Well That Was Unexpected

Some interesting thinking is being done over at Vox.EU.org for once. Not that they don’t always do good work. It’s just rare to find any thinking in oil and gas that doesn’t just parrot the “market rebalancing” theme. They state that “A very incomplete global mapping suggests a US shale oil share of no more than 17% of a huge geological wealth.” And that “The advancements in horizontal drilling and fracking can also be applied to conventional oil extraction.” Kind of puts the argument about “market rebalancing” into perspective doesn’t it? It also makes the entire discussion of current inventories of oil and gas on hand in the U.S., those numbers that are eagerly awaited each Wednesday and Thursday moot. If the world has these types of resources on hand I can state unequivocally the oil and gas industry will never be profitable. The cash drainage will continue unabated for the remainder of the century.

We are on a dead end street travelling at 300 mph with no brakes and the brick wall is well within sight. Does anyone have a different scenario that they can paint? Is there something behind the vision of “market rebalancing” that is not permeating my thick skull? What’s the plan? How do people participate in the oil and gas industry without having to destroy their life savings, their careers and everything else. Is there a pool of unintelligent investor's that is as deep and as wide as the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans that I am not aware of? Just exactly, in light of these facts that the world now has horizontal drilling and fracking, will the industry proceed?

Muddle along! Nothing to see here. That’ll be the response to these facts that speak to the futility of proceeding without the Preliminary Specification in place. Creative destruction is the only answer to how the industry is rebuilt, brick by brick and stick by stick. What exists today is too vested in the status quo and is unable to deal with the situation on the ground. They started losing money six years ago when the natural gas prices were affected by shale. Their losses began to significantly increase when oil too was affected by the abundance of oil from shale formations. These losses demanded cash to continue which caused the investors and bankers to pause. We are now in a phase where the market value of oil and gas properties are being diminished by the sheer volume of properties being made available for sale. Chesapeake dumping their prized Barnett shale assets for nothing. Just to get away from the cash drain. But let’s be honest, next week's inventories may be down from their record volumes.

Our plan enables the industry to refocus on energy independence on the North American continent. Something everyone, even investors and bankers, can dedicate themselves too. In an era where the resources are as abundant as they are, this sounds contrary to the reality that has been painted here. Natural gas is a continental price. And the volume of oil produced by the U.S. is material to the world demand and supply. We do control our own destiny in the oil and gas industry. This however, is only the case if the industry is profitable. And real profits, not those SEC induced accounting profits of the past four decades. What the industry needs to do is to adopt the production discipline that only profitable production is produced. Which is attainable through the Preliminary Specifications decentralized production model. Then and only then will the markets response attain its marginal prices. Until then we have these facts and these outcomes.

There is one material change as a result of the information from Vox.EU.org. And that is the market for People, Ideas & Objects Preliminary Specification is global and not just North America. We however are not contemplating that at this time. The issue in North America is the one we are focused on and are capable of dealing with. Maybe we will be able to deal with the others in the future. I am not going to do anything about that now, we have a job to do, let's get it done.

The Preliminary Specification, our user community and service providers provide the dynamic, innovative, accountable and profitable oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. Setting the foundation for North America’s energy independence. 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 Software Bug

I remember in the late 1990’s fibre optic cable was being laid everywhere by companies you never heard of and haven’t seen since. This was part of the .com boom and everyone and every company had to be on the Internet. For the past decade, the iPhone will soon be ten years old, it’s been phones and Apps. These devices have occupied more time than can be calculated. But you can see the boom that was brought about by this trend in Information Technology is waning too. So what’s next? Clearly, in my opinion, its ERP systems. Businesses have avoided the thought of doing another ERP integration, at least in oil and gas, for more than a decade. The word on the street is that ERP is the area that will build significant, quantum levels of value for a business by defining and supporting new business models. ERP systems are digitally disrupting businesses and are the next big trend in Information Technology. Everyone is getting into the game, even Google apparently.

People, Ideas & Objects value proposition certainly qualifies in terms of delivering quantum levels of value to the industry. We are still able to claim that we provide at least $25.7 to $45.7 trillion in incremental value over the next 25 years. A time when the industry will undertake the objective of energy independence on the continent based on the profitability of the producers and the service industry providers. We do this by implementing the ERP system that we call the Preliminary Specification. An eleven module oil and gas system design specifically for the issues that exist today, and the frameworks that form the industry. Enabling the Preliminary Specification to also provide the industry with the ability to deal with the issues and opportunities that we will face in these next 25 years.

These are not your grandfather's ERP systems. My two concerns right now are how do we get the user community to think. And once they begin to think, how do we get them to think faster. The speed of the industry's evolution and capabilities in terms of its throughput and innovativeness will be dependent on the quality of the organizations that makeup the industry. It’s not so much the case at the moment, but it will be in the very near future. The capabilities and throughput of the producer organizations will be dependent on the quality of the ERP software that these organization use. Today’s oil and gas ERP systems are the beginning of this trend. They are wholly incapable of dealing, or providing any solution to the issues and opportunities that the producer and industry are facing. They have locked, frozen and cemented the organization into an unchanging and unchangeable structure that has fundamentally failed their producer organizations. This is the new definition of a software bug.

One thing about Information Technology trends is that everyone wants to be part of one when the time comes. It’s early still, but we are looking for the leadership component that will be necessary to drive the changes needed in the oil and gas and service industries. Our user community participants are the only ones who can change the software. People, Ideas & Objects software developers are deaf, dumb and blind to all others. We only listen to our user community. It is the user community member who will form the service provider organizations that provide the process management to the industry when our software is operational. This is a significant business opportunity for the user community participant. These people will have the constant stream of part time revenues that they will earn as a result of their work in the user community. And they will also earn their business income from the service provider that they own and operate. This is the new ERP Information Technology trend and the digital disruption of oil and gas.

The Preliminary Specification, our user community and service providers provide the dynamic, innovative, accountable and profitable oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. Setting the foundation for North America’s energy independence. 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. 

Production Discipline

If the market for oil and gas properties has collapsed, which is inevitable, then the last source of cash to the producer has been withdrawn. The next step will be that we need to begin the difficult process of rebuilding the industry stick by stick, and brick by brick. Muddling through, hoping and waiting for the market to rebalance have destroyed everything. There is nothing of value left in which the industry can use to buy time and continue to do nothing. The need for action to remedy the oversupply and overproduction is the only concern that can be on the minds of anyone in the industry. The continued, sustained focus on rebuilding the industry over the short, mid and long term is the only thing that is going to get us through these next few years.

Back in the 1980’s and 1990’s we saw the producers continue with poor financial performance as a result of low oil prices. Gripping constantly about how bad the times were and the effect it had on their financial performance. It’s the only thing you heard. Quarter after quarter, year after year. Nothing was done, ever, to mitigate the overproduction issue then, and nothing has been done so far today. The one big difference between then and now is that it was only oil that suffered from oversupply and overproduction. Natural gas you could live off of. Today natural gas has been depressed for six years with no sign of any break in the difficulties. And oil is moving to its third year of overproduction with only gripping coming out of the producers.

This “muddling through” strategy as it is known in the industry is a strategy of leaving things alone to work themselves out. And we see its not working. As I stated yesterday it only provides value 25% of the time in the industry, the rest of the time it’s devastating to those who chose to participate in any form. I think we need a new approach. One that assumes that the energy that we produce in the 21st century, and the value that oil and gas provide the energy consumer. With its irreplaceability, and the fact that it can not be substituted for anything else. Should we therefore not ensure that we at least produce it profitably? And profitably from the point of view of considering all the costs. Not just the cash costs it takes to produce. The industry has been such a financial disaster for so long that it is managed on the basis of its cash costs. The actual, full costs are never considered because it’s in a state of crisis at all times.

Shale introduces the dichotomy that will permanently keep the industry on its knees. Producers will always pursue the greatest prize that they can. Shale delivers the reserves that make any producer want to earn that untapped fortune that lies in wait. Shale is very expensive which demands production. Shale production is prolific, like the reserves. Without production discipline across the industry, based on profitability, there will be no profitability for anyone. The only means to obtain production discipline is through adoption of People, Ideas & Objects Preliminary Specifications price maker strategy.

Along with our user community and the service providers we have a plan to deal with the oversupply and overproduction issues and begin the steps toward energy independence on the North American continent. Producers need to participate in that plan in order to survive. I am known for my bold statements. Participation in our plan, it is believed, would enable investors to see that the plan in place provides for the long term profitability of the producer and future expanded deliverability. Something that they are more than interested in participating in.

The Preliminary Specification, our user community and service providers provide the dynamic, innovative, accountable and profitable oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. Setting the foundation for North America’s energy independence. 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. 

Take It, It's Free

People should hurry! Chesapeake is giving away their crown jewels! Their Barnett Shale assets were offloaded just to relieve them of the costs of carrying them. I think we will begin to see more of this type of activity as we proceed down this rabbit hole. If it takes cash to produce, and the financial losses are as significant as they are today. Then the value of the assets are really nothing. Those who cherish their bloated balance sheets may be surprised by the fact that the market values their properties at much different valuations than what they’ve recorded them at. Markets and accounting are two different worlds. You need deep reservoirs of cash, strong investors and willing bankers to be in the oil and gas business. That way you can destroy all of them by producing the product.

World Oil reports that private banking is adopting our recommended strategy for their reentry into the oil and gas industry. And no, it's not that I think they’re listening. Purchasing properties on the marketplace at fire sale prices is the preferable strategy as it avoids the accumulated debt and previous equity issues of existing producers. Private equity can then own 100% of the property that they’ve purchased. They will however also have 100% of the cash drainage and losses. They therefore need to acquire the appropriate mechanism to manage those assets and that is the Preliminary Specifications decentralized production model with its price maker strategy.

This may be the beginning of the creative destruction that is needed to fix the oversupply and overproduction issues in the industry. Wipe out the old, non-functioning organizations and put in the new dynamic, innovative, accountable and profitable oil and gas producer. Enabling them to operate with the Preliminary Specification, our user community and the service providers. That way there would never be these periods of destruction that are so common in oil and gas. When did it become acceptable that this level of destruction could occur? This would never be accepted in any other industry. Money is destroyed, people’s careers are destroyed and that is just accepted as part of the normal course of business. That attitude should never exist.

We saw a big bump in the price of oil last week as the Saudi’s made rumblings about a meeting, and as I heard it on Bloomberg, “issued a very official looking press release.” That a meeting will take place in September regarding the price of oil and a possible production freeze. Immediately, like the bright shiny object that it is, it drew everyone in the industry's attention away from the problems. The key point that I think the Saudi’s want the North American producer to learn from these episodes. Which seem to occur with a regularity that I find comical. Is that oil prices do respond to the belief that there will be a change in the market supply of oil. North American producers all sit up at attention when the Saudi’s make some noise about production cuts, why don’t the North American producers learn that if they cut production too, prices would likewise respond.

I have been looking for a signalling event that reflects the time in which the industry entered the point of no return. The time when the industry began its transformation to the new dynamic, innovative, accountable and profitable industry. I think Chesapeake dumping their Barnett Shale assets for nothing is that signalling event. That is the point that will stand out in people’s minds that things began to change. Just as Chesapeake was such a critical part of the development of shale.

People, Ideas & Objects have a plan on how to deal with the oversupply and overproduction issues in oil and gas. It is the Preliminary Specification. Our price maker strategy ensures that any production from the continent will be profitable production. Eliminating these destructive periods that seem to occupy 75% of the time in the industry. I’ve been in the industry for 39 years and it's been “good times” for maybe a decade in total. Scattered about during that time for a year or two here and there. I’ve yet to see a producer firm succeed outside of the integrated producers over the long term. A producer has a shelf life of ten to fifteen years and then it's done. It shouldn’t be this way, it doesn’t have to be this way, if I have my way it won’t be this way.

The Preliminary Specification, our user community and service providers provide the dynamic, innovative, accountable and profitable oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. Setting the foundation for North America’s energy independence. 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 Detailed Plan

Instead of letting my frustration get the better part of me. Today I’m going to detail People, Ideas & Objects plan and how it is the dynamic, innovative, accountable and profitable oil and gas producer will be able to benefit by subscribing to it in this the third quarter of 2016. My frustration comes about from wanting to solve the problem in the industry today. It is what I’ve been working on for a long time and I think that most people can understand that now is the time that it’s necessary. Forgive me for being human. We are very close to the beginning of the developments of this dynamic change in the industry. My impatience is getting the better of me.

I am of the opinion that producers are in need of some action to deal with the current industry wide situation. That this is a dire crisis that threatens the industry in ways we don’t understand or appreciate at this time. Capital is being withheld from the industry by the investors and bankers as a result of this crisis. In order to secure any capital in the short term, I believe that producers need a plan that deals with this crisis and sets the industry on the road to profitable energy independence on the North American continent. This requires a cultural shift in many of the ways the industry conducts its business. These changes are detailed below. If producers did subscribe to People, Ideas & Objects Preliminary Specification in the third quarter of 2016, by paying 10% of the subscription fee, then they would be able to state that they are part of an industry based plan in their third quarter report. Would this subscription then see investors and bankers return to those subscribing producers on the basis of their willingness to participate in achieving profitable energy independence? I know that doing nothing won’t bring them back.

How we provide the dynamic, innovative, accountable and profitable producer with this is through our price maker strategy which involves the decentralized production model of the Preliminary Specification. What we do first of all is reorganize the producer firm and the industry overall. The producer becomes a stripped down version of its current configuration. Where the C class executives, earth science and engineering resources, land and legal, and some support staff make up the configuration of the producer. This enables them to focus on their competitive advantages of their earth science and engineering capabilities, and land and asset base. The administrative and accounting resources are reallocated to service providers who focus on one process and have the entire industry as their client base for that process. This enables them to focus on their key competitive advantages of specialization, division of labor, automation, innovation and quality.

The Preliminary Specification uses the Joint Operating Committee as the key organizational construct of the dynamic, innovative, accountable and profitable oil and gas producer. It is the legal, financial, operational decision making, cultural, communication, innovation and strategic framework throughout the industry. The Preliminary Specification moves the compliance and governance frameworks of the hierarchy into alignment with the seven frameworks of the Joint Operating Committee to provide the speed, innovativeness, accountability and profitability that we desire in our organizations.

The service provider will process the work that they do on behalf of the Joint Operating Committee, not the operator. Billing the specific property represented in that Joint Operating Committee. Therefore when the Production or Revenue accountant bills for their services they charge the specific property. The key here is that we have shifted the fixed administrative and accounting costs of each producer to the variable administrative and accounting costs of the industry. Therefore if the property was shut-in due to it being unprofitable. There would be no revenues, royalties, operating costs, or administrative costs. A “null” operation would occur. No profit, but also no loss. Increasing the producers overall profitability by not diluting it with unprofitable properties. Saving the reserves of the unprofitable properties for a time when they can be produced profitably. And removing the unprofitable production from the commodity markets enabling them to seek their overall marginal cost.

What the Preliminary Specification does is move the cost control of the administrative and accounting costs from the producers to the service providers. It is there that at any time they may see a drop of 10 - 15% of their revenues as a result of the industries shut-in inventory of properties. Something that they can budget for on an annual basis.

In a world with high cost and prolific shale. Oil and gas commodities markets will always be overwhelmed as a result of the lack of production discipline in the manner in which the industry is currently operated. People, Ideas & Objects method brings about a solution to the oversupply and overproduction that are plaguing the oil and gas commodity prices today. By simply removing the unprofitable production from the marketplace. A reasonable approach to business. It is however, not collusion as the decisions to shut-in a well is based on the actual, factual accounting of the properties profitability. It is what’s in the producer's best interest to maximize their profitability.

The Preliminary Specification also provides a solution to the resource constraints of the engineers and geologists in the mid to long term. It is a solution that is timely for today’s concerns and is ready for the producers to subscribe to its development. Enabling them to refocus on the task of profitable energy independence.

The Preliminary Specification, our user community and service providers provide the dynamic, innovative, accountable and profitable oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. Setting the foundation for North America’s energy independence. 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. 

Third Friday Off

No posting today.

A Frustrated Diatribe

All the latent value that had been built up in the oil and gas industry over the past decades has now been thrown at the oversupply and overproduction issues. “Hope” appears to be the current solution to the issues throughout the industry. This is also the situation we find ourselves in as People, Ideas & Objects Preliminary Specification is considered to be collusion in the marketplace. And to avoid any appearance of collusion the producers will ensure that they run the industry into the ground. It speaks poorly of the producers that they haven’t the business understanding to see their way through our price maker strategy. Price maker is a technical term in economics. It refers to the characteristics of certain products price behavior in the marketplace. Oil and gas commodities are price makers. Therefore having a strategy that uses that knowledge would be valid for an oil and gas producer. That is what the Preliminary Specification does. It enables the producer to make their own individual, independent decisions at each property based on an actual, detailed accounting of the properties profitability. If it is profitable it produces. If it isn’t, the property is shut-in. In a world where shale exists that is the only way in which we’re going to get out of this difficulty. In order to implement this solution requires the Preliminary Specification.

If we are to believe that anything is going to get us out of this mess. That solution is going to have to be a fully researched and a solid, thought out framework. The business model of the Preliminary Specification achieves that. It is the result of ten years of research based on using the Joint Operating Committee as the key organizational construct of the dynamic, innovative, accountable and profitable oil and gas producer. It is ready to go and ready to solve the issues of the day. To come up with an alternative that resolves the issues in today’s marketplace would take at least as long and the producers do not have that time. If it is, as I suspect, that the rumors and opinions of those in the industry that the Preliminary Specification is collusion. This conclusion is based on a lack of knowledge. Producers don’t have the time or the means to be delayed in the pursuit of their financial health. False conclusions only delay the adoption of the only solution that is available to the producers. And it doesn’t involve collusion.

The amount of value that is being destroyed on a daily basis makes this catastrophe the most serious issue the oil and gas industry has ever faced. There is no residual value left in the North American producers at this time. It has been consumed by the inane accounting methodology of the SEC that creates this situation. Shale exacerbates the issue into an unresolvable one that can’t be “muddled through.” To assume the Preliminary Specification is collusion, which can only be done through rumor and innuendo, is to short circuit the only solution to the greatest issue the industry has ever faced. People need to wake up and at least read the Preamble.

Shale will always overwhelm the marketplace until the producers obtain production discipline through the use of the price maker strategy of the Preliminary Specification. It is as simple as that. Proof of that is the six years the natural gas marketplace has been depressed by shale gas volumes. It is these shale gas volumes that have also had an impact on the global price of natural gas. Until oil and gas producers move away from the high throughput production model that seeks full production to cover the high cost overhead of their operation. And move to the decentralized production model of the Preliminary Specification where costs more accurately match revenues. Then the industry will remain in the state that it’s in.

My frustration level is through the roof on this. This conclusion that we are colluding means more delays in terms of our project moving forward and the industry can’t afford that time delay. All because someone said something or other about collusion. Where are the rational cool thinkers in the industry who have the decision making power to proceed? Are there any, and if so, what are they doing? It’s time to act, it should be a foregone conclusion that at some point in the near future industry must move towards the Preliminary Specification. What is the alternative?

My reading of the financial statements for the second quarter is that there is a dire situation in the industry. One that if it is unaddressed in the current quarter, significant destruction of the industries capabilities and our capacities will occur in the immediate short term. I believe that the only way in which we can avoid this further destruction is for the industry to receive the capital that is necessary to proceed in its normal course. To do that requires that industry has a plan. A plan to adopt energy independence on the continent. To do so would require the current production base to become profitable and then secondly address the resource constraints in the mid to long term supply of engineers and geologists. Then by having those two elements in place the industry could increase its throughput and move on to profitable energy independence. Seeing this plan the investors and bankers would support the industry and enable it to achieve its goals. That plan is the Preliminary Specification. Otherwise, I think we face a dark future.

The Preliminary Specification, our user community and service providers provide the dynamic, innovative, accountable and profitable oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. Setting the foundation for North America’s energy independence. 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. 

Making Oil and Gas Business Decisions

Being on the wrong side of a cash draining organization, I know a few things about them. I guess the one thing that most people understand is the characteristic that momentum seems to build against you and the pit only gets deeper. The cash drain in oil and gas is epic at this time. All of the value that had been built up over the past few decades has been thrown at the problem in order to try to rectify it. Nothing worked. Now the cash drain has nothing left to consume, we have hit the proverbial brick wall in oil and gas. This will get interesting.

But it doesn’t have to. There is a plan that the industry can undertake to pursue profitable energy independence on the continent. All they have to do is subscribe to the Preliminary Specification and we’re on that path. Investors and bankers might want to be involved in that restructuring of the industry and help those producers in achieving their goals. After all that is their role in life. Sitting as the industry is now with the belief that all is well is not fooling anyone with more than a few dollars in life savings. It is clear in reading the second quarter reports that any money provided to these producer organizations will be incinerated in these black holes. It truly is devastating to read them.

I stopped cold calling CEO’s and CFO’s last week as no one was returning my calls. Not that I expected them to but I had to do something. Other than through this blog and our wiki, our message is not being distributed to those decision makers, as far as I know. I “believe” and I “feel” like something is going on. Something that is completely unknown to me. Maybe it's just the belief that these organizations do not have any viable plan to exist much longer. I think that It might also be the rumour that the Preliminary Specification involves collusion has caused this pause in interest.

The road to bankruptcy is not going to provide any producer with any value. In bankruptcy the producers will not be any better off. The judge may approve loans to the producer on favourable terms which is what they do. However, that is when the individual bankruptee needs to be rehabilitated as a result of poor performance through the poor actions of the people involved. As we noted the other day, this is an industry wide problem where the collective effects of other producers impact the bankrupt producer. Loaning more money to an individual bankrupt producer doesn’t mitigate the issues. Banks see that, and their staying away now, just because a judge has granted favourable terms doesn’t mean anything to the banker.

Therefore the unsolvable problem will continue for as long as the producers insist on not accepting the Preliminary Specification as the solution. Persistence is a beneficial characteristic in business. And these producers may be insisting that the Preliminary Specifications price maker strategy is collusion. As I indicate in the Preamble, it’s not collusion. When independent, individual decisions are made to produce or shut-in an individual property. And those decisions are based on a detailed, actual accounting of the property. That is what is called a “business decision.” Something that the producers are missing out on in the industry today. Collusion is when people work within markets themselves to affect prices. The fact that many in the industry think our price maker strategy is collusion shows you the level of discussion of business in the industry today and why we are in the state that we are in.

Continuing on to the third quarter without addressing this financial catastrophe. With natural gas storage potentially being filled just as they were reporting their third quarter results. With oil prices well below what is necessary to cover the cash costs to produce, that scenario is not an option. This would not be the responsible choice for managements to make. That is my opinion. And it can be taken with everyone else’s opinion these days. It seems everyone has an opinion on everything today. The fact is the Preliminary Specification is derived from ten years of research, not opinions. To glance over it on the basis of someone’s rumoured opinion that it is collusion is what passes for comprehensive debate in oil and gas. Instead of facing the music in the third quarter, those that should know should pass on the rumours and cheap opinions and instead read the results of the research. That’s how business decisions can be made.

The Preliminary Specification, our user community and service providers provide the dynamic, innovative, accountable and profitable oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. Setting the foundation for North America’s energy independence. 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.

Right Solution, Right Time, Right Size

There are only a few producers left to publish their second quarter reports. It’s fair to generalize at this time and to state that this is a disaster, no question about it. Reading some of the text of these reports you would think that all is well and it’s business as usual. However, I read in their financial statements that they don’t reflect a viable going concern. Something desperately needs to be done in order to recapitalize and rehabilitate these firms. No one is going to do that without having some understanding of what changes are going to be made to ensure that “this” doesn’t continue. Saying all is well when the industry is in this condition only scares people even more. If you truly don’t see the depth of the difficulties that we are in then we will have more than just the oil and gas industry spiral downwards.

World Oil reports that the debt of the majors has doubled since late 2014. They report that it is at $138 billion, up from $13 billion in 2008 when oil prices were $150. Proof that the energy consumer is being subsidized by investors and bankers. When you’ve been reporting profits from 2008 to 2016 why would your debt balloon ten fold? The simple answer is the accounting that the SEC dictates for oil and gas is inappropriate and it leads to these kinds of distortions. First, this accounting makes it appear that everyone and anyone is profitable. Leading to an overinvestment in the industry. Overinvestment leads to overproduction. This overproduction has collapsed the prices of the commodities. And it was the investors and bankers who until recently supported the producers cash demands, in effect subsidizing the consumers for their energy consumption. The ten fold increase in the Majors debt over the past 8 years is proof of this. They should have received additional revenues of over $138 billion during that time to offset the cash shortfall that they did realize from the low commodity prices. Thier accounting only reflects this after the fact, across the industry in the form of low cash balances in the juniors and intermediates, and high debt levels in the Majors, after investors and bankers refuse any further involvement.

“That giant sucking sound” to quote H. Ross Perot is the investor's cash being vacuumed by this crappy accounting methodology. What we are finally seeing after decades of this is that no one was really earning any money. After all that time we finally have exhausted all of the value that was built up in the industry. And now it stands with nothing. No cash. No working capital. No line of credit. No credit facilities. No willing investors. No profitable operations. No operations that don’t require cash. The entire infrastructure of the North American oil and gas industry is worth $0.02 because it will only drag anyone down with it. And some producers say its sunshine and rainbows? A critical review of the situation is what is needed and urgently.

Many of the producers that I saw were the walking dead. Many. Operations are consuming cash in almost every instance. How is it that producers are claiming they are profitable at $48 or at anything? Only Shell and Exxon reported profits and other than the majors no producer was generating cash from operations. Does anyone see how difficult a situation this is? You have no cash. And producing consumes cash. But if you stop producing the cash consumption will rise significantly leading to a worse situation. So you produce more, leading to further commodity price declines. Many producers had run out of cash and were using the service industry to fund them through accounts payable. Others too were using their working interest partners share to fund them.

Here’s the plan. For the third quarter reports the producers say they have a plan to deal with the situation. The plan is the Preliminary Specification which deals specifically with these problems that are plaguing the producers today. It's not only the right solution at the right time, it is the appropriately sized solution for the scope of the problem. When I published the budget two and half years ago I took a lot of flack for such a “ridiculously high priced software development.” Odd but it seems to be the right sized solution to the problem at hand doesn’t it. By having this plan in hand the producers are able to state that they are a viable going concern, with a real profitable future. One which sees the North American continent become profitably energy independent. Something that investors can get behind and help to build. All the produces have to do is to subscribe to the Preliminary Specification and just send cash.

The Preliminary Specification, our user community and service providers provide the dynamic, innovative, accountable and profitable oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. Setting the foundation for North America’s energy independence. 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. 

Leaders Wanted

We begin another week with anticipation that “something” regarding the commencement of our development may be happening in the industry. That producers “may” be doing something about the issues that plague them. Whether there is or not is completely unknown to us at this time. However, this initiative is best served by moving forward as if there was. Our plan involves producers moving towards the objective of profitable energy independence on the continent through development of the Preliminary Specification. We need to move this industry onto a stronger financial footing where it can be the dynamic, innovative, accountable and profitable industry it needs to be for a prosperous society. We have a natural opening, in terms of time, to begin developments in September. I hope that it’s 2016.

In anticipation of that I am reiterating that we are currently looking for a CFO for People, Ideas & Objects. I’m not going to define the job in this post as most of those that would be interested can determine what the job would entail. The budgeted costs are significant for a startup and we need to start from scratch. That tells you what you need to know. If you’re interested in this position please call me or email at the information below. We will also be looking for our COO who will be heading up the software development of the Preliminary Specification. As with the CFO I’m not going to go into details and you should contact me if you have an interest. Both of these positions will be located in Houston.

We have a long list of positions that we need to fill in the user community organization. From the board of directors, the C suite and our product owners, we are looking for almost 30 people to head up that organization. The product owners are unique in the development of our software. There will be one product owner each for approximately 20 different elements of the software. One for each of the modules of the Preliminary Specification, the user interface, data etc. The product owners are responsible for their product and represent the users to the People, Ideas & Objects developers. Our users will certainly be interacting with our developers, what the product owners will be doing is prioritizing and focusing the developers on the appropriate areas of concern. Ensuring that the overall product is complete and correct. They are leading the users in terms of the development of their area.

These positions make up the leadership team for the development of this software. We are looking to fill all of them as soon as possible. These positions are open to those that have an interest in the development that we are doing and are appropriately qualified. Development of the user community is ongoing and we are looking to secure the numbers that we want to ensure that the applications that we deliver have the product quality that are necessary. This user community has been determined to be 3,000 part time user community participants representing all of the different elements of the oil and gas, and service industries. Once we have these numbers organized we will then be able to commence the software developments of the Preliminary Specification.

In the meantime, anticipating that we are moving forward, we will introduce ourselves to Oracle. Making them aware of the issues and opportunities in the oil and gas industry. Oracle makes up one third of the costs of our budget and we expect that, based on the design of the Preliminary Specification, using their technologies will provide us with a unique competitive advantage, quality in our product offering, mitigate the technical risks associated with the industry's movement to this initiative and overall success. I’m sure they’ll be happy to see us.

I do want to restate something that is in the back of my mind. I hope that people are reading and understanding the entire Preliminary Specification. Understanding your domain is important. It’s familiar and I can understand why someone would focus on that. However an oil and gas producer is an integrated organization with many different parts. Each having a dynamic effect on all the others. Particularly when we use the Joint Operating Committee which is the legal, financial, operational decision making, cultural, communication, innovation and strategic framework of the industry. Knowing only one part of the whole may lead to problems and impact the quality of our product offering if we don’t understand the reasons that others may want or need to have something done differently than what we expect. Understanding others perspective can be helpful, and this can be mitigated by the users ensuring they have a substantially rounded and comprehensive understanding of the Preliminary Specification.

The Preliminary Specification, our user community and service providers provide the dynamic, innovative, accountable and profitable oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. Setting the foundation for North America’s energy independence. 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.