Tag Archives: Energy

Preparing for The Big Crew Change

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:

  • ProductionOGJ
  • Exploration
  • Drilling
  • Financial/Business
  • Gas Processing
  • Pipeline/Transportation
  • Refining
  • Petrochemical

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

 

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A Different Kind of Crowdfunding Campaign: Bringing Solar Power to Schools

Natural Resources Defense Council

Natural Resources Defense Council (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I came across this article on PennEnergy.com and I just had to check it out to see what the deal was.  There is an Indiegogo campaign by NRDC to launch a clean energy pilot program in schools in the United States. How awesome is that? I am a big fan of crowdfunding in general, but before today, most of the campaigns I’ve been involved with have had more of an artistic bent. You know stuff like movies, albums…stuff like that, but as soon as I read the summary for this campaign, I just had to jump in.

The sun is a source of clean energy that we never have to worry about running out, and every time we power one of our schools with solar technology, we:

  • Help the school cut its energy costs
  • Give our kids healthier air to breathe
  • Make our communities more energy independent
  • Provide hands-on learning experiences with renewable energy, sparking student interest in science and math

That’s why we’re seeing more and more people raising their hands and saying, “I want solar for my school.”

-NRDC Indiegogo campaign

Here’s the challenge though.  Schools are always trying to stretch their budgets just a little bit further and administrators and teachers are always working to squeeze a little more time into their day.  Where are they going to find the time and resources to research and develop solar power for their school?

That’s where Solar Schools comes in.  This is a program that takes ideas from programs that help simplify a complicated process by walking you through this complex, multi-step process (like TurboTax) and networking sites (like LinkedIn) to build a community and connect them with experts in the field of solar power.  Solar Schools is all about empowering communities and schools.

The first phase of the pilot program is set to roll out in January of 2014.

Through pilot projects in 3-5 communities, we aim to prove that our new social organizing tool and dynamic guide will help communities:

  • Build their solar volunteer team quickly through friend-to-friend connections.
  • Organize and track project momentum by creating a “hub” and guide for activism.
  • Empower more parents, students and teachers as leaders – creating more project “ownership” opportunities and higher levels of volunteer engagement.

-NRDC Indiegogo campaign
 

The crowdfunding campaign through Indiegogo is to support the build-out of the Solar Schools platform, and help bring solar power to 3-5 schools around the United States during this first phase.

All of us know how important it is to spark an interest in the hearts of young people for math and science.  They could be the ones to to create the next big innovation in technology.  Maybe it all starts because they got to watch solar power at work at their school.

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Statistics are Actually Kind of Cool…I’m Not Kidding!

Earlier this year I attended the EIA Conference in Washington, DC, and luckily for me I walked away from the trip with more than just a new found appreciation for the beauty of the capital of the United States.  This was my first EIA Conference, and it was chock full of wildly useful information.  Our keynote speaker at lunch was Hans Rosling, a professor at Karolinska Institute and Chairman of the Gapminder Foundation.  Although Professor Rosling isn’t an energy expert, his discussion and presentation were particularly interesting, because he discussed population growth and the importance of access to energy for developing countries among other topics.  He actually talks about the importance of creating a fact based worldview at Gapmider.  It is no longer just developed and developing countries…the facts show us another story.

 

I wish I could link you to his presentation as a keynote at the EIA Conference (It really was great.  There were animated bouncing circle graphs and everything.), but unfortunately that is unavailable (and I was too busy eating the surprisingly good lunch to really take good notes on the statistics he presented).   He is an incredibly entertaining, informative, and enthusiastic speaker.  However poor my notes are on his statistics (and they are practically non-existent), I was astounded at the impact access to energy and simple electricity truly has on the development of a country.  The challenge with this access comes from a great variety of sources, but infrastructure plays a large role.  Hans Rosling’s discussion came to mind as I was reading this white paper today.

Technology Trends and Tomorrow’s Energy Infrastructure Challenge

The latest studies show massive increases coming for the world’s population, and with that increase will come growing demand for hydrocarbons. The infrastructure to meet that demand is lacking, and it will take a massive investment over multiple generations to provide it. Meeting this challenge is already a monumental undertaking. Factor in skills shortages, environmental difficulties, increasing project size, and financial concerns, and the challenge can seem insurmountable. AutoDesk is thinking about these challenges. In Technology Trends and Tomorrow’s Energy Infrastructure Challenge, AutoDesk and PennEnergy look at these massive infrastructure needs and consider the technological advances that will help us meet and overcome them. This white paper examines real data from the OECD and the IEA, and looks at the possible scenarios it paints for the future. Then, using the latest technology trends, the paper confronts these challenges. From possible scenarios to probable results, this paper looks at the future needs for oil and gas infrastructure, and how we can best meet that challenge.

Now, I couldn’t find a video of a similar talk, by Hans Rosling, but Gapmider does a really cool thing, they offer the statistics (including the lovely dancing circles) to view for free.   So what is Gapminder exactly?

Gapminder is a non-profit foundation based in Stockholm. Our goal is to replace devastating myths with a fact-based worldview. Our method is to make data easy to understand. We are dedicated to innovate and spread new methods to make global development understandable, free of charge, without advertising. Gapminder.org

I hunted down a couple (or a few, I may have gotten fascinated by the bouncing circles) statistics that provide a correlation between the decrease in infant mortality rate and the increase in energy use.   I believe many of these are the same as the ones Mr. Rosling used in the presentation I saw.  However, I don’t have Sherlock Holmes’s mind palace and this was four months ago.  Hopefully, he’ll forgive me if I missed something or added something.  The graphs that I found to provide fascinating insight into this topic are listed and linked to below.  They have this data available in Excel format as well, but….well, I like the dancing circles more than numbers.

Energy use, total

Electricity use, total

Oil consumption, total

Child mortality (0-5 year olds dying per 1,000 born)

Children per woman (total fertility)

Life expectancy (years)

This Ted Talk from 2009 doesn’t cover the energy issue, but I found it really interesting.  Actually, all of his talks are pretty stinking riveting.  This guy makes statistics fun…those are words I never thought I would ever utter in my lifetime.  Thank goodness I’m sitting down.  I especially liked the surprise trick at the end. (No, I can’t tell you what it is…it wouldn’t be a surprise otherwise!)

‘Til next time,

Jessica

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Critical Energy Issues Discussion Webinar Recording…and Other Stuff

This morning I did a webinar with Dr. Scott Shemwell, Critical Energy Issues Discussion Webinar, and we recorded it.  Basically, all I do is set things up for the guy with all the information.  Dr. Shemwell is the one who did all the heavy lifting on this.  The webinar covers topics like integrity management, a new critical energy issues forum, an Economic Value Proposition Matrix designed for the industry, and a lot of other information.  However, we managed to keep it around 45 minutes, and I like to talk so that was a bit of a challenge.

A lot of this revolves around the SEMS (Safety Environmental Management System) regulations.  After the BP Macondo (Deepwater Horizon) incident, these issues really took center stage, and the final rule is out.  The deadline approaches for the audits done by accredited third party auditors. (It is November 15, 2013).  SEMS may only apply to deepwater operations now, but word is that it will be spreading to shallow water and onshore operations before too long.  The webinar goes over a lot of really great information, and since you aren’t getting the webinar live, comment with any questions that come up.  I’ll take them to the expert (whoever that may be) and I’ll reply to your comment with the answer.  The same thing goes for information on PennEnergy Research or the Oil & Gas Journal Site License program.  If you know someone you think would be interested in this, then share the love.  The webinar is free and runs about 45 minutes.

During the webinar, Scott references a lot of different different sites, so I wanted to make sure that everybody could find all the things.  If you’re in the Houston area there’s the upcoming breakfast to kick off the Critical Energy Issues Forum on October 24, 2013 at the Deep Offshore Technology Conference in The Woodlands, TX.  We hope that you’ll be able to join us there for an in depth discussion of the topics covered in the webinar, and you can register here for that event.  If you’d  like to become a member of the Critical Energy Issues Forum that begins on November 1, 2013, you can register for your member only access here.  Dr. Shemwell’s Governing Energy blog regarding good practices in the nuclear industry will be going up shortly, and you can read that as well as previous posts and additional blogs posted on PennEnergy.

‘Til next time,

Jessica