And That's the Way It Is

One of the problems that I have is that at night when I turn off the lights I glow radioactive. People know that I am associated with this 24 year legacy, and for good or bad, don’t want to be seen with something that is for all intents and purposes, bad for their career. So it is a dark green luminous radioactive discharge that I give off that repels people from wanting to be associated with this project, or me. Today is different, like every stopped watch my time has come. The problem is that I have no reach within the oil and gas industry in which I can leverage the strength of these ideas and raise our budget. This is good news for the bureaucracy. Being on the outside for so long has left me with no inside access.

I desperately want to build this software. There is very little that I can do to take it any closer than what it is today without our budget being secured. So how we get to that point, and when, is something that is unknown and unknowable by me at this time. I’m on the outside. And maybe it is that I have a flawed understanding of the situation in the oil and gas industry. That everything really is ok. And that the bureaucracy will have things well in hand in short order. That muddling it through will work out one more time. And maybe the Preliminary Specification is just too radical and too extensive of surgery to undertake in any industry at anytime. I think the answer to all of these questions are out of the hands of any one individual. And fate will be what determines the outcome of our efforts. I've provided a choice.

And I'll be satisfied with that. It is these past 24 years that I would not trade for anything. If you don’t look upon these as an adventure then you probably couldn't survive them. It has been an adventure. And I have survived. I look forward to what the future holds. I think I'll be taking a bit of time off. I will return June 22, 2015.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative, profitable and successful 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 Call to Action

It was during these past 24 years that we have been able to conceive of a better way in which to operate the oil and gas industry. Something that would enable the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producer to deal with the issue and opportunities of the 21st century. In August 2003 we developed the use of the Joint Operating Committee as the key organizational construct of the innovative oil and gas producer. By aligning the compliance and governance frameworks of the hierarchy with the legal, financial, operational decision making, cultural, communication, innovation and strategic frameworks of the Joint Operating Committee. We achieve a speed, innovativeness, accountability and profitability in the oil and gas producer. It is within the administrative and accounting domains that we realized this was valid. However we soon learned that it also applied within the operational domain.

Upon the realization of the value that developing software for the Joint Operating Committee provided the oil and gas industry. We then embarked on a “quick sprint” of research to determine what the industry and the producer would look like if we adopted the Joint Operating Committee as the key organizational construct. Developing the “what” and “how” things would need to be in order to operate the industry and the producer with all of the frameworks aligned. This research was completed in December 2013 with the edited publication of the Preliminary Specification. So much for quick sprints! Of note and interest is it is these two attributes of our offering that the industry does not have to go through, the development of a new method and the research of how that method would work. I would suggest they would need to spend as much time as I have in order to develop an alternative to the Preliminary Specification. The full 24 years. If they have that much time and money available then they certainly have every right to do their own thing. However, People, Ideas & Objects are offering an effective short cut in time. I also started this in 1991 on the basis that I knew something was not working in the industry. It took me until August of 2003 to discover the solution is the Joint Operating Committee and then ten years of research to figure it all out. The Preliminary Specification exists, and it functions. Now that they see the problems they should congratulate themselves. Now those industry representatives can take the time and effort to find other alternatives, or, raise the budget for these developments, either way just leave my family out of it. Your in-direct approach only demeans you further.

The Preliminary Specification now needs to be developed. Like the San Francisco bridge it's expensive. But it also builds value as it solves the issues in the marketplace today. And those that will arise in the future. With all of the Joint Operating Committees frameworks in alignment with the compliance and governance frameworks. With the user community defining the needs of the software. With People, Ideas & Objects providing the software development capability. The industry will be able to have their issues resolved in a timely manner. Big issues and little issues. Making small and large changes. It won't matter, the ways and means of the industry will be accommodated in a timely fashion.

The bureaucracy have begun their migration to the retirement cabin. That the bureaucrats would leave their post when the industry issues are so prevalent is something that we have been stating, based on our research, for many years. It has now begun, and on the one hand the scope of the problems in the oil and gas producers are so big, there is no ambition that will overcome them. It is time to remove and replace the bureaucracy. However, the clock is ticking. The bureaucrats are leaving and that means they are putting the industry in greater jeopardy. Action on having our budget funded is necessary. I don't know who, and I don't know where but someone has to step up quickly and fund these developments.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative, profitable and successful 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. 

Remember Its Cut and Run

It’s coming up to almost one year since the pressure on oil prices began. Natural gas prices look to me like an absolute disaster will be detonated some time this summer. This due to the storage facilities filling to capacity. The bureaucrats were therefore artful in getting through another annual report season. The time to cut your losses from the oil and gas industry is now. Those individuals at Cenovus last week were the first, but maybe they were the smartest of all of the bureaucrats. Remember, it’s cut and run. Metaphorically get out of town before the problems are so big that they come looking for scalps. In an industry that has been flushing trillions of dollars down the toilet. Using first the investors money and then when that dried up, shifting to junk bonds to fuel their deception. There will be hell to pay for those standing around looking conspicuous. Remember I place the focus of the cause of this issue on the SEC and the accounting firms for their accounting policies that don't recognize the cost of capital or overhead in the operations of oil and gas producers. The fact that the bureaucracy new better is a moot point, after all what did you expect, they're bureaucrats!

What to do, who to turn to? As I have mentioned here on several occasions I have been at this for over 24 years now. And I will be at this for another 24 years. I have the solution in the Preliminary Specification. And I will develop the software derived from the Preliminary Specification and lead the user community in its development and its creation of the sub-industry of service providers. The bureaucrats want and need to capitulate, I want the job. Fund my budget and let me get the job done. What do you have to lose. Well actually a lot. Trillions of dollars in fact. Keeping these self interested bureaucrats in power any longer is counter to the best interests of everyone. The sooner we can have the Preliminary Specification, the user community and service providers established the better. And all that is required at this point is for our budget to be funded.

I foresee a lot of pain to be experienced in the oil and gas sector. Approximately equivalent to what the banking sector saw in 2008. This is a disaster. The opportunity is therefore to fund us and let us get on with our job. And then wait until the fire sale of oil and gas properties begins. Big properties, little properties, producing properties, non-producing properties, profitable and unprofitable properties. Then when we have the Preliminary Specification, the user community and service providers operational you can have those acquired properties operated for you on the basis that we guarantee you the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. And that is how this transition to the new oil and gas environment will occur.

If you think otherwise. That an organization methodology conceived of in the 1920’s, built on technologies available in the 1980’s and with a bureaucracy that has ossified since the 1990’s. That an organization of that pedigree in this market has a chance. Then your choice is made up and I can do nothing to convince you otherwise. I found this quote about the times that we find ourselves in today. Its from Tom Goodwin of Havas Media.

Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate. Something interesting is happening.

But maybe, just maybe oil and gas is immune to these types of forces. And the bureaucracy will succeed in fooling some new source of unknown capital. Beyond the junk bond market that is. That will line up to invest in a business that can’t stop overproducing or recognize any of its costs. And we can all just sing kumbaya and drink penakolada’s. If so, then you can count me out.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative, profitable and successful 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. 

It's a Confidence Game

Last week we briefly discussed the levels of intervention by governments in the banking business. There are estimates that over $22 trillion in support has been used in various quantitative easing programs and other forms of fed policy interventions. You would think that after almost seven years the problems that caused the great recession in 2008 would have passed by now. Why is there a continued high level of government involvement in the financial industry? I think that the confidence of the average person in the financial marketplace was shaken to the point where there was question to the viability of that marketplace. Were my investments safe? I can recall many people liquidating their portfolios and not trusting the integrity of the system itself. Restoring the confidence of the people in the viability of the system is the effect that the fed governor and their European and Japanese counterparts are trying to achieve.

We also hop in the car for a cross country trip every once in a while. Expect to fly to wherever as soon as possible. And see the seasons change with little thought to how we’ll keep warm and dry during the winter. We are confident people. And it is this confidence that provides us with the ability to experience high levels of Gross Domestic Product on an individual basis. Our quality of life is very good. And unlike in the banking industry nothing could happen to shake that confidence and put in jeopardy our way of life. Maybe it's in our nature to realize the downfall of our ways and means before we begin to appreciate them. That to solve problems proactively is unnecessary and subject to the whims of the ridiculous. I could certainly agree with that.

If it takes at least seven years and $22 trillion to fix the confidence in the banking system. And it doesn't seem that we are that close to declaring victory there. How long would it take if people lost confidence in the ability to rely on the oil and gas industry if those capabilities were suddenly removed and put into question. Would people be able to just carry on? Reduce their demands and proceed as they were? In California in the 1970’s we saw the successful implementation of gas rationing throughout that state. In a novel implementation, those with even numbered license plates were allowed gas on alternate days to those with odd numbered license plates. And except for the lines that were very long at the gas pumps, and the fact that those pumps were emptied relatively quickly each day, the rationing was a screaming success!

We should give a thought to our friends the bureaucrats in this scenario as well. What will the likelihood of abundant marine fuel be at the cabin? We saw last Wednesday half of Cenovus’ leadership team announced their retirement. Now I ask you, who would have thought that that might happen? Wholesale losses of the leadership team! Bureaucrats don't abandon ship when the going gets tough! I think we should expect to see the rush to the doors begin in earnest now. Who really wants to stick around and clean this mess up? If you note in the Cenovus press release there really are no replacements. No one to replace the Executive VP and COO of the firm. A coveted prize of the energy bureaucrat.

And those bureaucrats that are not ready to retire will be seeking their fortunes in other industries. You really can't quantify the level of inertia that is needed to overcome the bureaucracy in these producers and make the necessary changes. It saps the energy out of even the most ambitious. And that is why we need to start with a blank slate. Something like the Preliminary Specification where people can begin building the future of the industry so that we can confidently move forward in society.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative, profitable and successful 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. 

I Know, It's Ridiculous!

We have now entered the phase in which the bureaucracy have become untouchable. Annual report and annual general meeting season are over. Accountability is no more. As I mentioned the other day, thoughts move to the cabin and the pension benefits that will be earned over the next nine months of relative stress free living. Has anyone noticed that the level of discussion in the industry regarding the situation that it's in is non-existent! And isn't it odd that the “strength” in oil and gas prices seems to have abated. What to do? I guess one could join the crowded highways and enjoy the summer months with the bureaucrats. Or, depending on your point of view. That is if you agree with the points that I have made here before. And you are an investor in oil and gas, or are a potential user community participant there is much that we can do while the brain trust parties the summer away.

It is ridiculous to expect that our budget will be funded. Just as it is ridiculous to think that the bureaucrats will change and fix the problems in the industry. And just as ridiculous to think that the ridiculous tens of trillions of dollars of our value proposition will come about without the Preliminary Specification. And so here we sit and wait for that one unhappy individual that realizes that as ridiculous as all this is. Someone has to pull the trigger and fund these developments before it's too late. Too late being the bureaucracy find the pension benefits too healthy and the cabin too comfortable to bother with accounting for their actions three months of the year and retire. Then there will be no one and nothing in which to operate the industry. But that is a ridiculous assertion.

All of this doesn't seem too ridiculous to me. There are a large number of people who read these words each and every day. Some may be doing it for entertainment, others may agree with the ridiculous nature of the problem. In most cases they may be living with the difficulties in the oil and gas producers and know that there is a better way and see how the Preliminary Specification can help to solve those issues. They also know that their careers are not going anywhere with the status quo and are stuck in an unchanging environment that is unhealthy for all concerned. It is these people that the Preliminary Specification appeals to. And it is these people that I see as the potential market for the user community participant.

The banking crisis that we experienced in 2008 was evident to everyone, everywhere for many years. Watching house prices rise to levels that no sane person would want to participate in. Having mortgages for those houses being issued to people without full time work, or liar loans as they were called, and then having those mortgages “securitized” and sold to “willing” investors was a bad business model. Then they took it the level of creating synthetic derivatives of mortgages. And thats when people really began to make money. Anyway we all know the history and the fact that the banks are still not able to stand on their own without massive, unprecedented fed stimulus. Which has become about as normal as the summertime commute to the cabin.

The business model of the oil and gas producer is no longer functioning to provide any value to anyone. Except the bureaucrats. They need to keep full production to ensure that they can cover their salary, benefits, pensions and perks. Outside of that who cares what happens to the industry. The problem is that there is no fed to flood the market with deliverability if the oil and gas industry fails in the manner that the banks did in 2008. There is no “adult” supervision. There is only the energy that we depend on for everything that we are. But then again, in a very big way, that too is ridiculous.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative, profitable and successful 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. 

Our Solution Part XX

We have quickly gone through some of the highlights of the Preliminary Specification in this series called “Our Solution.” All of these blog posts can be aggregated by using the blog label PS-Solution. There are many other attributes of the Preliminary Specification. This list may best represent the attributes that I find are the most valuable to the oil and gas industry. The purpose in preparing this summary is to provide you with a better understanding of the Preliminary Specification and to encourage you to read the entire specification. I know it is rather long and people don't generally have an interest in the areas outside of their domain of knowledge. It is however somewhat necessary to get an understanding of the total specification to help you better understand how your domain fits within the bigger picture. At 175,000 words in the Preliminary Specification I know I am asking a lot however it will provide for a better user in the long run.

It may seem that we are several million light years away from becoming the manner in which the oil and gas industry operates. Now with annual report and annual general meeting season over. The ability to hold the bureaucrats accountable for their actions has once again ceased to be possible. Their window of opportunity to enjoy the cabin and count the value of their pensions provides a never ending level of satisfaction. This however does nothing for the profitability of the industry or deal with any of the issues that are certainly pressing. It is a “business as usual” situation in the oil and gas industry today. The looming financial disaster that the bureaucrats have engineered is well within sight of everyone in the industry. And their exit strategy from the industry at that time is well planned.

Therefore from our point of view this should be good news. However, I can't think of a more disastrous situation. The last time the bureaucracy cut and run, it was the government that had to step in to mitigate the situation. I personally think there is enough government involvement in business today, we don’t need more. When the bureaucracy does cut and run the capacities and capabilities of the industry will take a decided step downwards. This is not what we should have to experience. The bureaucracy should responsibly deal with their exit by putting their replacement in place and manage the industry until such time as they are not needed. Then again who said we live in a perfect world.

It is our responsibility therefore to be prepared to take over from the bureaucracy when they do decide to leave. We are working on having our budget provided to us in the January 2017 time frame. Until that time we are working on our key priority of developing the user community. It is the user communities development that is the difficult and time consuming element of our solution. It is also something that we can do without the benefit of our budget in place. I have therefore made it our priority in terms of our activities for the next number of years.

In terms of priority of your time and energy during this time. As a prospective user community participant. The understanding of the Preliminary Specification in its entirety, helps significantly in terms of understanding why some things need to be the way they are. Your understanding of how the user community fits within the industry, its role and significance. Particularly the power they hold in terms of change and enabling the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producer. Also the user communities participant in terms of their role in the service providers that will be developed to provide the administrative and accounting services to the oil and gas producers. It is this model that is fundamentally different than what exists today. We will be changing the makeup of the industry and it is the user community that is at the heart of the industry. These are significant business opportunities for those that can see their way into the manner in which the industry will operate. Both as a user community participant and as a service provider. It is that these two roles are filled by the key individual who is the user community participant and the principle behind the service provider.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative, profitable and successful 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. 

Our Solution Part XIX

One of the more controversial elements of the Preliminary Specification is the Marketplace Interface. It is here that we are introducing and developing a new interface in which the users in oil and gas will interact, transact, collaborate, agree, and associate themselves with other users, companies, producers, leaseholders, service providers, service industry representatives, banks and governments. The Marketplace Interface is a single interface that is accessible through the Petroleum Lease, Resource and Financial Marketplace modules. The Marketplace Interface will enable you to extend your domain of influence beyond the physical presence that is a current constraint to your working environment. It is an enhancement to the current means of communication through telephones, email, tweets, meetings etc. Avatars of individuals within the Marketplace Interface will enable these interactions in real time from any distance and provide the full power of an ERP system to support the transactions, interactions and collaborations that could occur.

Pretty silly, I know. Until you realize that you can’t get everyone to the meeting until next Wednesday at 3:00. And to do so will cause you to disrupt yours and others schedules significantly. If only there was a way to get everyone together right now so that we can decide on this critical point… Certainly telephones are not going to provide the documentary value and group participation of a meeting. The Marketplace Interface, operating within the three marketplace modules of the Preliminary Specification, combines elements of both meetings and telephones. The ability to have them quickly, documented and with the full participation of the necessary individuals will be the capabilities brought about by this new interface.

Everyone is tired of the extensive number of meetings that they need to attend daily or weekly. If only they could attend some of them virtually, which is what they would be able to do with the Marketplace Interface. Cutting down on the time in meetings, which would allow for, wait for it, more meetings! Which is going to be one of the consequences of implementing the Preliminary Specification in the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producers. With high levels of automation in the transaction areas being conducted by the service providers. Their use of specialization, the division of labor and automation as their key competitive advantage we have stated here many times before that the types of work that people will be doing is going to change. We will be conducting different tasks that include leadership, issue resolution, creative, collaboration, research, ideas, design, planning, thinking, and generally making the computers work for us. Or in other words, many more meetings.

If we believe that our work will continue to remain the same in terms of how we interact with people then I think we are going to need a lot more people. Either that or new methods of communication are going to be needed. The endless meetings will need to end. Maybe some of the attendees can instead review a video replay of the Marketplace Interface recording at twice the speed. Other methods of communication are going to be needed to be introduced into the way that we work if we are going to do the work of the humans and leave the work that is better suited to the computers, to the computers. Our volumes of work will increase. The types of work will change. And the importance of that work will also increase.

An ERP system that doesn’t introduce a new means in which to deal with these issues and opportunities is not doing its job. It is providing for yesterday’s ERP system needs. Our work is changing and the types of interfaces that we will use also needs to be changing. The Marketplace Interface is one of the opportunities that we will be using in the Preliminary Specification. It is based on the Open Wonderland framework developed by the former Sun Microsystems. Here is a video of the technology.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative, profitable and successful 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. 

Our Solution Part XVIII

In addition to a number of Joint Operating Committees. The dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producer will operate in a number of marketplaces within the oil and gas industry. The Preliminary Specification has three marketplace modules, the Petroleum Lease, Resource and Financial Marketplace modules. It is within these modules that the Preliminary Specification virtually replicates those markets.

Without a P&NG Lease, or a concession there is no title or ownership to the oil and gas that is produced. It is the marketplace of P&NG Leases that the North American oil and gas producer seeks to earn their profits by applying their earth science and engineering capabilities as competitive advantages. P&NG Leases can be bought and sold, traded, swapped, developed into a Joint Venture, pooled as some of the many possibilities within the North American marketplace. The constraints on a producer's creativity, of how they approach the business, is limited by the laws of Canada and the United States, and their earth science and engineering capabilities. The Petroleum Lease Marketplace will reflect the available opportunities that exist in the oil and gas market space. And also provide the means in which to manage those assets consistent with effective and efficient business practices.

To facilitate that creativity and business need the Preliminary Specifications Petroleum Lease Marketplace will need to accurately emulate that physical market space and all of its characteristics. So that the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producer can address the entire oil and gas market space and seek out their role within the industry. If it is to post some land, or bid. Buy some established production or pool an interest in a promising area. They will have the interfaces within the module to provide for the ability to participate in those markets.

The second marketplace module seeks to replicate what we have called the Resource Marketplace. This consists of the marketplace of human resources, service providers, service industry representatives and producers. The products and services that are made available to the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producer. Within this module producers will be able to find the interfaces to enable the engagement of the resources to conduct any and all activities within the industry. It is through this module that the producer will interact with the service providers. Which in turn enables the decentralized production model to be implemented as the business model for the industry. And therefore it is here that the flexibility in the producer's production deliverability is enabled. Automation of the processes between producers and others is an underlying assumption regarding the transactions that occur in the module.

Lastly there is the Financial Marketplace module. With the level of activity increasing in the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producer. The need to have its financial capabilities increase their velocity and throughput are necessary. As well, the alignment of the financial framework of the Joint Operating Committee to the compliance and governance framework is achieved in the Financial Marketplace module. Opening up the producer to new avenues of financing and greater capabilities in terms of their overall financial performance.

I'm really struggling to articulate the abstract definition of what these marketplace modules mean within the Preliminary Specification. These hold a special role in the software and will provide new ways in which the producers participate in these market spaces. As I stated in the beginning of this post; the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producer has an interest in many Joint Operating Committees and these three marketplaces.

The Preliminary Specification and user community provides the oil and gas producer with the most dynamic, innovative, profitable and successful 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 U.S. Memorial Day holiday.

No Posting Today

Bureaucrats can look forward to another day's pay and one day's vesting in their pensions.