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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How We Implement the Preliminary Specification

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Interactive Nature of User Community Participants and Service Providers

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

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

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

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

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

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

The User Communities Ability to Deliver Profits

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oracle's OpenWorld 2014 Conference and Our User Community

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

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

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

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

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

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

Its Been a Good Week!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How the User Community Exercises Its Power

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Changes Needed in You, the User

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Comment on the Economy

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

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

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

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

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

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

Two Good Examples

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Change at Oracle Corporation

News regarding Oracle’s CEO Larry Ellison stepping down from the CEO role came after the close of yesterday’s trading. At 70 years of age some are saying that the time has come for him to take a lesser role in the company. Replacing him as CEO will be Safra Catz and Mark Hurd who have been part of the team at Oracle for many years. Many of the pundits seem to be jumping on the poor financial performance of Oracle in the past few years and attributing that to Mr. Ellison. This announcement coming at the same time as the news that Oracle missed analysts estimates for the quarter in a material way. I expect that the piling on of the industry leaders and others to continue, Larry hasn't made many friends in the days of building Oracle. I too have been at the losing end of some of his antics back in February of 1997. However, I think that what the analysts, the pundits and everyone else will be wrong about is that Larry is doing nothing close to stepping aside. I think they are very wrong and unless there is more information regarding his health or other issues, I think it is fair to assume the following.

Larry Ellison is a visionary. He is the fifth wealthiest man on the planet based on his skills of implementing his vision. Oracle’s technologies are miles ahead of anyone elses in the marketplace. The breadth of offerings is fully diversified in the hardware, software and services domains. Oracle is the IBM of the 1950’s and 1960’s. There are no others that can play the game that they are in. Its just that the game is not being played at this time. People are comparing the financial performance of the firm against the other “cloud” companies such as Salesforce and Workday. I think Oracle is looking to compete in the marketplace that is defined in the Preliminary Specification, the user community and the service providers. Where industries are being disintermediated by technology and looking for the entire technology stack to be provided by one solutions provider.

Oracle has invested $50 billion on over 100 acquisitions over the past decade. They have also invested massive resources in terms of research and development based on Larry’s vision. The products are there, I can see them, and they make me want so badly to get to them. What is needed is to take these disparate products and package them into a coherent single unified message and market that to industries on the basis of what could be. Much as what we are doing here for oil and gas at People, Ideas & Objects. Technically Oracle has the opportunity to provide the hardware, software and related services to the commercial world. Just as IBM did in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Who is going to stop them. And who is going to provide that infrastructure to those industries in the next decade?

IBM’s technology isn't there anymore. They sell very little hardware and the software they do sell is Linux based. Not even their own proprietary operating system. DB2 was a challenger in the database in the past, but can’t hold a candle to Oracle in the distributed computing world. And Oracle was dominant there a decade ago. Sybase is a SAP technology, which is an ERP system, and only an ERP company. HP is on life support. Dell is restructuring. Most of IBM is Lenovo which is Chinese, and therefore government. Where exactly is the competition to Oracle’s unified, diversified, integrated, hardware, software and services offering going to come from? There is no choice. And anyone will need at least two decades to catch up to Larry Ellison's current position.

I’m sure Larry Ellison is frustrated with the impatience of his investors. He still holds 25% of the company and would like to see the developments happen quicker too. He however has seen his impatience get the better of him in the past. He still pays dearly for his attack on his partners in February of 1997. I wasn't the only one. He has been moved to the Executive Chairman position which means he’s still full time. And he is also now the Chief Technology Officer. So maybe it is his chief responsibility to make a coherent message of this broad product range. I see this as removing the constraints of being a CEO and enabling him to focus on where he builds the most value. On developing the overall vision and delivering the products of the firm.

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

There is a Precedent

There is a precedent where the investment community was able to pressure the bureaucracy to change their business model to one that was more amenable to the interests of the investment community. This is the strategy that People, Ideas & Objects are employing in having the Preliminary Specification, the user community and service providers implemented within the North American marketplace. Our business models value proposition provides trillions of dollars in incremental profits to the investors if the producers change their business model to the Preliminary Specification. This strategy on the surface seems to be a chance in a million that will never have the desired effect. However, there is one pertinent example that is directly on point and occurred in the 21st century. It is the Canadian Royalty Trust example.

Royalty Trusts were enabled in Canada through tax legislation in a number of administrations. It was felt that it provided a means for smaller oil and gas companies to provide their investors with a means to recapture their investments from the oil and gas producer in a safer and quicker fashion. This involved the Royalty Trust declaring monthly dividends to the investors that represented a taxable income to the investor. Essentially the producer firm was not having to pay income tax or what is commonly believed to be the double taxation normally associated with the traditional corporate model. In the early part of this century the pressure to convert your organization into a royalty trust was quite strong. And if the firm did convert, the results were that you would receive a higher stock market valuation and greater access to capital. Those that resisted were treated poorly by the investment community by way of receiving little attention in terms of new capital investment.

The trend therefore became quite strong to convert to a Royalty Trust in Canada. The pressure then grew to the intermediate producers with the majority of them converting. Then it became fashionable to employ the business model outside of the oil and gas arena and other industries began actively pursuing this corporate model. It wasn't too long afterward that even large producers were contemplating the conversion to a trust model, and even large corporations outside of the oil and gas industry began converting. It was at that time the Canadian government stepped in and announced an end to the tax legislation defining and supporting the Canadian Royalty Trust model. Effective as of 2011 all active Royalty Trusts have had to convert back to regular tax paying corporations. This was done by the Federal government to mitigate the large and growing loss in their corporate tax base.

Here we have an example of the ability of the investment community directly pressuring the organization to make the necessary changes to affect their business model. If they didn’t make the changes then the producer was somewhat ostracised in their ability to raise capital in the investment community, and their valuations were encumbered by the premium that was attached to the Royalty Trust model. In the financial investment community you have to compete. By opting out of the Royalty Trust model you essentially stated that you would not compete for capital.

We can, and we are implementing this same strategy. The investor can state that they want their producer firm to implement the Preliminary Specification in order to provide for the most dynamic, innovative, and profitable means of oil and gas operations. The material affect of our value proposition is significantly more pronounced than it is in the Royalty Trust business model. We provide real value increases, not just a minor reduction in the taxes that would otherwise be paid. As each individual producer converts to the Preliminary Specification. A conversion that is done by simply paying their share of our development costs and issuing a press release stating that they have done so. It will be at that point that the investor will begin to see the benefits of the pressure that they put on the producer through the fact that the valuation of the producer firm will have been adjusted to reflect the new realities. Then the pressure will build on the other producers to convert to the Preliminary Specification as well.

The decision to support People, Ideas & Objects in January 2017 doesn't seem to far away, nor as impossible now. Investors do have power to make the changes that we are asking of them. And we will continue to appeal to them to make these changes at their producer firms.

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

Who Will Work Within the User Community

Its true that not everyone will qualify to work within the user community. This applies to both the leadership team as well as the general community. We will be looking for certain individuals that are unique in their skills and understanding of the oil and gas industry. That is a given. And the diversity of those skills will make up the entire scope of the oil and gas industries administrative and accounting needs. It is these skills and understanding that are the primary concern that need to be addressed in the work that is done by the user community. The ability to analytically breakdown the processes and design new effective ones that are consistent with the Preliminary Specification is not something that will be easily done. That is why we have costed this work in our budget at the $195.00 / hour rate for the user communities participants. We are looking for people of that calibre.

As I noted the primary concern is that the user community participant be trained and experienced in the disciplines that fall within the administrative and accounting areas of oil and gas. However, we expect that there will be a strong element of Information Technology aptitude that will be inherent in their skill set. Particularly in the two areas we have mentioned before of relational databases and Java. Having a good working knowledge of these technologies, on top of your current skills, will make the design and development of the software, which will be your job after all in the user community, that much easier and better. The importance of this IT aptitude will make a significant difference in the quality of the People, Ideas & Objects Preliminary Specification in many different ways.

First it will permit you to better understand the issues and opportunities that the technology provides. What is possible to you as a result of the Oracle database, its deployment in a cloud computing environment and Java from a conceptual level offer interesting new perspectives and dimensions in ERP software. To add these to your tool kit and be able to employ them, either to use them as a service provider, or to ensure that the producers who use them are provided with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations, should be of concern to all within the community.

Secondly your ability to communicate with the People, Ideas & Objects developers in their primary skill set will be necessary to enhance the communications between yourself and them. It is easier for you to understand the elements of these concepts in relational theory and Java then it is for them to comprehend the full understanding of the oil and gas industry which is represented in the entire user community. Therefore to enhance the communications between the developers and the user community it is by far the easiest for the user community to speak the language of the developers. As there is no way in which the developers are ever going to understand fully the scope and scale of the oil and gas industry which is contained in the entire user community.

This understanding of the technology may take three or four university level courses in order to acquire the type of understanding that I think is necessary. Thankfully we are not looking to start this type of development work until we are funded by industry in January 2017. Which provides ample time for you to acquire that knowledge if you should choose to do so. Think of it as an investment in order to earn those handsome hourly rates. The thing about providing the oil and gas producers with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations. Is that you are able to prove substantial value propositions such as what we have. And therefore, as a result everyone benefits monetarily.

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

Who Are the Industries Next Leaders

The bureaucracy are managing their time until they are forced out, or their retirements allow them to live like kings. Either way they will be gone and the investors will be left holding the bag, as they say. Who then are the oil and gas industries next leaders. Dedicated, committed and looking to build on a flexible framework provided by the People, Ideas & Objects user community. Leaders that we can rely upon. And how do we recruit them into the user communities leadership team? Last week we went through how the user community and service providers can benefit the industry, the oil and gas investor, but particularly you the individual that is interested in participating in the user community and as a service provider. Bureaucracies are leaderless and not change oriented. However they are established. Their choice as individuals are to continue on in an unprofitable enterprise where you push paper in a system that is as frustrating and boring as is humanly possible, or to begin that permanent vacation. Bureaucrats know there is a better way, they also know there is nothing they can do to change things.

If you think that People, Ideas & Objects offer the alternative that the industry needs. One in which the focus will be on the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producer. Where the individual, working through the user community and the service providers has the ability, the capability and the power to make the changes that are necessary to keep the oil and gas producer dynamic, innovative and profitable. Then maybe there is a role for you in the leadership team of the user community. After all leaders need an organization, and roles within those organizations in order to practice their skills.

We showed last week that the People, Ideas & Objects user community has significant power that they can exercise within the oil and gas industry. This power is approximately equivalent to what the bureaucracy currently holds today in the oil and gas industry. The difference is that the bureaucracy have chosen to line their pockets by abusing this power, and employ the muddle along strategy. In other words they do nothing but use this power for their own self interest. We have chosen to prioritize the oil and gas producers dynamic, innovative and profitable capabilities as the keys to our competitive advantage. It is this competitive advantage that will sustain the user communities power for the long term. As long as we remain focused on these priorities we will remain the chosen method of oil and gas administration and accounting, ways and means.

We have established reasonable timelines for people to participate within the user community. We need to have the leadership team in place and operational prior to the January 2017 deadline that we established for industry, and the investors to support this initiative. It will be on the strength of the leadership team and our commitment to providing the oil and gas producers with the most dynamic, innovative and profitable means of oil and gas operations, and of course the Preliminary Specification that they will fund us. This does not preclude people from joining the user community prior to January 2017. After all we have much work to do.

Our leadership team consists of the traditional board of directors. We have set the total number to six, I have appointed myself as chairman and hold two votes. There are also the C class executives of the user community that need to be filled. That is the CEO, CFO and COO. Lastly there are many product owner positions that we have defined in the user community. Each product owner will be responsible for one of the modules of the Preliminary Specification, or one element of the development. For example the data model, or the user interface, etc. As a result the total number of people we are looking for to fill out this leadership team will be upwards of thirty people. If you have an interest in these positions or know of someone who might be a good candidate then pass this data on to them. After all it looks like we might just change the world after all.

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

The Absolute Power of the User Community

We commented in our last post that the People, Ideas & Objects user community was unlike anything your grandfathers user community was like. Those were formed to usually report on some preconceived notion of what a systems development would be. From there people would usually meet to shuffle some papers and make a final recommendation that was hastily filed away for no one to read. At least that is the way that I saw most of the user communities over the past few decades. The problem with user communities, in terms of implementing them appropriately, is they are very expensive and time consuming. So if you're going to have one you need to commit these resources in order to earn the benefits. In the past no one wanted to lose control of their budget so they formed the user community without the commitment necessary in terms of time and budget. This post is to explain the key differences between the People, Ideas & Objects user community and these poor excuses from our past.

Granted the first contradiction I have to make is that the user community is using the Preliminary Specification as the base of their developments. This vision is the result of ten years of my research and provides the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producer with the ways and means in which to operate. It is a start, and that is where the user community can begin its building process.

The second element is that we have committed a large portion of our development costs to the user communities use. These have been costed at $333 to $667 million and represent 1,000 to 2,000 man years of development time. These will be incurred during the time from January 2017 to the initial commercial release of the People, Ideas & Objects software. January 2017 is the timeframe in our plan that we expect industry to fund our project. These are also only the initial development funds. The user community will be funded at approximately these levels on a continuous basis, as a going concern. These funds are derived from People, Ideas & Objects and are raised through our efforts.

The third element is the user community is the source for the industries needs for changes in their systems. When the oil and gas producers need changes to the systems and procedures that they use. The only place they can turn to will be the user community. The user community has as their audience the producer firms and the service providers that provide accounting and administrative services to the producer firms. There is no one else that has the capabilities to deal with the systems and producers other than the user community. The only people that the developers from People, Ideas & Objects will listen to are the user community. It is user community who have sole control over the makeup of what is contained in the software and the processes that are managed in the administrative and accounting domain of an oil and gas producer.

The fourth element is with regards to the Intellectual Property that is derived from the Preliminary Specification. I am the beneficial owner of the copyright of the Preliminary Specification. Through a license to People, Ideas & Objects I provide certain rights and privileges. It is through there that another license is provided to the user community and then on to the individuals within the user community. The purpose of these licenses is to ensure that all the developments to the Preliminary Specification are kept whole and available to everyone. Therefore the Intellectual Property that is developed in the user community is owned through these licenses by myself. And in turn through the licensing, available to everyone within the user community. This Intellectual Property is therefore available in its entirety without charge or encumbrance to everyone within the user community. The money that is paid to support the user community by People, Ideas & Objects is compensation in acquiring this Intellectual Property of the user community.

However, it is the user community that controls that Intellectual Property for the benefit of the oil and gas producers and the service providers. It is through this control of the Intellectual Property, which they acquire through the license, that they acquire the power that is necessary to ensure that the industry remain dynamic, innovative and profitable. It is through this control that the user community affects change within the service providers, of which the user community members are an integral part of.

Lastly, People, Ideas & Objects uses the Intellectual Property to assess the fees on industry to develop the software and support the user community. The service providers are able to raise their own revenues from the services they provide the producer firms. However that too is through a license which is granted from People, Ideas & Objects.

It is through the budget, the control of the Intellectual Property and the user community being the sole point of contact that make the People, Ideas & Objects user community different than any other user community that came before it. These differences provide it with the power necessary to effectively control the ways and means of the North American oil and gas industry. Providing it with the focus on its dynamic, innovative and profitable nature. People, Ideas & Objects are committed to user community developments. We completed the Preliminary Specification in November 2013. Since January of this year our primary focus has been the user communities development. We have endowed it with these capabilities and with this power. I think we are beginning to look rather interesting, don't you?

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

Providing For a Dynamic, Innovative and Profitable Oil and Gas Industry

One thing that will be a defining characteristic of the future oil and gas industry will be that it operates on the individual initiatives of the people that work within the industry. People such as yourself who, as in yesterday’s discussion, plan and prepare to participate in the user community and service provider organizations. Not seeking the approval of anyone in order to make the transition. And not seeking the approval of anyone in order to make the transitions necessary for the industry to move from one business model to the next, say in 2025. Providing the industry with the kind of dynamic, innovative and profitable make up that we are seeking for the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. As that is our priority and our concern, to make the industry as profitable as it can be.

This dynamic is held up as the alternative to the bureaucracy with their tried and true muddle along strategy. We are asking the investors and the progressive producers to make a decision and as a result fund the developments of the Preliminary Specification and the user community. This decision and funding is due in January 2017. Those people that take the advice from yesterday’s post and plan and prepare to participate in the user community and service providers within this timeframe will be offering the industry an indispensable opportunity and future. One that provides the dynamic, innovative and profitable elements that are necessary for the 21st century. It is this offering that we collectively will be providing to enable an alternative means of organization for the investors and progressive producers to use.

Change at this level can not be conducted within the traditional organizational context. We have seen how the bureaucracy has responded to the ideas put forward in the Preliminary Specification. Their plan was to hope for a cold winter. When that happened and it did not materially affect the natural gas prices. They gave up on any planning for the future. We on the other hand provide the producer with the price maker strategy through the decentralized production model. A starker contrast can not be made. The fact that the bureaucracy will not entertain or consider the Preliminary Specification is due to the fact that our system eliminates their existence. It’s suicide for them to consider us. So we need to find other ways in which to have the Preliminary Specification operational in the oil and gas industry. The only other way is to provide an alternative in which the industry can choose which way they want to have their assets managed.

Therefore there is a need for people to begin the development of these communities. And prepare and plan for their participation in the user community and service provider organizations to enable the industry to have an alternative means of organization. And this is a far more exciting path to be on. One where the needs of the producers profitability drive what the user community and service providers enable. It is the users who control the Intellectual Property that comprise the Preliminary Specification and all that comes after it. It is they who have the sole focus of the People, Ideas & Objects software development capabilities. And as a result are able to make the changes they need to keep the producers moving forward as they should. It is the user community and service providers who have the power in terms of the “what” and “how” of the oil and gas industry, and the ways and means of the oil and gas accounting and administrative domain.

But its not just in the accounting and administrative areas that they hold the power. It is also within the operational areas that the user community and service providers hold significant influence. It is the business models of the dynamic, innovative and profitable oil and gas producers that fall within the scope of what these communities control. Business models like the Joint Operating Committee, the decentralized production model and the effect they have on the operations in the Preliminary Specification. And if they were to discover a breakthrough in terms of a new business model then they would have the ability to implement that business model if it had an effect on the producers profitability. This is after all, not your grandfathers user community. As you can see.

The Preliminary Specification and user community 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. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

What Are Your Plans?

If we position ourselves as the alternative means of organization for the investors and progressive producers in the oil and gas industry. What does that mean for you as an individual that is interested in participating in this community? If you're asking yourself that question then it assumes that you have some entrepreneurial skills or desires that need some exercise. If that is the case, it would be incumbent upon you to spend some time reviewing the Preliminary Specification in detail. Understanding its differences and how it impacts the areas that you want to spend your time in oil and gas.

The next thing you might want to look at is our time lines and the prospects of change being implemented within the industry during that time period. Will these changes happen? Will they happen in that time frame? What would be needed in order for you to leave where you are working in 2018 or later and move to your own firm operating as a user community participant and service provider? What level of organization and preparations on your behalf would be necessary in order to make that change. Are the next four years adequate?

Not everyone will be able to make the transition from the bureaucratic systems that are operational today to the future that we are discussing. Look at any business magazine and they frequently discuss the effect that Information Technology is having on business. An effect very similar to the one here at People, Ideas & Objects. Like so many transitions in the past some people just can’t make the transition. Having time to prepare certainly makes the change easier from most people’s point of view, I think. Having control of the changes is maybe the most effective way in dealing with these changes. Therefore taking the initiative now to plan and prepare for the possible changes in the industry in January 2017 and 2019 might be a wise and prudent investment of your time and energy. After all what is the bureaucracy offering you as an alternative.

There are no guarantees in life. And I am certainly not in a position to provide anyone with anything. There is no prospect of People, Ideas & Objects proceeding within the industry at this point. What we need to do however is to offer the investor community with the proven capability to operate the industry if they should choose to decide to make the transition to People, Ideas & Objects Preliminary Specification. There is nothing I can do to prepare for that possibility. Other than to plan and prepare for the Preliminary Specification, the user communities leadership and general communities development, the service providers and the app marketplace. And that requires people such as yourself to make the conscious decision to leave what they are doing now, down the road in 2017 or later, and plan and prepare themselves in their own interest as members of the user community or as service providers and app marketplace providers.

Its a chicken or egg type of thing. The individual acts of people, doing this for their own self interest in developing a sound service based business in oil and gas. And for the purpose of developing a solution on providing the innovative and profitable oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. The fact that time is on our side is the real value in considering this opportunity today.

We will be knee deep in technology in 2017, that is one thing that will be a certainty. Therefore it would be a good time to take some technology courses to help in this transition. I can certainly recommend that people take courses in relational databases and Java. Those technologies, and a general understanding of those technologies throughout the user community, service providers, and of course the app marketplace might, dare I say, be a mandatory requirement by the time we get there. In order to fully understand and appreciate the opportunities and what you can do in the application requires a full understanding of what you can do in the technology. The technological concepts are opening up new conceptual ways in which the People, Ideas & Object applications will be able to function. Service providers who are on the front lines of providing the producers with their needs could really provide a much higher level of service by fully understanding the relational model and Java, as well as their accounting or administrative oil and gas industry knowledge.

The Preliminary Specification and user community 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. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here. 

Profits vs. Cash Flow?

There are many people such as myself. Particularly those that read this blog that agree that the manner in which the oil and gas producers are operated by the bureaucracies has to change. That profitability, in what can only be described as a mature industry, is the only responsible manner and priority to proceed from this point forward. I understand the desire to trade on multiples of cash flow. It happens in most industries when the businesses need to be built and the industry is young and is at the beginning of a long and hopefully prosperous future. The need to invest in the business fuels the demand for capital and the metric that is used to determine a healthy business is a multiple of cash flow. To be using that today in the oil and gas industry I think is as a result of the bureaucracy having the luxury of sitting on its hands, unchallenged, for so long that they think they can get away with it.

It used to be that I was the only one that thought that profits should be of concern. When I raised the point I was usually derided as not understanding the way in which the industry operated. I assured them that I knew how the industry operated. Knowing what we know today, and the fact that the decentralized production model provides the oil and gas producer with the ability to become a price maker. Who can argue that profits should not be the deciding factor in determining what should be produced? Today the bureaucrats don't have a leg to stand on in terms of arguing the point about profits, if they ever had.

I have to say that we have come a long way in making the arguments of having the Preliminary Specification implemented in the oil and gas industry. What was a chance in a million in 2004, albeit a significant threat, is now something that is under reasonable consideration by many like minded people. What was just an idea is now a defined business model for the innovative and profitable producer, the user community, the service providers, the app marketplace and lets not forget the effect it will have on the service industry as well. What we have is a budget and a plan as to when this will be put in place and how it will be funded. What we are going to do is offer the investors and the progressive producers the opportunity to fund this environment and build this alternative means of organization for them to manage their assets. An alternative means or organization to manage their assets based on the profits they can make in the mature oil and gas industry.

To suggest that the oil and gas industry needs to be “built-up” by investors in order to realize the value that exists in the shale reserves is a story that I don't think anyone is going to buy. I think the investors have been told many times that they were needed to move the industry just a little bit further and a little bit further too many times in the past. The story isn't selling. The bureaucracy needs the investors money in order to pad their pensions and add to their summer cabins. What the investors may have already realized is that the game was fixed from the beginning and they were mark. What they should quickly realize now is that, since they realized that they were the dupe, is that those dishonest players are going to take their cards and move to another scam. That is the bureaucrats are going to realize that their ability to play the investor for the fool is over and move on to another industry.

Therefore, the investor is going to need someone to manage their assets as the bureaucrats are going to be high tailing it out of here faster than you can say “where is a cop when you need one?” And that has to be this community, consisting of the Preliminary Specification, user community, service providers, app marketplace and all that we have discussed here. Its been 10 years since we started this and many things have happened to take this from one chance in a million to who knows what our odds are today. But if we keep at it and keep building like we have, we just might be the ones that the investors find that they can rely on. I’m certainly betting on it.

The Preliminary Specification and user community 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. And don't forget to join our network on Twitter @piobiz anyone can contact me at 403-200-2302 or email here.