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ventures with other producers
and service companies, once technologies are developed and
proven, producers often don't step up to the plate and apply
the very concepts they paid to develop. And when they do, the
tendency is to squeeze the service sector so hard that their
profit incentive disappears. Today's short-term business focus
leads both producers and the service sector to be risk averse.
Producers delay adoption and the service sector concentrates
on low-risk product improvement and efficiencies, "incrementalism"
if you will rather than radical innovation. This may be
profitable but it will not lay the foundation for game
changing technologies.
So how do we change this? A recent Journal of Petroleum
Technology (JPT) roundtable convened specifically to look at
the funding and uptake of new upstream technology noted that
other industries involve more cooperation among competitors as
well as more collaboration between the developers and users of
technology. Another well-made point was |
standardization, or technologies
not needing to be tailor-made for individual companies. For adoption, the
panel noted how special corporate implementation teams are
successfully stimulating technology adoption. These teams work
for two reasons—there are "champions" and the teams have funds
for initial field tests, taking the financial pressure off
risk-averse business units.
Where does PTTC fit in?
Although not championing any specific product, PTTC fits in by
being a "knowledgeable, unbiased" source of organized
information on solutions for problems facing domestic O&G
operators. PTTC has the resources to proactively reach out to
industry using a variety of tools, with workshops and the web
being primary tools. Where additional field demonstration is
needed, PTTC helps "connect" industry with governmental
programs offering potential funding support and reports
results back to producers. Creating an environment where
individuals share both good and bad experiences is central to
PTTC's philosophy.
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