Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Best Business Opportunity, Ever, Part XXIX

I have argued that the accounting magic of the SEC has made the oil and gas industry appear profitable for the past four decades in which these policies have been in place. A time when bloated balance sheets were the only game in town. Whereas, these costs should have been moved to the income statement in a much more timely manner in order to better represent the actual costs being incurred in the producer firm. This would have created losses and reflected a lack of cash generating capabilities in the industry. Instead annual share issuances made up for the deficiencies in the producer's cash balances. Suggesting that these investors had in essence been subsidizing the consumers of the commodities.

Eventually, as can be easily predicted, this game with the accounting came back to bite the producers. You can only grow your balance sheets to such a size where the depletion of those assets becomes material to your income. On an industry wide basis we hit that point, then we discovered the means to produce shale. Some may feel now with the significant write downs that this accounting situation has passed and is behind us. Nothing could be further from the truth. The end of the beginning may have started, but we have a long distance yet to travel down this road.

In many cases, even with the large writedowns of assets over the past two years, the producers are still sitting with large asset balances. Although I suggested the other day that these balances represent the amount that the investors have subsidized the consumers in their consumption of energy. Which is the best way to look at it. It also represents the amounts of the future losses that the producer will be incurring. Or to put it another way, the industry will be in a state of consistent financial losses due to finally recognizing the capital costs they incurred in the past, in a capital intensive business. As an investor where do I sign up?

Many people will say these are not real losses that affect the cash situation of the producer. And I understand that argument. It is the same argument that has been used now for decades. The fact of the matter is the cash in the industry today is critically tight due to the bankers and investors seeing that the industry as a lost cause. Unable to generate a profit. If it continues to report that it’s unprofitable, will that change the bankers and investors mindset? I feel this strikes the point of why the industry has never achieved the religion of profitability. As long as there was cash no one cared what was happening to the business. Now that the business is caput, there are no earnings and no cash, with no foreseeable future of either turning around. Accounting is about reporting the performance of the management of the producer. For four decades the producers in the industry chose to defer accounting for their capital costs of a capital intensive industry. Now the importance of the role of accounting in oil and gas may be learned.

The past forty years was a heck of a good party though wasn’t it. From a physical point of view the production and infrastructure of the North American industry is impressive. However, functionally, literally and financially it is worthless because it depends on hundreds of billions of dollars per year in investment to operate. And that will continue for the foreseeable future. The next 25 years could be the most interesting and dynamic time in the industry. Do you see a way through that period with the assets and organizations that are in place? The culture of the industry is contrary to commercial, productive interests. Where will the money come from to fuel this future of the existing oil and gas industry.

As a startup oil and gas producer the opportunity to purchase this production and infrastructure of the North American industry is about to be put on sale. At firesale prices. Just last week Conoco put $8 billion of properties on the market. Expect to see much more of this happening in the very near term. Rehabilitating these assets as a startup producer. To make them always profitable is the first order of business for the startup. They can do this by implementing the Preliminary Specification. Which will ensure that they obtain that old time religion of profitability. Secondly they can organize themselves to approach the opportunity of expanding their deliverability to achieve profitable energy independence in North America. A worthwhile and attainable goal.

Remediating what exists in the industry and in the hands of the producers today, particularly after the battle that I have had in selling them the Preliminary Specification, isn’t possible. They didn’t think the issue was material to their operations. They were more concerned with the impact the Preliminary Specification had to their job security and did not want to work that hard. Building the Preliminary Specification will be difficult and it will eliminate the redundant elements from the existing industry. That is my assessment of the past twelve years that I’ve tried to solve this problem. But then I’m biased.

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

Monday, November 14, 2016

Best Business Opportunity, Ever, Part XXVIII

One of the surprises of the third quarter was not only the loss of value of the producers but the cash situation they’re dealing with. In some cases a few fortunate producers were able to raise some substantial amounts of funds from either equity or debt issues. In those cases the cash was incinerated by the time it hit the bank account. The rest of the producers were struggling with no working capital whatsoever. The statement of changes showing in some cases that capital expenditures were slashed in order to deal with the lack of cash or working capital. Yet all that we heard through the third quarter was that producers were profitable at the prices that the commodity markets were providing. Seems that there is a difference in how profits are calculated to issue a press release and to prepare financial statements.

If a producer is struggling as mightily as these producers were to manage the few quarters they found in the couch. Why would they state that they were profitable? It’s my understanding that profitable operations would generate cash. It is this cash crisis that will cause the focus of the producers to begin to pay attention to the issues that they have chosen, so far, to ignore. The crisis in the oil and gas industry. I’m sure every investor and banker have the producers lined up ten deep in their waiting room, with some of them pitching tents. Making life for an investor or banker that much easier. When there is this much demand for your money, then there’s a problem. Those fortunate few producers that were able to raise some cash in the third quarter sold their souls in order to get the money. So we know that the bottom feeders have had their fill now too. That leaves the couch cushions.

Oil and gas production consumes cash. That is what unprofitable operations and this cash crisis means. To continue operations requires cash. In today’s environment the producer has no choice but to produce. If they stop producing the cash consumption increases. Under the Preliminary Specification this doesn’t occur. If the property is unprofitable, shutting it in does not create a cash drain. It creates a null operation due to the fact that we have reorganized the producer and industry to enable the null operation to occur. With the abundance and prolific nature of shale, overproduction will always overwhelm the commodity markets. Therefore the producers are going to have to allocate production on some basis. People, Ideas & Objects Preliminary Specification have chosen the fairest and most equitable basis of production allocation. That being on the basis of profits. If the property is profitable at the current price it produces. If not, it’s shut-in.

What do you do now? When you never had that old time religion of profitable operations. When no one, and I mean no one, will invest in you. Your company consumes cash at a voracious rate and you have nothing in the kitty. Well we’re about to find out. What I suggest is you start an oil and gas producer. Never has there been a better time than now to start an oil and gas producer. We have detailed what the upside consists of. The next 25 years will be, by far, the most prosperous time ever for those that are positioned to capture the value that is available. The approach that the startup pursues is going to have to be different than what has been done in the industry before. We’ll need to be smarter about what it is that we’re doing and more strategic and tactical in the business approach. Mindlessly drilling wells until your out of business is the old way of participating in the oil and gas business.

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

Friday, November 11, 2016

Remembrance Day


Thursday, November 10, 2016

Best Business Opportunity, Ever, Part XXVII

Rarely does an industry, and most particularly the oil and gas industry, find common cause with the U.S. administration. That is the position that we find ourselves in this morning with the resounding election of President elect Donald J. Trump. He has made it a foundation of his policy platform to have the U.S. achieve energy independence. Not just a worthwhile goal, but one that is possible and probable with the discovery of the means to produce shale reservoirs. Other energy policies look to the removal of regulations and opening of federal lands. There is work that needs to be done before we can approach the objective of energy independence. Building the Preliminary Specification, making the industry profitable, expanding the throughput capabilities of the industry and then expanding its output so that North America is energy independent and profitable. That is the plan we are taking here at People, Ideas & Objects. No other plan exists. Any other plan is going to have to address the state of affairs in the industry today. The systemic overproduction leading to the losses and our current cash crisis.

We will also be moving forward with the objective of building value in the economy. These past eight years have had the current administration focused on any and all objectives other than building value. Is it a wonder that the economy is not moving forward? The Keystone Pipeline should be reviewed once again on its commercial basis. The point being that we will now be focusing on the real objectives and opportunities of building value, jobs and the economy for the betterment of society. It's in the best interest of the oil and gas industry to ensure that these developments are done in environmental ways. Climate science will fade from people’s memory now that the National Science Foundation is no longer directed by a president that funds any and all proposals that provide support for the effect of climate change. Maybe, President Trump will fund only proposals that support that climate science was always a myth. That is how science is subject to the political influence of those in power and has been so severely distorted.

Whether it’s four years or eight years that President Trump is in power I don’t think it matters to us. What we need is this alignment of the political and business interests and objectives over the next decades. That is what has been provided as a result of his election and what we are working towards. For me that was the loud clap of the starter’s pistol on Tuesday night. The startup producers will have the flexibility and speed in which to maximize this opportunity throughout their lifetime. The existing producers will at best be retiring debt through the sale of properties. Creative destruction on steroids is now happening in the oil and gas industry and everyone who is willing to participate in this new frontier is able to do so. If you don’t have the screaming desire to get out there, then there’s nothing that I can do for you.

Those that can structure an oil and gas producer to optimize this opportunity may not be large in number. There are however opportunities to invest in these startup producers. There are opportunities for those in the administrative and accounting disciplines to participate in the development of the Preliminary Specification as members of our user community and establish their own service provider. These are substantial business opportunities.

We’ve got a lot of work to do. These opportunities are on top of providing society with abundant, affordable energy. A responsibility that I feel the current producers have put in jeopardy and we’ll have to safeguard. These next 25 years are going to be challenging and exciting like none other. What are you going to be doing?

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

Wednesday, November 09, 2016

Best Business Opportunity, Ever, Part XXVI

The future of the oil and gas industry had been left in the hands of the producers and those in power decided to use it for their own personal benefit. This has opened what we consider to be the best business opportunity ever, for the startup oil and gas producer in North America. The epic destruction of the industry is occurring at a pace that has never been seen before. Not one producer is immune to the effects of this downturn. The analogy of producers as swimmers, with the stronger ones being taken down by the weaker ones is apt. Everyone in the industry today will eventually fail. This is creative destructions finest hour. For many years the destruction was hidden by the accounting magic that the SEC dictates the industry use. For decades the accounting showed profits when in reality the industry wasn’t sustaining itself. Over time the industry began to lose value, but the accounting still showed profitability. This began the slow erosion of value from the industry. Value that would have otherwise sustained an industry during a recession. And now during these commodity price declines we find that the cupboards are bare and the industry is a hollowed out carcass on life support.

The producers are still carrying vast sums of asset balances. Chevron has almost one quarter trillion dollars of them! Why! These are the costs of exploration and production and should have flowed to the income statement long ago. All they do now is represent the amount that the investment community has subsidized the consumers of energy. By not recognizing these costs, the consumers never had to pay for them. The investors did. What kind of industry accounts for their costs on the basis of the customer never paying the costs?

The secondary result of never recognizing the costs of exploration and production are that the industry looks good to the investors. The producers become spendaholics which makes their assets grow, and should they happen to find any oil or gas, it will be profitable because there are no costs recognized against those revenues. Making for the investment boom that we have seen these past few decades. Which in reality was based on some accounting magic, not on the basis of building any value. If we look out the window now, is there any value in the oil and gas industry? This decades long investment boom led to overinvestment which has led to overproduction which has led to collapsed commodity prices. Who would have thought?

It truly is the Saudi’s fault however. The question now is what do we do. There is no value left in the industry. What people thought the asset balances on producer financial statements represented, the value of the organization, are really only past costs that have not been recognized by the prior production. Which gives you a sense of the scope and scale of the destruction. I don’t see much purpose in trying to remediate this. It’s also not my decision. I can point out that the best way to look at the oil and gas industry is as a sunk cost and we begin the process of rebuilding it for the future. A future that holds the promise of building significant value. A future that doesn’t assume the accounting deception that has become the culture of the industry today. One that looks to real profits and the generation of value as the guiding principles and strategies. Not just to muddle along.

I expect to see the existing producers begin the wholesale, firesale, dumping of their properties over the next decade. The need for cash will be critical until the organization is terminated. Startups can purchase these assets and rehabilitate them and the value that they should have held today. This value would be in the trillions of dollars. These trillions won’t be sitting on the balance sheets, it will be reflected in the market value of the startup producers. Accounting is about performance, it should never attempt to reflect the market value of oil and gas properties. Secondly the startup will realize the value proposition of People, Ideas & Objects which is estimated between $25.7 and $45.7 trillion. These will be reported on the financial statements as revenues. Then finally they can move the industries production profile forward to achieve North American energy independence, which will also show up as incremental revenues on the financial statements. People, ideas & Objects are focused on providing the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. Building value for the industry. That is how I propose we deal with this situation.

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

Tuesday, November 08, 2016

Best Business Opportunity, Ever, Part XXV

Changing the dynamic of the industry to focus on profits, as opposed to cash flow. is one of the key differentiators of People, Ideas & Objects Preliminary Specification. Why is this change necessary, and is a focus on profits the appropriate position for the industry to be based upon?

I read something from a blog called “Master Resource, A Free Market Energy Blog” regarding the thinking of energy supply and pricing. Reflecting what the thinking was of the oil and gas producer in North America. It was written by Richard Sigman. “Cutting production ultimately decreases your own market share and subsidizes your competitor.” Which is what passes for logic in the industry today. Therefore keep producing, despite the implications of shale, the collapse of commodity prices and the destruction to the financial and capital structure of the industry.

There never seems to be any consideration for the losses that are incurred by the producers. Losses are just unfortunate events, that once they’re incurred, evaporate and have no further implications anywhere in the producer's life. Nothing could be further from the truth. The capital structure of the North American industry has been eroded away by these producers losses and is in rapid deterioration. This has implications to the cost structures of each producer. The cumulative losses are represented in higher capital costs, those being the inclusion of the losses themselves, that need to be recovered from future revenues. That is to say that if a property had a reserve life index of ten years and $1 million unrecovered capital cost. If losses of an additional $1 million were incurred the reserves would need to earn the $2 million in order to be deemed profitable. You can’t say that a $1 million property that loses $1 million is profitable after the recovery of $1 million. Higher costs are also represented in higher distributions to the additional shareholders or issuance of debt that the producer has had to carry to offset the effect of the losses in the organization. Losses are not free, and just because the SEC dictates an accounting methodology that is difficult to incur losses under, doesn’t mean the producer hasn’t been incurring losses for many more years than 2015 and 2016. Losses destroy value.

If all you did was lose money as a producer there would be consequences. And the costs would be that you would lose control to the debtors or shareholders as your cost structures became uncompetitive. Acceptance of losses is acceptance of loss of control of the organization and eventual loss of the competitiveness of the producer and ultimately the industry. This is where the industry stands today. At the very end of this road. It may not seem that way, I have consistently asserted that there has been an accounting anomaly that has hidden the losses and these effects for the past four decades.

When I first suggested that we provide the dynamic, innovative, accountable and profitable oil and gas producer with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations. People laughed at us and said that the industry doesn’t operate on profits, just cash flow. I understood that then, and I think everyone understands that now. Profits are what make the world go round. With a profitable oil and gas industry producers pay royalties and taxes, hire people to do the work that is needed, establish appropriate sized service industries to support the producers and enable them to look forward to resolving the issues and opportunities that they face. Issues such as the difficulties in securing long term supplies of engineers and geologists and to approach the opportunity of energy independence in North America. If anyone thinks that the current producers can approach either of those two objectives in the condition that it’s in today, I think you’d be mistaken. A profitable industry is the only way that we can approach the challenges that we face in the next quarter century. Continuing to rely on the abuse of the investment community, which has failed, will lead to disappointment and dependence on others for our energy.

I’m surprised by the fact that we’re not hearing anything regarding the “market rebalancing” during this quarter. I don’t think I can point to a specific talking point that has come out of my review of the third quarter reports. Producers have run out of excuses it would seem. All of this may seem dire in its outlook. However the contrast to this dark message is that it paints an opportunity for the start up oil and gas producer that is the best business opportunity, ever.

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

Monday, November 07, 2016

Best Business Opportunity, Ever, Part XXIV

From my corner of the Internet I hear the echo of this blog pretty clearly. What is surprising to me is that outside of this little corner, there doesn’t seem to be too much concern for what’s going on. Reading the quarterlies, as far as the producer is concerned, is left to those two or three people who actually read them. Otherwise it’s on with show. This is very disconcerting and alarming. Producers are not generating enough cash in order to qualify as viable businesses. In the past they had hedges. Those dropped off in early 2016 and now the producers are fully exposed to the commodity price collapse. In some cases 2016 revenues are barely half of 2015’s. Producers are not covering the cash costs of their operations. Clouded by refinancings the drainage of value from the industry is epic. And it's at a pace that won’t take long before the doors start closing. Of course this is based on the fairy tale accounting of the SEC which puts a gloss on everything as it is anyway. These firms continue to sit on outsized asset balances which make the situation look better than it is.

I heard the other day an economist state that the commodity price declines are over. And that the industry could now begin the rebuilding process. Sorry, which industry? Which leads me to believe that economists are always optimistic, and generally wrong. Which begs the question why are we still listening to these people. When did they earn the credibility that they lost during the financial crisis. Only one economist, Nouriel Roubini, warned about the financial disaster that was about to occur in 2008. The rest were laughing at him. Anyone looking out the window could generally see that Noriel was right. It’ll be a long time before I start listening to economists again. Especially when the financial condition of the industry is this bleak.

What is needed is some adult supervision. Some industry leader needs to stand up and say that this situation is untenable and begin the process of righting this ship. Or we will all be going down with it very soon. The operating base of the industry. The core of what provides value in the industry has been eroded to the point where it is not safe for anyone. The healthy producers, those that can swim, are being drawn under water by those that are desperate for cash. Producing anything and everything despite the consequences. Selling anything and everything, irrespective of the price or costs they paid. Making the value of everything for everyone worth less. As more healthy swimmers are pulled underwater they are forced to hang on to other healthy swimmers and soon everyone drowns.

In all cases the value of the producer has been substantially eroded in the third quarter of 2016. No one is able to deal with this situation on their own anymore. Everyone, the startups, intermediates and the integrateds are all being affected severally and comprehensively from this collective drainage of value. Any remedial efforts on an individual producer level are moot. It's a collective issue that is industry wide. The decline in commodity prices was the beginning. The accounting masking the losses for so long. Now the losses being fully realized only show that the momentum is against the industry.

If we don’t stop this it will get the better of us. Looking the other way, which is what the producers are doing, is not the answer. The business is deteriorating. The deterioration is accelerating at a remarkable pace. I may be biased but the only way to turn this around is to have the Preliminary Specification in place. And that won’t be a timely solution. But if the industry doesn’t hear that “jarring gong,” then it won’t be too long from now.

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

Friday, November 04, 2016

Best Business Opportunity, Ever, Part XXIII

What the existing producers refuse to accept is that the oil and gas commodities are “price makers.” In economics there are price makers and price takers. One characteristic of price maker is that small changes in supply / demand have a significant impact on price. Price takers, bottled water for example, are not affected by increases in supply / demand. There could be five new bottled water providers in the market tomorrow, the price for a bottle of water would be the same. These are established economic principles that are in effect in economies everywhere. Oil and gas does not compete with any other form of energy. They are monopolistic in their use. This also supports their classification as price maker. You can’t lubricate your engine with nuclear power, carry electricity in a bucket or establish a chemical plant near a hydro dam.

The Preliminary Specification makes the assumption that oil and gas are price makers and have adopted that as the strategy for the dynamic, innovative, accountable and profitable oil and gas producers. Using our decentralized production model which is designed to allocate production across the industry based on profitability. If the property is profitable, based on a consideration of all of the costs, then the property produces. These decisions will be evaluated independently by the members of the Joint Operating Committee based on the detailed, actual accounting of the property. When the existing producers see our price maker strategy, they state that its collusion and walk away. The line being sold to the investors by the existing producers hasn’t been questioned, yet. Some day someone will look up from these financial statements and suggest that enough is enough. Today, for now, it's impossible to challenge the conventional wisdom.

What need is there for the industry to consider the decentralized production model and our price maker strategy? Crisis, what crisis? Certainly it's bad for the investors, the service industry and the people that work in the industry. Have we seen any action in the C suite? Husky had their CEO retire but that may just be in the normal course of business. There’s no crisis when it comes to the people who are making the decisions in these producer firms. They’re fine thank you. Why would they want to expend the effort and disrupt their lives in order to make changes that wouldn’t have them sticking around for very long?

And so it is the industry gets drawn down into a bigger pit than the previous quarter. The hope that things will turn around ever present and endlessly promoted. The damage being done day by day is tragic and irreversible. Commodity prices will not turn around until such time as the North American producers institute some method of production allocation. In natural gas we’ve seen for six years this overproduction and it doesn’t stop. In oil it's the same thing over almost a three year period. Everyone has cut their capital budgets but that only cuts the marginal activities and in turn focuses the producer on sharpening their pencils. It's the same story each quarter, only the losses are getting larger. The cash being generated is smaller and the difficulties more substantial. They won’t stop wasting away, they just don’t care.

Which leaves us with the evidence that the startup producer needs. They won’t be challenged at any point by the existing producers, who won’t be in business for long either. The kind of damage being done to the established producer today is permanent. Therefore by using our price maker strategy, the startup oil and gas producer will be able to ensure their investors that they’ll be able to provide them with the most profitable means of oil and gas operations at all times. Something that should’ve always been the case in an industry where the commodities hold characteristics of “price makers.” Oil and gas is just not currently managed as a business, more of a personal petty cash for those fortunate few.

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

Thursday, November 03, 2016

Best Business Opportunity, Ever, Part XXII

Review of producers third quarter reports is very disheartening. As I suspected nothing has changed in the steep and downward decline of the industry. What’s the plan to deal with the way the industry is losing money? What’s the plan to reclaim the money that has been lost in the past number of years? Nothing, not a word. Just “muddle through” as before, as it will be in the future. How have these losses and overall destruction become the accepted norm in the industry? What are the origins of this attitude and why is it happening? Difficult questions, to which all that I get in response are blinking and stares back from those that I ask. The optimization of quarterly performance over the past decades have eroded not only the business, but also the capabilities of the producers.

Natural gas prices declined 15% last week. The biggest decline ever. Seems that storage is almost full and the winter isn’t going to be that cold after all. Oil is well below $46. Seems none of the Opec producers were that serious about the agreement that was prematurely announced. This is what passes for planning in the industry. Hoping that commodity prices will rise. That someone else will do something to make things better. Nonetheless, the implied commentary during the second quarter was that the third quarter would bring the turnaround of the industry. 2015 was the worst year ever. 2016 is looking even worse. Being asked to be patient is one thing, but when no actions are being taken, there is being fed a line.

There are trillions of dollars at stake. Don’t believe me, run the numbers for yourself. Determine what prices it would take for the industry to be profitable. Deduct the current prices and apply that across the production profile of North America. Then determine what it would be for the next 25 years. Add in the amount of capital expenditures that have been incurred but never accounted for. Add the future capital expenditures that will be accounted for under the Preliminary Specification, as we will be returning those dollars back to the investors too. My numbers are well known and I’m certain that your’s will be much higher.

We have clearly defined that the startup oil and gas producer has a prosperous future for the rest of this century and most particularly the next 25 years. They have the opportunity to purchase the current producing infrastructure from the existing producers as they wither away to oblivion. Selling assets to meet the cash shortfall is the future of those without any plans or ability to deal with the issues and opportunities in the business. The startups will acquire these assets and rehabilitate them into profitable operations by using the Preliminary Specification. Building significant value for themselves. Then, they will be able to access the value proposition of People, Ideas & Objects that we have determined to be in the range of $25.7 to $45.7 trillion for North America. Lastly the startups will be able to generate even more opportunity and value by way of ensuring that North America achieves energy independence.

Setting out with a startup today would be a worthwhile journey for these next 25 years. What is the long term future of these existing producers. What are they planning on doing? Will the investment community continue to sacrifice themselves for these producers? Complaining about Opec’s overproduction of natural gas in North America, or other such nonsense. And it will be to muddle along. So which side of the fence are you on. Which side of the fence is the producer that you work for on. Is a change necessary? I can understand that a 25 year horizon is too far for some people to contemplate. They may want to retire in 5 years or so. Which is fine, they should stay with their existing producer and ride that train to the end of the line. It’s just important to choose.

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

Wednesday, November 02, 2016

Best Business Opportunity, Ever, Part XXI

The realization that investors and bankers have been subsidizing the consumption of energy for the past four decades is beginning to permeate the minds of those in the marketplace. Investors have invested in good faith, the producers report those investments on the balance sheet as property, plant and equipment. Yet the entire producing infrastructure of the industry isn’t worth $0.02 because it takes billions of dollars each year to keep it operating. This issue is clearly evident today, finally, as a result of the shale reserves causing the overproduction to be so acute. The issue has been present in the industry since the time the SEC began this foolish accounting methodology and it should have stopped long ago. Was it only me that saw things this way? No.

The amount of assets sitting on producer balance sheets is enormous. Amounts that, when you calculate the annual capital expenditure increases and depletion decreases, will last for at least a quarter century or more. At which time they’ll become collectable, I guess. These are the costs of exploration and production. They need to be recognized and deducted from the prices of oil and gas and passed onto the consumers who use the commodity. Investors don’t frame the property, plant and equipment account balances and put them in with their precious works of art. Letting these balances balloon to ridiculous levels is the reason that this downturn has no resiliency in terms of its return to normal. All the value that was invested or built up in the industry has been frittered and wasted with nothing left but a producing infrastructure in critical care and on life support.

Today the solution is we need to implement the Preliminary Specification. It will do two things that are not being done in the industry today. It will recognize all of the costs of oil and gas. And it will allocate production volumes across the industry fairly and equitably. Moving these capital costs to the income statement won’t be done quickly. Producers are going to need to do it. Just because the SEC dictates the methodology doesn’t mean that every producer reaches the outer limit of acceptability of that methodology every year. The SEC provides a range of what is possible and the lower limit should be used to rapidly accelerate a decline in the balance of property, plant and equipment. That way industry can be self funding, pay investors a dividend and pay off the debts it has incurred. That then would qualify them as a business.

Shale based reservoirs make the allocation of production volumes necessary. It seems everyone these days is walking around with at least 5 tcf of gas. All of this gas is currently rushing to market as quickly as possible. A similar situation is occurring in oil. Allocating production based on profitability is therefore the only reasonable and fair means in which to allocate production. Profitability has to consider the capital costs under a reasonable depletion methodology. Deferring all of the capital costs depletion for 25 years is not a means to calculate profitability in a capital intensive industry.

Within the Preliminary Specification these issues are resolved through our decentralized production model and price maker strategy. Our software defines and supports a reorganization of the producer and industry. The producer is reduced to the C class executives, the earth science and engineering resources, some land and legal, with some support staff. The remaining administrative and accounting resources are reallocated to service providers who focus on one process and use the entire industry as their client base. Then, based on a detailed and accurate accounting, when a property doesn’t achieve profitability the decision can be made to shut-in the property. This enables the producer to save that properties reserves for a time when they can be produced profitably. Increase the producer's profitability by eliminating unprofitable production. And reduce the volume of the commodity in the market, enabling it to find the marginal cost.

Within the Preliminary Specification and the service providers that are defined and supported by our software. That shut-in property does not create any information in People, Ideas & Objects task & transfer network that distributes data to the service providers. Therefore the service providers will not be providing any services to the property, no billing for any services will be rendered and no costs for administrative or accounting services will be incurred by the property. The shut-in property will therefore incur what we call a null operation. No revenues, no royalties, no operating costs, and no overhead.

This is how we can turn the industry back to profitable operations. Start to rebuild the value that has been destroyed in the past four decades. This is part of the plan contained within the Preliminary Specification. The existing producers think that they have it under control. They have no plan, and have not identified the scope of the destruction that they’ve created. If you think it’s bad in oil and gas now, just wait, it will get worse. However, with this level of destruction, the level of creation is inversely correlated. Making this the best business opportunity, ever.

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