Orchestrating production from an asset requires skill, technology, communication and cooperation between all stakeholders.
The difference between a discordant cacophony and a beautiful musical performance lies principally in the orchestration - the blending of each instrument into a harmonious, coordinated piece. The analogy holds true in almost every situation. How many times have we watched an "All Star" game - whether baseball, hockey, basketball or football (both kinds) - only to be disappointed in the performance? For some reason, the superstars don't play as well together as the teams they came from.
It's fundamental that teamwork and coordination play major roles in ensuring a successful outcome in any endeavor - music, sports or hydrocarbon production. All the prima donnas in the world cannot equal the performance of a well-trained team. Accordingly, it is refreshing to see companies forming cooperative agreements to work together toward common goals. Almost daily, announcements are made regarding technology collaboration between oil companies and service providers. Recently Halliburton announced that it will team up with Saudi Aramco in the largest Persian Gulf area development since the 1950s - the Khurais mega project. And Statoil will collaborate with Schlumberger over the next 3 years to develop jointly new production optimization technology to extend the life of oil and gas fields.
These are but two of many recent intercompany cooperation agreements. They should pay big dividends and reward their participants with significant profits as well as valuable new knowledge and experience. But the practice is not limited to cooperation between companies. Departments within producing companies, once as distant from each other as salad and dessert, are seeing the benefit of integrating their workflow processes to optimize the flow of oil. They are being helped by new integrated software solutions from service providers, who in turn are forming alliances with other service providers to create new, more efficient ways to harness vast information bases and turn them into useful knowledge.
Knowledge management has become a powerful adhesive, binding diverse disciplines and organizations into smoothly operating teams. Defined as the totality of a company's knowledge facilitated by global connectivity, knowledge management clears the fog of tradition and convention that has been obscuring the way to true production optimization. By focusing on corporate and asset goals, teams are able to forget parochial biases and achieve synergy - like a championship team or a world renowned orchestra.
Some will say, "That's easy for companies like Halliburton and Saudi Aramco, but what about independents or specialty service companies?"
Even better. Collaboration and teamwork works for everyone. In my opinion, smaller companies need it most and can derive a greater percentage of benefits by using it to level the playing field. When companies leverage their offerings by working together to solve real production problems they can increase their customers' profits immensely and should share in the rewards. For those who worry that the increased prices of technology solutions will cost them business, here's a thought. If the service you are offering costs more, but can reduce the operator's total operating cost, it is worth more. If you can collaborate to come up with value solutions, you can get more for them and everyone, including you, your client and the company you are collaborating with, will profit.
So work to get your operations in tune with your business or asset goals. Satisfy your customers' business, operational and personal needs and you will be successful. If this means forming alliances, partnerships or technology development consortia, do it. Better yet, involve your customer and work as a team to solve a real problem together.
Several years ago, Petro Canada was planning the development of the huge Terra Nova field offshore Newfoundland. After much consideration, they had whittled down 15 or so service contenders down to a final three. I asked Petro Canada's vice president of frontier operations how he would choose the final winner. "All are capable," he explained. "Now it comes down to deciding who we like working with best." Consider his words. All those millions of dollars worth of business rested on teamwork, communication and cooperation. Powerful drivers, they are like the orchestration that turns a cacophony of sound into a beautiful symphony.
Just as they do for big orchestras or world-class teams, these principles apply equally to a small jazz combo or a beach volleyball pair. Success comes when individual skills are melded with coordination and cooperation to form a cohesive team effort. Come up with a winning combination, then play it again and again.