community so that we never have to rely on these blinking people. They don't have the capacity to see the problems that are in front of them. They don't have the capacity to see the solution or to implement a solution that is offered. They are paralyzed and incapable of change.

I have two good examples today of how the situation is in the marketplace today. The first is our friends at PennWest Energy who recently announced their revised quarterly financial statements. Recall that they had to restate them for the purposes of revising the royalties back to operating costs from being capitalized. The second example is Noble Energy in the United States who recently went through a software implementation with Oracle. This was a custom one off implementation that is highlighted by Oracle as a success.

To the first example, PennWest Energy. The Press Release is here. Its interesting to note that the culprits that capitalized the royalties were the staff. At least that is what the press release says. We know the bureaucrats do nothing but sit around and point the fingers but rarely do they do it in a press releases. It might be that the staff did it but capitalizing royalties shouldn’t pass the laugh test beyond the first bureaucrat. And, its important to note, that the bureaucrats are keen to point out in the press release that they have reduced the payroll by almost 50% since this time last year. Therefore, I’m sure that it was the inspired staff after all. The pressure to make profits is quite strong and its coming from the investors in the industry. The bureaucrats way is to cut the staff by 50%. What rationale this supports is unknown to me. I'm just glad I don’t work in an oil and gas company.

Review of the PennWest financials has left me perplexed. The company appears more profitable than the previous statements. Reversing $200 million in capitalized royalties benefiting the bottom line is a bit confusing. But that seems to be the case. Maybe the most creative accounting I have ever seen. The comment from the Chief Executive is that the production, the land and the ability to execute are unaffected by the accounting crisis. The message that tells me is that the accounting is such a mess, probably because there is no one left, that we've given up, so should you.

With the following video from Oracle regarding a software development and integration for Noble Energy.

You can see that the entire focus of the company is on the ability to execute. Is that all an oil and gas company is today. Another project to execute? No appreciation that we are doing this work in a commercial environment. That we should be making money at this. It seems that the idea that this is a going concern and is part of a larger organization that is focused on providing that organization, the society that it operates in and the people within that society with an increase in value is lost. It’s all just activity for the sake of activity. Now there is discussion of the impact on the community, all the right buzz words spoken by all the right people, about the number of truck trips to reduce etc. It is however the responsibility of the oil and gas companies to be making profits. That is their role in society, not sitting in a sewing circle and singing kumbaya.

When I talk to someone in the industry, a decision maker, and I’m turned down because making money is perceived as someone else’s job. And at the same time I see the misguided adventures at PennWest. Or the lack of a clear focus of an enterprise at Noble Energy. I see why our focus on profits makes us the odd man out.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here.