There are three critical elements to success in the oil and gas industry. People, Opportunity, and Capital. It's obvious that capital is required in any venture but what prompts us to raise capital? Opportunities and ideas promote the need for capital. These ideas and opportunities are derived from a very important source, one that is often overlooked, seldom credited, yet essential to the equation.
The source is people. They are the creators of opportunity. They contribute the largest amount of time, energy, and talent to any project. Without people, the opportunities we all enjoy would not exist. All data and ideas are useless without people. Geophysics just a bunch of squiggly lines, pressure build-ups just a graph. To make successful use of the myriad of information available today, we need very qualified people.
Many of us spend countless hours looking at the bottom line. How many of us take the time to examine the people behind the line. These are the assets of our companies. A simple equation in cost analysis can demonstrate the cost effectiveness of people. Ideas equal opportunities, which require capital. They create, produce, and market our organizations.
It's simple to see that people, opportunities, and capital are synonymous with success. It is important to spend as much time finding effective people as we do looking for new ventures and capital gain. People will provide the opportunity we seek and the potential for the future.
When we think or talk about the "bottom line", we often think only of quarterly or yearly financial statements. This is probably quite true considering the way these words are used by the general public and the media, but there are many aspects to the bottom line of which this is just one. Some cultures have a financial bottom line which, is not measured in months or years, but in decades and generations. Another bottom line is shareholder value and increase in stock price, which may not be related to earnings, the usual bottom line, but to prospects of future growth. Some other bottom lines might be an enterprise's contribution to the community and its regard for people, safety, and the environment.
In analyzing the critical elements of success in oil & gas, the three most important seem to be Opportunity, Capital and People.
Opportunity is the door through which the capital and people move to perform their work. Most people, when they look around, see more opportunities than they can deal with. The opportunities may be oil & gas geological prospects, an asset that one may be available for purchase or a supply opportunity for a new product or service. People who can visualize the value of moving ahead with projects, or of providing a service, evaluate, select and develop these opportunities.
Capital, the second spoke in the wheel of success, is also very tied to the human component. Capital will flow to projects, services and businesses where there is a potential for growth.
