Access, Roles and Responsibilities

This topic discusses the manner in which authorizations, roles and responsibilities are handled in the Security & Access Control module of the Preliminary Specification. We should also discuss, the topic of delegating the authority and responsibility during absences, which is something that can come up at any time.

As background we should recall that each individual would have different access levels and authorizations in terms of access to the People, Ideas & Objects systems. Assuming different roles and responsibilities would impose different access levels to data, information, processes and functionality. On top of that, the Security & Access Control module is the key module for imposing the Military Command & Control Metaphor throughout the People, Ideas & Objects application modules. This structure, particularly in a Joint Operating Committee, would work to weave the multiple producer firms under one chain of command. It would also need to provide an interface to ensure the coverage of all the processes were “manned” to ensure compliance, governance and overall completeness of the process.

Throughout the Preliminary Specification there is the perception of a heightened role for technology in terms of enabling the authorization to conduct operations within the system. That is to say the ability to do things and get things done is through the collaborations with partners and to authorize actions through participation in the processes managed by the systems. This participation dictates that the designation of the roles in the Security & Access Control module “means” more than just data access; it also imputes authority and responsibility to undertake actions on behalf of Joint Operating Committees and / or producer firms.

It would also be necessary to be able to assign this authority within the Security & Access Control module during any absence. If someone with authority and responsibility were to be away for whatever reason, they should be able to assign their authority to another person to fill that role while they are away. This will ensure that the process isn't held up during their absence. Delegations of authority have been used for years in larger firms and with a system that imposes the authorizations and responsibilities on specific roles, the ability to temporarily move them down, across or up the chain of command is a necessity to keep the organization functioning.

Lastly we should talk about the interface that helps to identify the missing elements of a process. It would simply show the command structure of the people who are assigned to a Joint Operating Committee or to a process and their related role, authorizations and responsibilities. If someone was to be away then it would show who was taking over their role. It would also help to identify how you could impose the chain of command to fill the void of any vacancies. This would be particularly important if the role or process was needed to be documented for compliance purposes.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most 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.

The Military Command and Control Metaphor

People, Ideas & Objects development of the Military Command & Control Metaphor (MCCM) of the Security & Access Control module is not without some historical context. Before the hierarchy, which I perceive as somewhat of a commercial development of the 20th century, there was only the military structure in terms of large organizations. The main difference between the two is rather subtle but significant. The military structure is much broader and flatter than the hierarchy. That is one of the ideals that we are seeking, but the more important feature is the ability for the chain of command to span multiple internal and external organizational structures.

If we analyze the U.S. Military we find a number of interesting attributes of using the military chain of command that will provide value in the use of People, Ideas & Objects software applications. First is the title and assignment of an individual in the military.  For example, “Sgt. Richard Knuth, Company A, Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division.” A similar title and assignment for the people within a Joint Operating Committee (JOC) would help to clarify the role and responsibilities, authority and capabilities the individual would have within the JOC. For example this individual might have the following “Richard Knuth, Chief Engineer, Field Straddle, Elmworth. Irrespective of which firm this individual is from. Each of the participants, and the People, Ideas & Objects system, would recognize that the authority of a Chief Engineer was the same throughout the industry and that the designation of Chief Engineer entitled the individual to authorize the appropriate actions.

Now this is not fundamentally different from how the industry operates today. What is different is the ability to operate in a fashion where the interactions between the producers in the JOC are done as if they were all employed by the JOC. Where multiple producer firms are contributing many full time staff to the JOC. This interaction between producers through the JOC can only be replicated if there is a recognizable chain of command between the firms that make up the JOC. In addition to the recognizable chain of command each organization must have additional governance concerns handled, and compliance plays a big part in this as well. (We will talk more about these in the Compliance & Governance module.) That although it would be an easy thing to implement from a people point of view, the actual implementation of pooling the staff from multiple organizations becomes complex when we consider all of the implications. However, with the Information Technologies that exist today, and the issues of the shortages of earth science and engineering talent we have few choices but to pursue this pooling concept.

The nature of the people that will be working through the chain of command that is layered over the Joint Operating Committee will include all of the disciplines that are involved in the oil and gas industry. The contributions of staff, financial and technical resources will include everyone that is employed by the industry today. I can foresee many of the office buildings being refurbished to accommodate the staff of a single JOC. There the staff from the different producers would be seconded to work for the JOC, working at a single JOC not at any particular producer firm.

In previously discussing the Military Command & Control Metaphor (MCCM). I noted this inter and intra organizational use of the MCCM was similar to that used by NATO. That armies of the various countries could work together and recognize personnel from each other's armies and immediately recognize and use the same chain of command. The Joint Operating Committee is the financial framework of the industry. This means that all of the members of a JOC are equally driven by their financial interests. And that financial interest drives consensus. The point in using the NATO example is to show the ability to recognize the chain of command spanning multiple producer organizations represented in the JOC.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most 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.

Two Types of Data

In this second post of the Security & Access Control module we discuss the two types of data that are found within the oil and gas industry and how People, Ideas & Objects Preliminary Specification deals with access control and the security of that data.

When we talk about the various people within the producer firms affiliated with a Joint Operating Committee. And the number of Joint Operating Committees that a firm may have an interest in. And the number of people a firm may have employed. Access control becomes challenging. It becomes a challenge when you consider that your people certainly should have the access that you require, but the level of trust that you may have with respect to the other partner organizations is probably not as strong. That is to say, does using the Joint Operating Committee as the key organizational construct of the innovative and profitable oil and gas producer, open the producer firm to any data loss to its partners? This is how People, Ideas & Objects deal with the access and trust issue in the Security & Access Control module.

When we concern ourselves with the data and information of the producer firm, and the information that is cleared from the various Joint Operating Committees that the oil and gas producer has an interest in. We can all agree that this information is proprietary and is subject to the internal policies of each producer firm. (Information such as reserves data, accounting information, internal reports and correspondence, strategy documents.) What we are also concerned about is the information and data that is held in the Accounting Voucher module and the associated data that is common to the joint account. (well file, agreements, production data, capital and operating costs, revenue and royalties.)

Closer analysis of these two types of data and information that are held within the firm and the Joint Operating Committee fall within the proprietary and partnership domains. In Canada at least, most of the data and information regarding a wells operations can be freely obtained through various regulatory agencies. Nonetheless, the majority of the data is shared through the partnership who have an interest in the data and information. Not so for the producer firms data. Most of the information is kept close at hand and is only reported through filtered reserve report summaries and annual reports. Therefore keeping a handle on proprietary data, while operating the Joint Operating Committee as the key organizational construct of the innovative oil and gas producer, as proposed in People, Ideas & Objects, does not present any data leakage.

Access control can therefore be limited by precluding any company personnel from viewing any other companies files. Which is a given. While in People, Ideas & Objects access control is limited to the Joint Operating Committees of the firm and the firms files only. To extend this further we would have access control limited to the appropriate roles within the firm, then it is a matter for the user community to define a standard set of generic roles in which access is required to certain data types. This would also apply to the types of operations that can be handled by that role, for example, read, insert, update, delete. These generic roles could then be assigned to each individual within the organization based on their needs. Assigning multiple roles for more complex access. Access to your proprietary data would be for your company’s personnel eye’s only.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most 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.

The Right Information to the Right People...

As promised we now start with our review of the Preliminary Specification and we begin with the Security & Access Control module.

What we have with using the Joint Operating Committee as the key organizational construct of the innovative and profitable oil and gas producer. Is the interactions of many producers, service providers and suppliers who are involved in the day to day commercial and strategic concerns of that Joint Operating Committee. What we need to concern ourselves within the Security & Access Control module is that the right people have the right access to the right information with the right authority at the right time and at the right place.

Throughout the Preliminary Specification we discuss two of the premier operational issues of the oil and gas industry. Those being the demand for earth science and engineering effort is increasing with each barrel produced. This is best represented in the steep escalation of the costs involved in the exploration and production of oil and gas. At the same time the critical earth science and engineering resources are somewhat fixed and are difficult to expand in the short to medium term. Add to that, an anticipated retirement of this brain trust in the next twenty years, and the problem becomes of critical concern. The second issue regards the manner in which the administrative and accounting resources are organized within the industry. With the Preliminary Specification the need for each producer to develop their own administrative and accounting capabilities internally is replaced by an overall industry capability. Then each producer can access those resources on a variable basis with direct charges to the Joint Operating Committee. This provides operational flexibility in how a producer approaches their strategic and tactical needs.

There are few short term solutions to the short fall in geologists and engineers over the next twenty years. It takes the better part of that time to train them to operate in the industry. What we do know are several “things” that are being applied in the People, Ideas & Objects Preliminary Specification. Key to a number of concepts application are what we call the Military Command & Control Metaphor. Which is a method developed in the Security & Access Control module of imposing command and control over any and all Joint Operating Committees, working groups, producer firms, service providers or organizations the producer may need to add structure to. The concepts are the further specialization and division of labor, and a reduction in the redundant building of capabilities within each oil and gas producer, or as we describe it, a pooling of resources in the Joint Operating Committee.

The first concept of specialization and division of labor is well known as a principle of economics that brings about greater amounts of economic productivity from the same volume of resources. Given that the volume of earth science and engineering resources are known for the foreseeable future, specialization and the division of labor will provide us with a tangible means in which to deal with the productivity of the oil and gas industry. In today’s marketplace to approach a heightened level of specialization and division of labor without the use of software to define and support it would be downright foolish.

The pooling concept is the solution to the current desire that each producer firm acquires the earth science and engineering capabilities necessary to deal with all the needs of their “operated” properties. This creates unneeded “just-in-time” capabilities for the scarce scientific resources. When each producer within the industry pursues this same strategy substantial redundancies are built into the industries capabilities. Redundancies that are left unused and unusable. What is proposed through the People, Ideas & Objects software application modules is that the producers operational strategy avoids the “operator” concept and begins pooling their specialized technical resources through the partnership represented in the Joint Operating Committee. That way the redundancies that would have been present in the industry can be made available to the producers and used by the producers through an advanced specialization and division of labor.

These same principles are present in the second issue noted above. The administrative and accounting acquired through an industry wide capability provides the producer with the flexibility to address the operational concerns of the firm. Issues such as today’s low natural gas prices are able to be addressed through this revised structure. By having the administrative and accounting service providers charge their service fees directly to the Joint Operating Committee. The producer gains the ability to shut-in production without any negative effects on their financial performance. All administrative, accounting, and production costs are eliminated during production shut-in. And the producers are then able to keep those reserves available for the time when production will provide for profitable operations. Natural gas prices will have less volatility as a result of producers removing the marginal production from the marketplace.

Being able to provide the service providers with systems access and security during these day to day operations will be a unique situation for the oil and gas producer. The service providers will be aggregating data on an industry wide basis. And there will be many service providers involved in providing administrative and accounting services to the producer firm and Joint Operating Committees. Consideration for the proprietary nature of the information and security will be priorities for the Preliminary Specification.

A quick note on mobility. People are being provided with new devices that enable them to do their work anywhere they might be. These phones and tablets, in addition to laptop computers, open up security and access control concerns for the innovative and profitable oil and gas producer. Some producers are enabling their staff with policies that allow them to bring their own device to work. The fact of the matter is these devices provide for enhanced productivity and are appropriate for the innovative and profitable oil and gas producer. People, Ideas & Objects Preliminary Specification includes within it an understanding that these devices will be part of the day to day that are used in the oil and gas industry.

What these concepts require therefore is what the Security & Access Control module is designed to provide. The system must provide access to the right person at the right time and the right place with the right authority to the right information. With the Military Command & Control Metaphor there will also be a manner in which the technical, and all the resources, that have been pooled from the producers, interact with an appropriate governance and chain of command.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most 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.

The End of Summer

Its the beginning of a long weekend and what amounts to the end of summer for the oil and gas industry. It'll be time to get back to work on Tuesday and that goes for this blog as well. We're going to start reviewing the Preliminary Specification once again and we'll start on Tuesday with the beginning of the Security & Access Control module. This will provide readers with an opportunity to go through the Preliminary Specification in detail over the next few months and get a good understanding of the what and how of the product. The topical discussion that we have been having will also continue as I think that we have been able to show the value of the product in the marketplace today. So the blog will consist of a bit of both, the Preliminary Specification and topical discussion for the next few months.

If I had a topic to close out these summer months on it would have to be natural gas prices. I really like discussing this topic. The Preliminary Specification provides solutions to the operational issues that occur in the oil and gas industry. The natural gas prices are one of the critical operational issues that are addressed by our product. Who wouldn't want to discuss them. The bureaucracy has an inability to even discuss the problem and choose to ignore the consequences of these low prices. I would expect that this winter we will see no marked improvement in the natural gas prices, and no further actions by the bureaucracies.

The amount of time that the natural gas prices will remain depressed will be based on two factors. One the duration of the shale gas reserves. And the length of time that the bureaucracy remains in control. Its as simple as that. We can't expect anything to change on the basis of prayers or wishes from the collective bureaucracy. No matter their faith. However by adopting the Preliminary Specification we can remove the bureaucracy from the scene and affect the prices by removing the marginal production from the marketplace. In that way we have the opportunity to produce the shale gas reserves on a profitable basis.

Everyone is aware that the issue regarding natural gas prices is over production. The prolific nature of shale gas reserves and their abundance have depressed prices. Making all production unprofitable. The removal of 10 - 15 % of production would be all that is required to restore prices to what is recommended by the industry as what is required for a healthy industry, $6.70 / mmbtu. However whom is to take the production cut is unknown and certainly “not in my backyard” is the standard operating procedure. Therefore it continues. The concern of the producers is that the high overhead of the firm will be exposed with the lower production volume. That high overhead being a fixed cost of business and is unable to be reduced without significantly diminishing the capabilities of the firm.

The Preliminary Specification takes the producers fixed costs of the overhead capabilities and makes them a fixed cost of the industries capabilities. They are then charged on a variable basis to the Joint Operating Committee when there is production. If there is no production then there are no charges for the overhead or production costs and the property only has the costs of capital uncovered during times of shut-in production. Removing the bad optics of high overhead and low production volumes from the producer during times of shut-in production.

Making the overhead of the producer variable is the appropriate step in allowing for the producer to shut-in production. It is this feature of the Preliminary Specification that will enable the producers to reduce their production during times of overproduction and to successfully produce the shale gas reserves.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most 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.

Service Providers for Earth Science and Engineering

Just as there are service providers who are providing services in the administrative and accounting fields for oil and gas producers and Joint Operating Committees. It is anticipated and designed into the Preliminary Specification that similar requirements will be needed in the earth science and engineering disciplines. The critical nature of the resource shortfall in these professions dictate that a solution to these medium to long term shortfalls arise. People, Ideas & Objects have identified the issue and resolved it through the software in the following manner.

The source of the issue is the manner in which each producer is building their earth science and engineering capabilities. Just as in the administrative and accounting areas none of these resources are shareable between the producers. Each producer is building unique capabilities for just in time deployment for any of the properties they are responsible for. This generates unused and unusable earth science and engineering capabilities that are trapped within each producer firm. Looked at from an industry wide point of view these trapped resources are substantial.

The solution is to use specialization and the division of labor to free up the trapped unused and unusable resources in each producer firm. Instead of each firm generating the capabilities to meet the demands of all of their properties. They focus on key competitive specializations in the earth science and engineering areas. They also coordinate with working interest partners who are able to bring other specialized capabilities on an as needed basis. If any additional capabilities are required they can bring those in from the Resource Marketplace module.

It is there in the Resource Marketplace module that specialization and the division of labor have enabled a marketplace for the generic earth science and engineering tasks. A place where the majority of the day to day technical work can be completed on behalf of the producer or Joint Operating Committee. This enabling the specialization that the producer firm is able to undertake. This specialization and the sourcing of other specializations from working interest partners and the marketplace are how the Preliminary Specification eliminates the trapped resources within the producer firm. And how the unused and unusable resources are freed up on an industry wide basis to be used on a shared basis throughout the industry.

Providing the capabilities for all that is required of a producer within the domain of a producer will become increasingly more difficult as time passes. As the excessive demands of these professions continue, the need to specialize and divide the labor further, within the producer firm itself, will require the producer to have such a broad scope of earth science and engineering operations as to be uneconomic no matter how large the production base. This “hoarding” mentality, that it has to be done from within the organization, is quickly becoming unfeasible, if it already hasn’t. People, Ideas & Objects suggest it is the source of the shortfall in these resources today.

The solution in the Preliminary Specification, although controversial is the only reasonable approach to dealing with the problems of an industry that is accelerating in terms of its scientific basis. Specialization on key determinants will be the differentiators that earn the producer profits that they desire. Continuing to “hoard” these resources will only lead to further difficulties for all producers as the demand for the resource base escalates.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most 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.

Producing Shale Gas Profitably

The fact of the matter is only People, Ideas & Objects have a viable plan for the industry to produce the shale gas reserves profitably. The prolific, however high cost reserves provide an opportunity for the industry to fuel the North American continent for the foreseeable future. That is if it is a viable business. Today it is an activity that keeps bureaucrats gainfully engaged in what they do. We are in a transition period where the business is unable to sustain itself with profits, and indeed is cannibalizing itself with losses. Investors have had enough and are on strike, unwilling to participate with more capital to fuel the bureaucrats furnace. Even with the investors striking there is an imbalance in the supply and demand of natural gas. What needs to be done is producers need to reduce production. Everyone knows that, yet no one has done it in the three years that prices have been depressed.

The problem with reducing production in the high throughput production model that is employed today. Is that it only makes things look worse. Overheads look even more top heavy than they do at full capacity. Layoffs are one of the solutions to the poor optics but that only masks the problem. The problem is that each company must maintain certain capacities with respect to what they are capable of achieving as an organization. Cutting staff only reduces the capabilities in certain areas. What is needed is a different way in which the oil and gas producer achieves, accesses and develops those capabilities. In the Preliminary Specification those capabilities are developed on an industry wide basis, not an individual producer basis. This reduces the redundancies of each producer building the same capabilities within each firm and having no ability to share these resources.

By having the service providers staffed by the resources of the producer firms. These service providers can then reorganize themselves based on the specific processes that they specialize on. Using the entire industry wide data set as their client base they would be able to use specialization and the division of labor to provide efficiencies and effectiveness that was far greater than that of the largest producer today. The quality of their services would also be enhanced.

It is assumed in the Preliminary Specification that the oil and gas producers competitive advantage is their asset base and their earth science and engineering capabilities. Not their administrative and accounting functions. Taking the administration and accounting processes of the entire industry and setting them with the service providers would provide each producer with the appropriate administration of their assets. Any oil and gas producer that is competing based on their more efficient administrative capabilities should have their head examined. These are generic aspects of the business that all producers need to have taken care of. They are not critical to the business.

Each service provider, and there would be hundreds of service providers, but only one for each process. Would become highly specialized in their domain of knowledge and capabilities. Providing services to producers of all sizes. Bringing to the industry the state of art in terms of what is possible for that process. In addition they would be backed up by the People, Ideas & Objects software development capability that would enable them to make the changes to further their specialization on a constant basis. Competition between the service providers would be at a high level. It just wouldn't be at the direct level of competing for the business of the process. Each service provider would in essence have an industry wide monopoly on the process that they managed. It would be in that they way that they could achieve the most from specialization and the division of labor.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most 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.

A Prayer for Natural Gas Prices

If we could now all bow our heads. But seriously, that is the extent of the planning and management that is currently ongoing in the natural gas business regarding the prices. The bureaucracy have completely given up any pretense of concern or regard for the business in which they operate. They couldn't care less about the losses that are being incurred as a result of the low natural gas prices. And its not that the summer saw any marked depletion in the shale gas reserves. These reserves will be around for a while longer. I am surprised that the bureaucracy have gotten away with such blatant disregard for so long. Bureaucracies are leaderless. I guess expecting some leadership from them is the foolish thing.

How the oil and gas industry continues in the 21st century has to be as a dynamic and innovative industry. What it is today is the furthest thing from that. And it is paying a large price for that lack of leadership. We have calculated the opportunity costs for 2012 at $94 billion when we compare the status quo to what is possible with the Preliminary Specification. Making the investment in People, Ideas & Objects one of the highest return investments that the industry could make. This is the power of software and why the industry has to begin to respect the capabilities of the technologies when combined with innovative business models.

The Preliminary Specification solves the natural gas pricing problem by removing the marginal production from the marketplace. 15% of the production in the 2012 scenario that provides for the opportunity costs. Producers are able to remove the marginal production from the market without the associated losses on other operations, or the losses on the shut-in properties. And they are able to keep the shut-in reserves for a time when the prices return to the point where they can be produced at a profit. Additionally the production that is removed from the marketplace helps to reduce the downside in natural gas prices and normalize the marketplace in terms of supply and demand.

It does this with two fundamental mechanisms that are unique to the Preliminary Specification. One is the manner in which the overhead or the resources of the industry are organized. And secondly on how the costs of the resources are allocated when the production is shut-in. The first element is how the resources are organized in the industry. The oil and gas producer is a stripped down version of itself that consists of the c class executives, the earth science and engineering resources with some legal and admin support staff. The remainder of the resources of the producer are reorganized into service providers who are focused on a process or sub-process that uses the entire industry as their client base. Then they can use the tools of specialization and the division of labor to provide the most efficient and effective service in terms of lease rental payment, production, revenue and royalty accounting, etc. When the service provider provides their service they then bill the Joint Operating Committee a fee for their service.

If the property has been determined to be marginal at the current prices it is shut-in until prices rise. The associated costs of production and overhead are all stopped. There will be no charges from any of the service providers to the Joint Operating Committees for the months where there is no production for production, revenue and royalty accounting, etc. Thus enabling the property to be subject only to the cost of capital during times of shut-in production. The cost control for the production, revenue and royalty accounting is with the service providers and they can budget on an annual basis that they will experience an approximate 10 - 15% production decline at anytime. Therefore the ability of the producers to remove any amount of excess production from the marketplace at any time would exist without the associated losses in operations. This would alleviate the downswing in pricing that is currently being experienced and allow the shale gas reserves to be produced at a profit.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most 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.

Leadership Within the User Community

In addition to having the power, the user community will provide the leadership for the industry in terms of its direction and implementation of the solutions it determines. With participation being as broad and as diverse as the industry itself, representation will include all areas of an oil and gas producers domain. Additional representation will be made from the service industry and the service providers. Anyone dissatisfied with the decisions that were made within the user community would have to blame their lack of participation as the cause of those decisions being made. With the role of leadership comes the responsibility to lead.

Some will argue that the movement of the leadership of the industry to the user community is unnecessary and should not happen. I would suggest that they reread the Preliminary Specification. It is within the domain of the software to take the leadership role within the industry. For the industry to acquire the capability to suspend marginal production can only happen if the Preliminary Specification is operational within the industry. I say “only” on the basis that the bureaucracy has shown no capacity to do so yet. It is within the software that the leadership is exercised and the software is driven by the user community. Therefore the user community will be the ones that provide the leadership to the oil and gas industry in terms of its strategic and tactical business direction. The alternative is that it continues to lose money in the natural gas business for as long as the shale gas reserves exist.

What I am arguing is that participation is the means in which the leadership is exercised. Its a different mode of operations is what is occurring. Instead of being an opaque unknown, it will be a transparent and visible process that is seen throughout the user community. This is the nature of business in the 21st century. Software and by extension user communities are a necessary ingredient in the capabilities of the industry. That they haven’t been up to this point reflects poorly on the implementation of the technologies. It is necessary to have these capabilities tightly integrated within the DNA of the industry, the service industry and the service providers. That is what the Preliminary Specification does. And it allows for those capabilities to be used in a manner that will provide for the most profitable means of oil and gas operations.

Arguments to the validity of these points will continue for some time. Software doesn’t command that much respect in the oil and gas industry. Certainly not to the point that is discussed here. There will have to be an education process undertaken to provide an understanding of how these changes are implemented in the software and user community. The point about profitability resonates with the investors however. And that is our focus in sourcing the funds, or the direction of the funds to complete the first phase of these developments. Developments that will be solely the result of the user community.

There are times when “things” change. And there are times when those that accept those changes and move forward in the new ways as a result. This is one of those times and one of those places. Oil and gas is being disintermediated by People, Ideas & Objects Preliminary Specification. New leadership will find the user communities ways and means of making the changes they want in the industry. Those who are unable to accept these ways will be left behind and will have to accept a different future for themselves. That is the way that change is implemented and growth occurs.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most 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.

The Power Within the User Community

A decade has passed since we began writing about developing software for the Joint Operating Committee. And it has been one year that we have actually had a product, the Preliminary Specification. I am a fan, let me restate that, I was a fan of research. After nine years of it I have had enough. If I never see another paper I will be fine with it. What gets me out of bed in the morning is checking my stats. Its a simpler life, but just as satisfying. Discussion of the product will keep me going for a few more years. I hate to admit it, but I started developing oil and gas ERP systems in my first company in 1991.

The Preliminary Specification provides an overall vision of how the industry could operate in the 21st century. An ambitious plan. However, one that is needed for the times that we live in. People who work within the industry who can see this vision can align themselves to it and begin the process of orienting themselves and their commercial lives around it. This is how the changes will take place. Individuals acting in their own best interests. Joined together through the user community. A place where they have the means to effectively provide for the most profitable means of oil and gas operations.

Its up to the user community now to take the Preliminary Specification and make it theirs. To mold it into the systems that they can use on a day to day basis. One in which they can address the issues and opportunities that arise in the oil and gas industry, the service industry and the service providers. The service providers potentially being a part of their own commercial operation. Where their dual revenue streams are split between user community contributions and service provider fees.

The impact that the user community has on the oil and gas industry will be significant. We can see already in the Preliminary Specification how it solves the operational concerns of the industry today. How will it solve the issues of tomorrow. This will be the role of the user community. We’re not talking about a committee of people who are endlessly publishing technical requirements that no one will look at. We are talking about the people who are responsible for the systems that will be built. Any change by the user community will see an immediate change to the software by the People, Ideas & Objects software developers. That’s the point. Instead of producing reams of paper that no one will look at. They will have the power to effect change. And the power to effect change on a grand scale. As we can see the changes that are made in the Preliminary Specification impact the industry significantly.

That is why this user community is different. It has a role to play in the development of the industry. And it has the power to affect the changes to develop the industry. Participation has to be as broad and diverse as possible to ensure that all points of view are represented and that changes are in line with the industry needs. One thing we can be certain of in the future. And particularly with the dynamic and innovative oil and gas industry. Change will be the constant that requires the user community to be creative, dynamic and innovative in its ability to provide direction and solve the issues of the industry in the future.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most 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.