Neil deGrasse Tyson, is quickly becoming one of my favorite people to listen to. Now, I’ve been crazy busy, and I haven’t gotten to see Cosmos. This is one of those I’m really kind of upset to have missed, but hopefully things will slow down soon. When that happens, I’ll be able to catch it online, right? He was also on The Nerdist Podcast recently.
Next week, PennEnergy Research and the Oil & Gas Journal Site License program are hosting a breakfast with EMC. A panel of experts will be on hand to discuss Critical Issues Facing the Energy Industry, specifically enabling a culture of safety and SEMS compliance. Oil & Gas Operators the world over have always been concerned with safety, but recent incidents have brought the issue to the forefront. Since the BP Macodo explosion (Deepwater Horizon) regulations have been put in place as an industry standard. The Safety and Environmental Management Systems created by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) have been implemented and this not only impacts the operators but those companies who supply goods and services to them.
The discussion on April 8, 2014 tackles the issue of how Big Data can help. It doesn’t matter if you’re an operator or a supply chain partner, Big Data can help assure operational excellence.
Bob Tippee, the Editor in Chief of the Oil & Gas Journal will kick things off with opening remarks. Mr. Tippee has more than 30 years with the Oil & Gas Journal, and is one of the smartest men I know. Every time I talk with him or hear him speak, I learn something new. Bob Tippee has been chief editor of Oil & Gas Journal since January 1999 and a member of the Journal staff since October 1977. Before joining the magazine, he worked as a reporter at the Tulsa World and served for four years as an officer in the US Air Force. A native of St. Louis, he holds a degree in journalism from the University of Tulsa.
Leading the panel of energy industry thought leaders is Dr. Scott Shemwell. Dr. Shemwell, Managing Director of The Rapid Response Institute is an authority and thought leader in field operations and risk management with over 30 years in the energy sector leading turnaround and transformation processes for global S&P 500 organizations as well as start-up and professional service firms. He had been directly involved in over $5 billion acquisition and divestitures as well as the management of significant projects and business units.
He formerly served as Chief Operating Officer for an energy services company. He directed Oracle’s Energy Practice as vice president responsible for driving the strategic direction and business development.
While at MCI Systemhouse (now HP) he developed and implemented of the firm’s Y2K practice with a focus on the real-time systems responsible for both upstream and downstream petroleum production operation—forerunner of today’s Digital Oilfield.
While serving on the Halliburton Energy Services Leadership Team, he led its Information Technology line of business and was directly engaged in the transformation of the company into its Integrated Solutions business model as well acting as the CIO of the $2 billion Terra Nova (offshore Canada) project.
Dr. Shemwell has authored over 300 articles and presentations and three books; Essays on Business and Information, volumes I & II and just released, implementing a Culture of Safety: A Roadmap for Performance Based Compliance as co-author. He also serves as a member of the PennEnergy Research Advisory Board.
Formerly a Commissioned Officer in the United States Army Air Defense Artillery, he holds a Bachelor of Science in physics from North Georgia College, a Master of Business Administration from Houston Baptist University and a Doctor of Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University.
Martin Richards joins Scott on the panel. Martin is a member of the Energy Industry Solutions business within EMC’s IIG division. In 2010 Martin set up a team to design, develop and deploy content management solutions focused on the Energy Industry. Based on many years previous experience of content management Martin and his team built the Energy Industry solution suites and took them to market in mid 2011 – the EPFM suite. EMC Capital Projects, the initial solution, is aimed at managing content and processes and collaboration within a major Capital Project. The first EMC Capital Project solution was sold in Q3 2011 and this has now be sold in to over 40 organizations, in the Oil and Gas, Mining and Engineering markets. Based on the success achieved in 2011 EPFM became a fully managed EMC product in 2012.
To date the Energy Solutions have driven over $50m of sales revenue.
Capital Projects is now available as a cloud based subscription service, based on EMCs OnDemand hosting facilties (CPaaS)
At the start of Q1 2013 the EPFM suite was enhanced to include products for Asset Operations, Handover and Commissioning and Supplier Exchange.
2004-2009 – Senior Director EMC Consulting
Martin joined EMC in 2004 to develop the EMC IIG services business. Martin was initially based in the UK and focused on the EMEA market. Martin built the EMEA services team and developed the business from $10m to $50m per year in revenue. The key successes during this period was to build out the services operation in the emerging markets (Middle East, Africa, Russia) and to develop a key account strategy – driving >50% of annual revenues from a select number of strategic customers.
Martin moved to the USA in 2008 to take over the Americas Services business. During 2008-9 Martin operated a stable business generating $80m in services revenue annually.
I’m excited about the opportunity to watch these guys in action next week. If you’re in Houston and would like to join us, you can register here. I’ll be on hand for a little while after the event to talk one on one with individuals who would like more information surrounding these topics. Hopefully, we’ll see you there!
‘Til next time,
Jessica
English: Solar One power plant in Mojave Desert, California (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Sunny California’s Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System has caused problems for pilots traversing the region. Two anonymous complaints were filed in August, before the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System ever came online. A pilot complaint stated that the intense brightness from the mirrors made it impossible to look in the direction of the plant, and an air traffic controller reported that they received complaints of reduced visibility from pilots flying over the facility every day, especially during the late morning and early afternoon.
The Mojave Desert is home to the world’s largest solar plant, and using technology known as solar thermal, these computer-controlled mirrors track sunlight and reflect it onto water filled boilers on top of towers measuring 459 feet tall. Each mirror is 70 square feet, roughly the size of a garage door, and the facility contains around 300,000 of these mirrors. That’s a lot of reflected light. The sunlight gathered by the heliostats heats the water in the boilers to more than 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, creating steam which drives turbines to create electricity. By using sunlight to fuel these turbines, instead of fossil fuels, carbon emissions are estimated to be reduced by more than 400,000 tons annually. The Mojave desert is an ideal location for this kind of facility, thanks to the dry air and elevation, the area receives sunlight 330-350 days per year. The 392 MW facility covers 3,500 acres in San Bernadino County, California. NRG Energy, Google, and CSP firm BrightSource Energy own the solar farm.
Unlike traditional solar power, Ivanpah combines thermal and solar energy power generation. Data shows the power generated by the facility met 2.4 percent of electricity demand in California in 2013 and that number is rising. January numbers showed the utility-scale solar photovoltaic production generated enough to meet 2.9 percent of demand in January, proving California is quickly becoming a leader in CSP and utility-scale PV. According to a November 2012 article in Smithsonian.com, this facility almost doubles the amount of solar power produced in the US.
During the environmental study for the project, the visibility risk for drivers on Interstate 15 and aircraft was evaluated. This study found that pilots flying within 3,300 feet of the heliostats could experience temporary blindness and compromise safety. BrightSource Energy, one of the site developers, has been required to develop a heliostat positioning plan within 90 days of beginning operation to monitor brightness and avoid potential hazards.
Flights between Las Vegas and Southern California fly over the area above or near the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System dozens of times each day.
NRG Energy Inc co-owns and operates the plant, and they are investigating the situation. Company spokesman, Jeff Holland, said March 14 that they will respond in 10 days, so be on the lookout for an update from them this week.
‘Til next time,
Jessica
They’re all going to be at the Energy Thought Summit. What’s that? Well, my friend, keep reading and you’ll find out. (Maybe watch the video too.)
Energy Thought Summit (ETS) is happening this month in Austin, Texas. On March 24th – 25th the energy industry is taking over the Paramount Theater for a two-day event that promises to be an excellent forum to discuss and debate the state and the future of energy. This is an event I’m excited about.
So, what was it about ETS that really sucked me in? It wasn’t Darth Vader, Chewbacca, the Teslas car, or the game on the ETS site that is kind of addictive. (Although neither of these hurt, at all. Something tells me these guys like to have a good time.) The speaker list did it. Yes, I’m a bit of a geek and the opening keynote is Steve Wozniak…seriously, it is Steve Wozniak. You know, the co-founder of Apple and chief scientist at Fusion-io? He helped develop the first computer I ever used!
It doesn’t stop there, though. Envisioned and created by Zpryme, the company that brings us Smart Grid Insights, ETS has pulled together a speaker list with individuals on the cutting edge of the energy industry. This event is geared toward the up and comers who will be leading us into the future of energy. Panels surround topics such as:
With a goal of generating conversation around these topics, ETS has created an atmosphere of debate and discussion both offline and online. Tickets have been released in three batches. The initial two ticket releases have already sold out. According to their website on March 17, 2014, only 103 tickets remained for the entire event. So, you can still grab a ticket to this event to take part in the dialogue. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to rely on my colleagues’ notes of the panels they attend. (So, you guys better take some excellent notes for me! I’m just saying.)
‘Til next time,
Jessica
No hot dogs roasted here!
This time of year, I take a look at my New Year’s Resolutions to see if I’m staying on track. Actually, I’m not doing too bad. Some resolutions are going better than others, but when your goal is to “cook more food at home” and you end up having to have contractors in to fix water damage in your kitchen…well, let’s just say cooking without a kitchen takes more time and effort than most of us are willing to put in. (I did consider roasting hot dogs in the fireplace, but that directly contradicts “eat less processed food”…it was a really great fire though!)
Something that helps with a lot of these goals is a tool that I learned back in high school from the Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership Foundation. One of the many skills they taught me was how to create SMART goals. SMART goals meet the following criteria:
Since you aren’t here, and I don’t have any of your New Year’s Resolutions handy, I’ll pick on myself. Here is the first thing on my list (inspired by Random Acts of Kindness Project I did for my birthday last year)
Commit Random Acts of Kindness (at LEAST one per month) such as:
So, I’m putting myself to the test. Is this a SMART goal?
So what does this have to do with energy? I’m thinking more about work in general here, and maybe personal energy expended. Productivity is something that is on my mind quite a bit. My friend, Jim Stovall wrote a book, Ultimate Productivity and in it, he warns of the danger of activity vs. productivity. You know what he means. How many of us have gotten to the end of what felt like a really busy day, but have no idea what we accomplished? (You don’t have to raise your hand. I can’t see you. Don’t feel bad. It happens to me sometimes too.) I wonder a lot about whether I’m just being really active or if I’m actually being productive. (I’m wondering that today, in fact.) There are some tools I use to combat this niggling worry of “am I really productive?”
Today’s List
Begin and end every day by reviewing a list of “Things to Do”. Yes, I actually mean a physical list, not a mental one. At the end of every day I look over that day’s list and create a new one for the next day. Personally, I like paper, because there is nothing quite like making that slash through an accomplished task. (Also, I remember the stuff on the list better if I actually write it down vs. typing it.) If there are remaining items on the list I move them to the next day with a priority mark before putting other items on my task sheet.
My workday is pretty fluid to begin with. (Aren’t they all?) You never know if you’ll be called upon to take on a task that has to be accomplished “immediately”. I also work closely with clients, so that adds an extra level of fluidity. Most days, I do much more than the items on my list. If I get a new task, I just write it at the bottom of the list (sometimes, I write it and mark it out at the same time). Yes, it seems a bit redundant, but it also eliminates that feeling of being hard at work and accomplishing nothing. I have a physical reminder of all the things I did accomplish. It feels pretty good. You can see my list for today on the right. It’s nothing fancy, and not everything got marked off. Not a bad day’s work, though.
Make SMART goals. What? You’re telling me you don’t always set your own goals? Well, me either. Goals are handed down from pay grades well above mine, but I review them with my manager when I get them. Not all the goals that I receive start out specific, measurable, attainable/assignable, realistic, or time-related. However, we reword them so they are. For example, “increase sales” isn’t a SMART goal. However, if we tweak it a bit to read “increase research sales by Q4 through reaching current customers at least once every 30 days, identifying and contacting at least 15 prospective customers a week, and recruiting subject matter experts to participate in free monthly webinars about existing products and services” that looks a lot more like a SMART goal.
These are the tools that I fall back on when I’m feeling more active that productive, or even if I just feel like my schedule is running away without me. What tools do you use?
‘Til next time,
Jessica
This week, I’m travelling the country. Okay, so not the country, but Texas anyway. I’m spending a couple of days in Galveston before I head up to Houston. Believe you me, I am grateful for the relief from the cold, snowy weather engulfing my home state right now. Give me 50’s over 20’s any day!
I’m here for the Topsides show being held at Moody Gardens before going back up to Houston for the Winter NAPE Expo. These are two industry shows that I really enjoy. The exhibitors and attendees always have great information to provide, and always friendly and willing to talk. The Offshore Technology Conference that will be held at Houston’s Reliant Center in May is awesome, but with more than 100,000 attendees, sometimes it becomes challenging to have good conversations with people.
Today, I’ll be at Topsides with Dr. Scott Shemwell, the author of our report on SEMS regulations and an Integrity Management specialist (among other things). We did a couple of webinars on the topic a couple of months ago, and you can check out the archives on Integrity Management: A Critical Issue in the Energy Industry here and Critical Issues in the Energy Industry here. As always, please let me know if you have any questions for either myself or Dr. Shemwell. This is the second year Scott and I have attended Topsides to talk with people about what’s happening in the industry, and every time I talk to that guy I learn something new. (You know how it is when you get to spend time with really smart people.) I’m sure tomorrow will be no exception. Again, I’m always excited to meet readers in person, so if you’ll be there, let me know!
Tomorrow, I’ll be at the NAPE Expo in Houston at the George R Brown Convention Center. Last year this event was a huge success, and I don’t just say that because I won an iPad. (although, that in and of itself would have convinced me to mark that show down as time well spent!). PenWell and the Oil & Gas Journal will have a booth at the event, and I’ll be out and about on the show floor meeting new people. Stop by and say hello.
Well, yesterday was a rainy morning in Galveston. Today, however is crystal clear, cool, and gorgeous. I am a happy camper. Why? I had a wonderful hotel room last night. Normally, I wouldn’t be so excited by the mere existence of a hotel room, but I am especially grateful this time. As the plane’s doors were getting ready to close my phone rang. It was the website I’d used to book my hotel room. The hotel I’d booked more than a month in advance was overbooked, and they asked if this was a good time to talk about re-booking somewhere else. Unfortunately, they frown on telephone conversations on planes. When my plane landed, I called back and the helpful representative and I spent an hour looking for a comparable room in Houston. That didn’t work. I offered up Galveston as an alternative, since…I was working in Galveston this week too. Finally, we got me set up with a place to lay my weary head. That’s a little more drama than I care to find in my traveling, but it all ended up working out for the best. I have a great room at a lovely historic hotel, my window faces the gulf and I can watch the waves, and I got to cut down my travel time for the next couple of days. Now, if I can get the weather at home to cooperate and get me home on time….
‘Til next time,
Jessica
This morning’s webinar on the Worldwide Refinery Survey with Complexity Analysis with Daniel Johnston was a great success. Thank you to everyone who attended. Just in case you didn’t catch it this morning, never fear! I recorded it. You can view the recording here. There’s even a discount code for PennEnergy Research‘s refining products included at the end.
Daniel did a fantastic job, and we got some great questions from the audience. Find out information about how it all started, primary reasons to use the refinery complexity analysis, and how it all comes together. If you view and have questions, just let me know, and I’ll suss out the answers for you. After the webinar, if you want a copy of the slide deck, I can hook you up there as well. Just email me at jthompson@pennwell.com.
The Big Crew Change has been a topic of conversation for…a while. As the energy sector’s workforce gets closer to retirement, the discussion centers around ramping up recruiting efforts to enhance the workforce. What about all the information and experience that is the current workforce’s legacy? How do we pass that on to the incoming workforce?
PennEnergy suggests that site licenses from well-known industry publications may be a solution. The Oil & Gas Journal is one such publication. It has extensive history, horizontal content, accessible archives, and wide readership. (Bonus: I know a lot about this one because I work with their site license program.)
The Oil & Gas Journal’s first issue was released in 1902, and it has remained a leader in the industry.
Oil & Gas Journal presents news and technical articles and statistics about a specific, vitally important business to professional workers in that business. It selects articles and facts within articles carefully in service to one standard: usefulness to the target audience. It anticipates readers’ questions about the subjects and events it covers and pursues and reports answers, in as much operational detail as possible – Oil & Gas Journal Media Kit 2014
The weekly issues cover the depth and breadth of the oil & gas industry with content that appeals to a broad spectrum of oil & gas professionals across the globe. A Signet Ad Study done by the Oil & Gas Journal in July 2013 confirmed their readers include professionals from the following industries:
For all of its extensive history, OGJ has adapted with the times. Oil & Gas Journal is published 4-5 times monthly, and each issue is an interactive, online magazines delivered via email. However, they haven’t abandoned the rich tradition of the print publication. Each month there is a print magazine released, in addition to the digital edition,that is, on average, around 140 pages. However the reader prefers to read their industry news, OGJ is ready to provide. They even have mobile apps available.
As the current workforce gets closer to retirement, preserving and passing on that information and experience is vital, because while much about the oil & gas industry improves and changes, there is much that stays the same as well. More than 100 years of covering the oil & gas industry’s news in technology, policy, and comprehensive statistical information, OGJ offers a legacy of rich information the incoming work force will need during this Big Crew Change.
A benefit of the site license program is that it offers their wealth of knowledge through easily accessible archives. As of today, the magazine has digitized the content back to 1990. Okay, so let’s do a little math (don’t worry, I used a calculator). That’s 24 years of issues that are archived and available at the end of 2014. That would be 1,248 issues of the Oil & Gas Journal are at the fingertips of every site license client. All the technical information, statistics, surveys, and special reports are right there.
The special reports and features are chosen with great thought each quarter to ensure they are applicable to what is happening right now in the industry. Some of those features include the Worldwide Refinery Survey, Worldwide Construction Projects, and US Pipeline Economics Study. Industry experts and editors of the Oil & Gas Journal have contributed to PennEnergy Research’s webinar content. Sr. Pipeline Editor Christ Smith spoke at a webinar with PennEnergy Research in September and Daniel Johnston who compiles the Complexity Analysis that goes with the refinery survey will be contributing to a webinar on January 28th.
Each site license client’s site license is customized to their needs, and can even include statistical tables and research from PennEnergy Research in addition to the content from the Oil & Gas Journal. With a current client list of 42 companies including majors, super-majors, and national oil companies, the site license program has become a go-to resource for industry leaders.
Don’t just take my word for it, the Oil & Gas Journal is recognized by B-to-B Magazine as one of the Media Power 50.
Oil & Gas Journal assumes a leadership role within the oil and gas publishing arena through dominance in digital advancement. It is with great confidence that the OGJ brand continually excels at extending media vehicles not only for readers, but also for advertisers to reach and target global audiences.
For this reason, OGJ received recognition in B-to-B Magazine as one of the Media Power 50 in May 2013. OGJ is also the only publication within the oil and gas industry to gas such accreditation in 2013. – Oil & gas Journal Media Kit 2014
How does your company plan to handle the Big Crew Change? Where do you get your industry information?
‘Til next time,
Jessica
English: The MER B launch (launch of the second Mars Exploration Rover, the Opportunity rover on July 7th 2003 at 11:18pm from Pad 17B, aboard a Delta II rocket at Cape Canaveral). More information and NASA direct video at http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/detail.cfm?mediaid=20237 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Can you believe that it has been 10 years since the Mars Rovers landed on the Red Planet? Neither can I. However, as a kid who had a dream of seeing earth from space, and watching Space Camp way too many times (Yes, I was very disappointed to discover that becoming and astronaut would require lots of *gasp* math. There ended the dream of heading off into space one day.), I have kept an eye on NASA. So when it popped up that they were celebrating 10 years since Mars Explorer Rovers Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars…of course I had to check it out!
Last night NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA invited the public to an event for the Mars Exploration Rovers. The California Institute of Technology’s Beckman Auditorium housed the festivities, admission was free, and entry was based on a first-come, first-served basis.
Mars Exploration Rover’s Spirit and Opportunity were launched by NASA in 2003, and landed weeks apart on The Red Planet in January 2004. Their prime missions lasted only three months ending in April 2004, but they continued to perform extended missions for years. Discoveries made by Spirit and Opportunity indicated that the Red Planet may have been favorable for supporting microbial life due to wet environments on ancient Mars. A few days ago, Opportunity made another startling discovery, which Steve Squyres announced at the event last night. A “mystery rock” appeared in front of the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. After reviewing pictures at that location from Opportunity’s panoramic camera showing just bare bedrock, the most recent picture shows a rock appearing. Scientists at MER promptly named it “Pinnacle Island”
“It’s about the size of a jelly doughnut,” Squyres told Discovery News. “It was a total surprise, we were like ‘wait a second, that wasn’t there before, it can’t be right. Oh my god! It wasn’t there before!’ We were absolutely startled.” – Mystery Rock ‘Appears in Front of Mars Rover’, Discovery News, January 17, 2014, Ian O’Neill
Spirit’s “postcard” view from the summit of Husband Hill: a windswept plateau strewn with rocks, small exposures of outcrop, and sand dunes. The view is to the north, looking down upon the “Tennessee Valley”. This approximate true-color composite spans about 90 degrees and consists of eighteen frames captured by the rover’s panoramic camera. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
There’s lots of speculation as to how the rock came to be in the panoramic frame. The most likely theory is that Opportunity executed a turn in place a meter or two from that rock, and, due to a failed actuator on the right front while, it caused enough disruption as it “chattered” to dislodge the rock. However, other theories include a meteorite event that disturbed the rock. At this point scientists can only guess. The investigation will likely be ongoing for several days. The dislodged rock offers a unique opportunity for study. The overturned rock landed on its back, exposing a side of the rock that hasn’t seen Martian atmosphere for billions of years.
Although Opportunity continues to transmit findings back to Earth, communications between Spirit and Earth stopped altogether in March 2010. Spirit became stuck in a sand pit and likely ran out of juice to continue transmitting. Now it is just Opportunity and Curiosity, which landed in August 2012.
I love watching the Mars Curiosity landing. The internet has made it so we can all share in some of these great moments in space exploration. The landing video is out on YouTube, so whenever I get the hankering to see how far we’ve come, I can go there and check it out. You don’t even have to go that far, you can just watch it below.
//www.youtube.com/embed/
Wow, just wow. Every time I watch that, I get goosebumps. Just think about it. Humans have landed stuff on another planet…another planet. Did I mention that there are pictures from things that we landed on another planet? I get butterflies in my stomach every time I think about it. What’s next?
This event also had the unexpected benefit of making NASA more appealing to a younger generation. The appearance of “the mohawk guy” highlights what NASA is really made of, brilliant young people who want to push the boundaries. He’s landed guest spots on shows and speaking at conventions such as San Diego’s Comic Con. The guy even got to meet the President of the United States.
There’s more information online about the Mars Exploration Program here.
‘Til next time,
Jessica
EnergyGirl101 