Our Oil and Gas White Paper, Part III
Over the past number of decades the producers have relied on what they called “market rebalancing” to deal with their overproduction of oil or gas. Relying on this mechanism requires no effort, other than the few calories it takes to mouth the words. It is a critical and successful element of the “do nothing” operating procedure used by all oil and gas companies. In other words, just wait until the production profile of the industry atrophies to the point where it meets demand. It is the willful destruction of the productive capacity of the industry. A policy that is as foolish as “profitability isn’t what producers seek.” Or maybe I have that backwards, I can never remember which one is the least intelligent of the two. We also find throughout North America oil and gas CEO’s providing financial resources and verbal support to any and all the ludicrous environmental issues that will see the elimination of oil and gas from the market place before we all die in as little as twelve years. This is where the backbone of the industry begins to sag precipitously. Logistical and political issues are the key difficulties of the oil and gas CEO. These are all derivative of the environmental causes they parrot willingly. They accept that there are no pipelines for their overproduction and will accept commodity price differentials that take 90% of their revenues. “Their value is in the oil and gas reserves they hold in the ground!” This is not a business it’s a science experiment! As long as there was investor money and there is someone to blame for their difficulties, that is all that matters.
The Elementary school kids are terrified that we’re destroying the planet for them and they won’t graduate high school as a result, they and the planet will be dead. What has become almost certain imminent demise in the next decade is believed by most people, yet no one acts. And where is the adult argument being put across by the oil and gas producers? There is none, and that is wholly consistent with the “muddle along and do nothing” point of view. This imminent environmental armageddon is a foolish thing to believe for an oil and gas producer, and an irresponsible approach for their role in society. What will they do when the demand for energy increases, point to the environment movement and say that “we thought we were all dead.” Or “where is the wind and solar that was the replacement.” This is the quality and depth of thinking that has been exhibited in oil and gas for four decades. If you find my writing too sarcastic I’m sorry, it's the only way that I can deal with the frustration of having to watch so much destruction occur across the industry while having what I believe to be the solution at the ready. “If demand for energy doubles in the future we’ll just get the money we need from investors and bankers. We know how to do it, the reserves are all in the ground.” The nature of oil and gas today.
Producers and the industry need to begin to assert their point of view in the discussion. Yes, there could be environmental consequences of the consumers use of hydrocarbons. Nonetheless the consumers can’t live without hydrocarbons and their need for them in the future is far greater than what it is today. Wind and solar as a replacement are as big a myth as the myths regarding the environment. We’ll discuss that more clearly in this position paper next. Producers drill wells. They leave everything else in the business to others. Pipelines are regulated companies that install the pipelines. They are the focus of environmentalist who receive financial and verbal support from the producers. The environmentalists actively demonstrate and obstruct the process to the point where it’s difficult for pipeline companies to get pipelines put in place. This as far as the producers in the oil and gas industry are concerned is the government's fault. What producers have done is handed a financially, logistical and politically complex and difficult bureaucratic process over to a regulated bureaucracy in the pipeline companies, to seek approval from the ultimate bureaucracy, the government. Producers leadership and management of the pipeline process is complete once the checks to Greenpeace are mailed.
What they need to be doing is informing the consumers of the choices they have to make. Accept that the environmentalists are right and start hiking to the outback. Or, understand that each barrel of oil equivalent has the mechanical leverage of 23,200 man hours of labor. I ran the calculation that states the annual global output of oil and gas is therefore equivalent to the output of 76 times the world's population. If consumers want to rely on alternative means of energy then there will be a wholesale downward swing in industrial capacity than what oil and gas provides today. Without oil and gas there is probably 95% overpopulation and the quality of life would be prehistoric. So let's keep scaring the kids because they are the thought leaders in society today, we know it’s not the producers. But that is the point of the exercise isn’t it. If the producers accept the children's concern for the planet then they’re absolved of the responsibility to ensure that oil and gas is provided for the future. If they find that they’re unable to provide for the demand they’ll be able to point to the children and say they thought they were serious and there was no reason not to believe the children.
We see the consequences, particularly here in Canada, when our primary industries are not profitable. The carry on effects down through the secondary and tertiary industries is highly detrimental, and the general economy suffers as a result of the lack of growth and investment. You have to remember though that this is the declared strategy of the producers to “muddle along, do nothing and rebalance markets.” Which is as we discussed the willful destruction of the productive capacity of the industry. We are one fifth of the way through the 21st century and we have an industry that fundamentally believes that there are good days and bad days. When the bad days arrive, that’s when you shrug your shoulders. To effectively manage the business beyond the ups and downs of the commodity price cycle takes a lot of effort and work. Something we’ve seen no signs of in the past four decades. The capacity to spend money, blame others and shuffle the rest into your own pocket are the only strategic competitive advantages of today’s oil and gas bureaucrat! There are lessons on these topics held at each producer every day.
The Preliminary Specification, our user community and service providers provide for a dynamic, innovative, accountable and profitable oil and gas industry with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. Setting the foundation for profitable North American energy independence. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in our future Initial Coin Offering (ICO) that will fund these user defined software developments. It is through the process of issuing our ICO that we are leading the way in which creative destruction can be implemented within the oil and gas industry. 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.