Alignment With the Industry Goals and Objectives

One of the key aspects of the Preliminary Specification is that it aligns with the goals and objectives of the oil and gas industry on a go forward basis. Particularly in the North American marketplace. The needs of the industry in the next few decades will be particularly acute. The demands will require the industry to push the science of geology and engineering far beyond what is known today. And what is known today has put the industry second only to the space industry in terms of technical complexity. A very complex and dynamic future awaits those that are able to compete in the innovative earth science and engineering disciplines.

How we approach this future is of critical importance. The need to address this point is the first order of business. We can't go into this future operating with the same old bureaucracies and led footed organizations. We are sitting here in our third year of depressed gas prices with no plans and no discussion of this even being an issue! What are we doing? It is astonishing to me that we would continue to proceed with the same old strategy of muddling along with so much at stake and the dynamics of the industry being what they are. This is not your fathers oil and gas industry.

What is needed is an organizational construct or business model like that which is prescribed in the Preliminary Specification. One that can deal with the issues and opportunities as they develop. So that when the natural gas prices begin to decline the collective action of the producers stem the downfall in the prices and the industry as a whole remains profitable. Or one that deals with the appropriate tools of specialization and the division of labor to increase the productivity of the critically short earth science and engineering resources over these next few decades. And these are just todays problems. The Preliminary Specification as a business model for the innovative and profitable oil and gas producer provides the means to deal with the future problems and opportunities as they arise.

Currently the bureaucracies are standing in the way of the progress of the Preliminary Specification. Thats what bureaucracies do. There is little for them in this new business model and they know it. Its not that they have an alternative, its just that the status quo suits them fine. Now is not the time for the oil and gas industry to sit still and stagnate. The need to address the organizational context and business model of the industry is the first order of business and our number one priority. To do anything else would be putting the cart before the horse. We must organize ourselves first. And that requires that we define and support that organization within the software that the industry, the service industry, the service providers, the Joint Operating Committee and the producers themselves use.

Today people don’t see technology as being the effective tool that define and support our organizations. And in a way it isn’t. Its the business model that uses the technology. We need to use these tools of the 21st century to deal with the problems and opportunities of this century. The Preliminary Specification does this effectively. With $94 billion in opportunity costs for the 2012 calendar year we can see the dynamic effect it can have on the industry. With these types of opportunity costs and the ability to approach the future with the appropriate business model the cost benefit analysis is clear.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy.

Our Development Plans Part III

Today we want to discuss the point where the Revenue Model intersects with the user community. Yesterday we noted that the power in which the strategic and tactical control was exercised was within the user community. That if the industry needed to change, that change would need to be initiated by the user community in order for the software to change and then the industry could change subsequently. There is an important component of the Revenue Model that ensures that the user community remains independent and enabled to make these changes. That they don't become blind sleepwalking agents of whomever will feed them.

Ideally you want the user community to be able to think of the changes and the needs of the industry, and act before the demands are realized by the producers. Providing the software just in time when the producers needs are being realized. This requires the user community to be very aware of the issues and opportunities that are present in the oil and gas industry. That they are able to plan and execute what is required and deliver that in the software when it is needed.

It also has to be stated that this can't be done in an environment where the user community is looking for its next meal. It would be of particular concern as to what the cost of that next meal would be in terms of what is agreed to. This is not how the user community should be run. The compromise and distortions in the direction of the user community that would occur so that it could be fed would lead it to be of little value to those outside of the group that was feeding it.

That is why the Revenue Model has been developed in the manner that it has. The user community is one of the major costs of the development of People, Ideas & Objects. And it is the nature of the user community, and its ability to meet the demands of the producers in its unique way that is of value to the producers. That is why it needs to be funded in the manner as specified in the Revenue Model. Assessing fees and penalties based on production is a fair and reasonable means of raising the funds for development. Collecting fees and penalties from 2010 forward from all producers ensures that no producers are able to avoid providing their share of the costs of development. Everyone participates based on their production profile and from the same point in time. Therefore no producer undertakes a greater share in the development than any other producer. Early participation will however eliminate future penalties.

As can be expected, there will need to be representation from all corners of the industry in the user community. In order to capture the needs of the industry the user community will have to look like the industry in most every way. And there will be significant opportunities for people within the user community. As I see that and the service providers being two areas that are dynamic and innovative for at least the next decade. As it should be asked of the user community what will the applications look like in ten years. It will be as a result of their input that answers that question. A truly interesting journey.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy.

Our Development Plans Part II

The Detailed Specification is the output of the resources that we are seeking in this next phase of development. Will consist of the detailed information of what the system will consist of in its first commercial release. It will be the result of the collaborations of the user community in determining their wants and needs in the oil and gas industry. Consisting of screenshots and process management information. It will be user defined information that is captured in a number of software development tools.

The key deliverable to give the developers will be the “user story”, from Wikipedia

In software development and product management, a user story is one or more sentences in the everyday or business language of the end user or user of a system that captures what a user does or needs to do as part of his or her job function. User stories are used with agile software development methodologies as the basis for defining the functions a business system must provide, and to facilitate requirements management. It captures the 'who', 'what' and 'why' of a requirement in a simple, concise way.

Defining the needs of a system of the size of People, Ideas & Objects needs to go through this process of the Detailed Specification to help manage the scope of the application. What is necessary in the application can not be left open ended when the developers sit down and begin their work. There must be a defined product that they are setting out to complete. That is one of the purposes of the Detailed Specification.

Capturing the needs of the users, the producers, the Joint Operating Committees, the service providers and the service industry into these specifications will also eliminate the redundancies in developing similar systems for similar needs. The output from this phase of development will be large. The more people that we have looking at the output of this phase and the more errors that we can correct, the better the systems will be and the less overall costs.

It is imperative that people understand that People, Ideas & Objects are user driven developments. We have chosen this methodology as this provides the highest quality of systems available. Participation should be looked upon as an opportunity to make a difference in the development of the industry, its profitability and its innovativeness. How the industry solves its problems and addresses its opportunities should be as a result of the actions taken by the user community to change the software to meet those challenges. Users are in control of the tools that make the industry what it is.

This is the importance of user communities in the near future. What they may have looked like in the past was more predefined by the softwares needs or the organizational context. With the People, Ideas & Objects user community the organization is defined and supported by the software. And the user community defines the software. So the shoe is on the other foot as they would say. I think that you can see with the Preliminary Specification how the software definition redefines how the industry operates. This power is being placed in the hands of the user community. User community participation is now at the top of the food chain.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy.

Our Development Plans Part I

Once we have secured the budget to complete the developments of the Preliminary Specifications. The next stage in our development. We will begin the determination of the detailed work of what the initial software release will look like. This Detailed Specification will be the result of the user communities involvement and the result of many hundreds of man years of work. It will detail in very specific terms what the systems will do and how they will do it. Based on the Preliminary Specification and the user community needs, which includes the participating producers. It will provide the means or the specification for the first iteration of the software.

Participation by the producers in this phase of the development will be critical. The changes that are being made as a result of Preliminary Specification are significant. It is imperative that a producer and Joint Operating Committee be part of those changes from the beginning. When they have an opportunity to participate and have input into those changes. Waiting for the second iteration to participate may be too late. By then producers who have been using the software may be considering changes that are based on the changes in the first iteration and these changes will be too much for a producer that did not participate in the first iteration to handle. Locking out those who did not participate by way of a business model that is too complex to change too.

The other aspect is that participation enables the producer firm to make the changes to their organization that will work with the software. Allowing them to ease into the integration as opposed to having to remake the organization all at once.

Participation in the developments of People, Ideas & Objects software will be the beginning of the producers use of these new software development capabilities that are a necessary aspect of the producers capabilities. This capability will be a new tool in the producers strategic and tactical arsenal. One that allows them to approach the opportunities and issues on a much larger scale than what they are currently able to approach.

I think that one thing that we will find in the future is that the impact of change will be dramatic. There won’t be subtle changes anymore. The upside as a result of changes will be significant. And the impact of inaction will be very detrimental. We may be seeing that already in the marketplace today. A producer that chooses to proceed into this type of future without the tools to deal with the organizational context may be subjecting themselves to the unnecessary impact of inaction.

Participation in the software developments from this point forward should therefore be something all producers subscribe to. The Preliminary Specification prescribes a cultural shift in the ERP systems that is sound. A business model that is developed for the oil and gas industry. The risks in participating are the time and costs that could be potentially lost, however the upside could be significant. There are opportunity costs and other savings that are real today that are not available in the current corporate model. Based on any reasonable criteria a producer would decide to join, but then there is the bureaucracy.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy.

An Industry Wide Reorganization

I might have stated in yesterday’s post that the changes made as a result of implementing the Preliminary Specification were small. I’m sure everyone appreciates my humor. There is little in terms of anything in oil and gas that is not changed as a result of the Preliminary Specification. And many of the changes are significant. This is what we are dealing with. Today technology is disintermediating all industries and it is the Preliminary Specification that is rooting out the bureaucracy in the oil and gas industry. In addition however, we are moving closer to our cultural norm, the Joint Operating Committee. It is therefore a positive change on both of these fronts.

Should people be concerned for their jobs as a result of the changes in the Preliminary Specification? Only if they are not productive or part of the solution. Those that are cogs in the wheel of the bureaucracy should begin to consider where they will fit into a new dynamic and innovative industry. One in which the old ways of CYA and other such antics will provide less upward mobility. There is a role for everyone, and I think an enhanced role. There is a decidedly stronger division of labor between what the computers will do and what the people will do in the Preliminary Specification. The computers will do what they are good at processing, storage and the like. And people will have to move to the higher forms of work that are needed to be done. The innovations, collaborations and thinking that computers can’t do. That’s the future that I see.

The organizational context that exists in the industry today is the same that existed in the 1960’s. The only difference is that it is a little faster as a result of computers. There has been no innovation or rethinking of how the industry has been organized in the last fifty years. And maybe its the same as when the industry began. Does that not seem a little strange in light of the changes that have occurred in society? Isn't it time that we looked at the ways that we structure ourselves from an industry point of view? There is significant value in moving to the Preliminary Specification. Only the bureaucrats stand in our way.

We need to leave many of our preconceived notions of what and how we do business today. The Preliminary Specification provides the flexibility for producers to capitalize on the opportunities and deal with the issues that exist in the industry today, and those that will arise tomorrow. It is a fundamental redesign of the industry, the producer firm and the Joint Operating Committee. It also impacts the service providers, a sub-industry that is developed as a result of the changes in the Preliminary Specification and the service industry.

So much of what we need to do has to be pre planned and implemented into the software that defines and supports our organizations. Things can't “happen” the way they used to when so much is dependent on software. Without the software there to make it happen, nothing will happen. Spontaneous order, an economic principle from the 1930’s, may have seen its last days.

The Preliminary Specification and the People, Ideas & Objects software development capability provides these tools to the innovative and profitable oil and gas producer. Its a different world, one where access to the kind of software defined in the Preliminary Specification can make a dramatic difference to the outcomes of the oil and gas producer.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy.

Organizational Flexibility

When we look at the oil and gas industry in terms of the organizational context. Today’s corporate model provides little flexibility in dealing with the issues and opportunities of the industry. The approach that a producer can take in how they deal with a problem is limited to the resources that are within their sphere of influence. In other words they can only control those issues and opportunities that are available to them through their own people. In terms of approaching the natural gas pricing issues, or the availability and long term resourcing of earth science and engineering resources they can only do what they are able to do with the resources they have at their disposal. They are organizationally constrained by the corporate model that limits their actions to those within their own four walls.

The Preliminary Specification in many ways opens up the producer firm and Joint Operating Committee to a type of collective action that can be undertaken on behalf of the industry. Whether that is by removing natural gas production from the marketplace without the associated financial losses being incurred. Or benefiting from the specialization and division of labor that is used across the industry. There is a greater number of tools available to the producer and Joint Operating Committee as a result of the use of the Preliminary Specification than with the use of the current corporate model.

This collective action requires the producer or Joint Operating Committee to act in their own best interests and have faith that other producers and Joint Operating Committees will do the same. An example would be their belief that the efficiency and effectiveness of using service providers who use specialization and the division of labor will provide better services for oil and gas administration and accounting functions. Then they could realize the benefits of greater service offerings and lower costs of operations, something that has been missing from this area for years.

Producers have certainly tried to benefit from the specialization and division of labor within their organizations. The problem has been that the demands are so specific and the data set are so small. Each producer has had to build the capabilities needed to meet the requirements of an oil and gas producer operating in the 21st century. If we take the capabilities that are built within each producer firm and replace them with an industry wide capability that is provided through a variety of service providers. Then the efficiencies and effectiveness can begin to be built within industry wide capabilities for the benefit of all producers who participate.

The transition from the single producer capability to the industry capability would be seamless and simple. It would start with a service provider specializing on a process such as eligible capital costs for gas cost allowance purposes. As individual companies release their work to the service provider, the service provider becomes more specialized, taking on greater volumes of work. Producers begin to see the effectiveness of the overall industry capability and begins to release more processes to other service providers. Until such time as the majority of the administrative and accounting processes of the oil and gas producers and Joint Operating Committees within the industry are being handled by service providers.

The organizational flexibility that is provided as a result of the changes that are discussed here generate the $94 billion in opportunity costs for the 2012 calendar year. They may seem like small changes however the implications, and the capabilities that are gained as a result of these changes are substantial.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy.

Innovation, A Methodology of Production Allocation

In yesterday’s post I asked the question of how the production would be allocated when the natural gas prices were higher than the marginal costs. In an ideal marketplace the demand would be higher than the supply for the commodity and the majority of the production would be cleared by that demand. However with the shale gas formations prolific nature, that may not be the case and there may be surplus capacity in terms of deliverability in the marketplace. This would keep natural gas prices, in an environment where the Preliminary Specification was operational and therefore there was no downswing in pricing, around the marginal cost with surplus capacity available at all times. So the question remains how does the marketplace allocate the capacity in terms of production.

The answer to the question is that the producer that was most innovative would be the one that would always be on production. They would have the lowest costs of production and they would therefore be profitable at all times and could sustain production profitably under any scenario. It is those producers with unique and specialized skills in the earth science and engineering domains that will dominate the production of natural gas. As they will be the most profitable. Innovation is the means of competitive advantage for the oil and gas producer.

The Preliminary Specification is designed around the principles of innovation. What an innovative organization consists of and what an innovative oil and gas producer requires in order to compete in an innovative industry. Key modules for the implementation of these principles are the Research & Capabilities and Knowledge & Learning. They have been based on the research of Professors Giovanni Dosi, Richard Langlois and others in terms of what is necessary for an innovative organization.

An example of the innovation capabilities within the People, Ideas & Objects Preliminary Specification is the Work Order system. What will be needed in the industry for it to become more innovative is the amount of research that is undertaken. We see like minded groups of producers working together conducting research in the earth science and engineering disciplines becoming a common practice. This type of activity has been systemic in the industry for many years. What is needed is an order of magnitude more of this in order to solve the problems of the industry. To help in that the Work Order provides an interface that allows the producers that desire to work together to sponsor and create these working groups without the traditional bureaucratic nightmare that they cause. When the financial facilities enable and support the initiatives of the industry, innovation can be fostered at a much faster rate. These are the types of “things” that are undertaken in the Preliminary Specification.

Most importantly People, Ideas & Objects move the entire industry towards the cultural influence of the business. That is the Joint Operating Committee. By moving the compliance and governance frameworks of the hierarchy into alignment of the legal, financial, operational decision making, cultural, communication, innovation and strategic frameworks of the Joint Operating Committee. We achieve a speed, innovativeness and accountability in our organizations. It is this cultural shift that provides the greatest benefits to all that work within the industry. With the Preliminary Specification we will finally be recognizing the unique nature of the industry in our business dealings and be able to accommodate its needs.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy.

Discussing Natural Gas Prices

The persistence in natural gas prices is contrary to what we were led to believe by the bureaucrats who run the oil and gas industry. It was believed that they had fixed the problem and that prices were to resume their continued increase throughout the summer months and into the winter. We can draw a number of conclusions from the fact that the natural gas prices have not behaved in the manner that the bureaucrats set out in their annual reports and annual general meetings. That is that the problem that is at the heart of the low natural gas pricing situation remains unaddressed, and the bureaucrats do not have a plan.

I am at a loss to find any discussion of the natural gas prices and the impact they have on the industry. We know that these prices are not sustainable. That they are creating losses at all of the producers. Yet in terms of a discussion of what to do about the problem there is nothing. This would be acceptable if the problem was of a short term nature. One in which the prices would turn around on their own and resume their traditional pricing structure of say 6 to 1 in terms of the oil price. The reality of the situation is that the short term perspective does not consider that there has been a fundamental change in the marketplace. That change being the shale gas reserves and deliverability in the North American marketplace.

So as the bureaucrats pray for something to happen the natural gas prices continue to keep producers on a starvation diet. What is needed is a plan. A plan for the long term. For as soon as the prices rise above the marginal cost there will be an abundance of production to meet that demand. So how will the producers allocate their production? And how will a natural gas producer make money in the business in the future.

The Preliminary Specification enables the producer to deal with the environment where natural gas prices are variable and may dip below the point where they don’t cover the marginal cost of production. Allowing the producer to shut-in production until prices return to the point where a profit can be made. This is done through a variety of changes we make in the way that business is conducted by the producers and Joint Operating Committees.

First we take the producer and strip their organization down to the core consisting of the C class executives, engineering and earth science resources, some support and legal staff. The remainder of the administrative and accounting resources are deployed into service providers who are focused on the processes across the industry. Their use of the industry as their client base enables them to use the toolset of specialization and the division of labor to efficiently and effectively provide for the needs of their clients, the Joint Operating Committees. Each month the service providers will bill the Joint Operating Committee for their services. If the property was shut-in during the month, then no service fees are incurred and no billing is created. Leaving the property without any production, administration, accounting or overhead charges for the month. The only costs that are uncovered are the costs of capital.

The producer therefore does not incur any additional losses on their reserves and contributes in a significant way to the increase in natural gas prices by removing production from the marketplace. Downward swings in the natural gas prices will be limited to the marginal cost of production. Production discipline by the producers will be imposed as losses on production are far more detrimental than shutting in of production. Using the marginal cost as the point where production ceases will limit the losses in the industry.

During times of shut-in production the producer can focus on that shut-in production and innovate on the earth science and engineering domains to bring their marginal costs down and return the property to profitable operations sooner. This is the plan of how the Preliminary Specification would operate in the natural gas business with the shale gas reserves. It would seem to me to be a better plan than that which the bureaucrats are selling.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy.

A Quick Review of Our Revenue Model Part VII

People, Ideas & Objects focus is on its users and the business issues and opportunities that they face in the 21st century. We are not providing “new” technology for technology's sake. With respect to our revenue model, technology has a substantial impact on our product delivery.

Traditional ERP vendors in the oil and gas marketspace have “sold” a solution to the oil and gas producer and then supported the application through an annual service contract. These competitors are selling a product that does not consider changes to the business environment. Contrast that to the People, Ideas & Objects revenue model that is dynamic in that we are focused only on changes in the business environment. It is these changes that are the source of our revenue stream. Without changes to the software, there would be no developments and no fees would be assessed in the current year by People, Ideas & Objects.

It is a fundamentally different point of view. The traditional ERP vendor is constrained by their code and their customers. Any changes to the code needs to be populated to the variety of customers who use their software. Therefore there is resistance to change by the vendor. People, Ideas & Objects uses the cloud computing infrastructure where changes can be populated to the user base quickly and efficiently. We are oriented to the changes in the oil and gas producers business environment. It is these changes that drive our revenue.

Our focus is to provide a software development capability to the oil and gas industry, service providers and service industries. One that enables the industry to make the changes necessary when the business opportunities and issues arise. We believe that proceeding through the 21st century without a team of committed and capable software developers that are working in the core ERP area will seem reckless in a few years.

Effective 2013, commitments from producers / investors for their participation in the Preliminary Specification are being solicited. When People, Ideas & Objects have received commitments totalling the Preliminary Specifications estimate, we will call on those commitments to begin the process of development. We are looking to secure resource and financial commitments. The financial commitments are based on your current production profile. We also ask that for each $1 million in financial commitments, 2 man years of user community contributions are committed to the project.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy.

A Quick Review of Our Revenue Model Part VI

Another element of our Revenue Model is the means in which People, Ideas & Objects is capitalized. Traditionally software developers are stand-alone organizations with their own banking, regulatory and venture capital influences. People, Ideas & Objects is taking a project management perspective in providing this software solution to the marketplace. The differences in our capital structure are significant, with our Revenue Model being a critical element in defining and supporting these differences.

The fact of the matter is, by having user based developments defined and supported by various communities. To then have various venture capitalists, or other groups involved in a traditional capital structure, influence whether or not the software was built to specification is too large of a compromise to be viable. Therefore People, Ideas & Objects is funded by its Revenue Model and focused on its users; making it more of a project management type of venture.

To be clear the scope of People, Ideas & Objects is beyond what venture capital groups would be willing to fund. That is to say if the producers / investors are unwilling to invest in this software development, based on the value proposition put forward, no venture capital groups would touch this type of venture. Amortizing the costs of this development over the production profile of the industry is our value proposition. Complicating our capital structure only complicates and compromises the deliverability of the software.

To suggest that People, Ideas & Objects can be structured without the traditional involvement of investment capital might be naive for me to consider. However I do know, that it would be naive to suggest that the systems as described in the Preliminary Specification could be built with the influences of a traditional capital structure. Therefore, it is with that in mind, and to ensure that the Preliminary Specification captures the full scope of the technical and geographical concerns of each subscribing producer / investor. That producers / investors would be wise to support these developments to ensure their concerns remain the appropriate priority of this software development.

One area where our capital structure is not a concern is in the hosting of the application on the cloud computing infrastructure. I have addressed these needs by separating these business concerns from the software development activities. As I have documented in our Hardware Policies & Procedures, the hardware infrastructure is directly managed by the producers / investors themselves. The purpose in structuring the hardware in this fashion is to eliminate the producers / investors regulatory concerns in running their ERP systems, and to ensure that all parties have a vested interest in the infrastructure. In the process of meeting those concerns the business of the firm that hosts the application will have its own capital structure that will not in any way affect or influence the software developments or communities of People, Ideas & Objects.

We have talked about the risks of becoming blind sleepwalking agents of whomever will feed us. An issue when we are discussing systems development. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model shows these risks are real and require a new approach to funding these software developments. It serves no one's interests, People, Ideas & Objects, the Community of Independent Service Providers, Users or Producers / investors to proceed without dealing with this issue. It is best to identify these conflicts and compromising situations now, while the influences are manageable.

Producers / investors are expected to fund the software developments on the basis of their production profile. Rental fees are assessed on all producers / investors starting January 2010. This eliminates the possibility that some producers / investors will pay disproportionate shares of the development costs through early participation. All producers / investors will be required to have their rental fees, and penalties, paid in full from January 2010 to the current year in order to access the applications. These methods and penalties eliminate all incentive to delay and avoid financial participation by producer / investor firms.

Financial participation is how the communities are supported and hence able to avoid the trap of becoming blind sleepwalking agents of whoever feeds them. People, Ideas & Objects are user focused developments. The choices that a software development project can prioritize are many. Users are one, technical efficiency another and there are many other possibilities. For users to support the producers / investors to focus on their competitive advantages of their asset base, oil and gas leases and earth science and engineering capabilities. Users need to have the software tools and means of production, (the financial resources to build those tools) within their control.

This discussion does not preclude the producers / investors participation in these communities. Producers / investors, on the contrary, are critical elements of the user community. These developments will need their full participation and contribution. What is necessary to proceed is the appropriate “political environment” in which users are able to define, build and use the software tools they need to do their jobs.

The Preliminary Specification provides the oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People, Ideas & Objects Revenue Model specifies the means in which investors can participate in these user defined software developments. Users are welcome to join me here. Together we can begin to meet the future demands for energy.