JVViews: September 2015 Issue
President's Note
Editor's Note
PJVA/GPAC Joint Conference: Shattering Conventional Notions – The New Reality of Unconventional Resources - October 29 at the Palliser Hotel
Pub Networking Night
Early Morning Discussion - September 30th, 2015
June Luncheon Review - The Bear, the Lion and the Prize: the Tale of Oil, Geopolitics and Eurasian History
Annual Report
Upcoming Events
Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon Review
Member Benefits
President's Note
I would like to welcome everyone back to another year with the PJVA. Kind of sounds like a teacher with his/her students.
This year is going to be a challenging year for all of our companies with the price of oil hitting lows that we haven’t seen since the mid 80’s, and the price of gas isn’t any better. We’ve all heard the doom and gloom forecasts and have seen it in our own companies with many of our compatriots released and now looking for work. As such, I won’t dwell on that.
We’ve got an exciting year with a number of new directors on the Board, who bring with them new ideas and great enthusiasm. I would like to welcome Chris Scherman, Michelle Thoen, David Norris, Bradley Hodges and Jonathan Cassetta to the Board. I know they will be great in their new positions. I would also like to that the Board members who have left; Gord Cannon, Robyn Lewis, Keith Brereton and Brooke Archibald. We appreciate the loyalty and hard work that each of them brought to their former positions and to the Board itself.
One of our mandates for this year to utilize volunteers more than we have in the past. When I asked a long past president why more volunteers weren’t used, I was told that it must be that all of the Board members are a bunch of type A’s and that they would rather do things themselves. If anyone has ever taught a child to do almost anything you know that you can’t do it for them. I feel that the PJVA is like that. We have a large number of people who would like to help out, but haven’t been contacted. I’ve tasked each of the Directors on this year’s Board to utilize as many volunteers as they can so that we can help them to develop their Joint Venture / Joint Interest careers. If you haven’t been contacted in the past and have turned your back on trying to help out, please come forward and talk to one of the Directors or to Connie and mention that you’ve been wanting to help out for years but have been spurned. I’m sure we can find a spot for you.
I want to thank each one of you that has helped or is planning on helping, as we can’t do what we have to do in the coming years without you.
Thanks,
Marcel Savoie
PJVA President 2014-2015
Editor's Note
The President’s Message, authored by new PJVA President, Marcel Savoie, warmly welcomes you all back to another year and sets up the upcoming session for the PJVA members and its Board. After what turned out to be an amazing summer, weather-wise, I too want to welcome you all back to what we hope will be a continuation of value adding, educational, value adding and fun-filled activities. I hope I get to see old friends and meet new ones at any number of the events this coming year.
Kent Black
Newsletter/Website Director 2014-2015
PJVA/GPAC Joint Conference: Register before October 2 to take advantage of the early bird rate and be entered into a draw for a One night Stay at Grey Eagle Resort including buffet breakfast.
Conference Website
Pub Networking Night – September 24, 2015 - State & Main
Kick off the Fall season with your PJVA colleagues. Stay connected in this challenging economic environment.
Early Morning Discussion - Wednesday, September 30th
What should the accepted industry practice be on determining Emulsion Handling Fees in a low price environment?
See the Event Page HereJune Luncheon Review – The Bear, the Lion and the Prize: the Tale of Oil, Geopolitics and Eurasian History
The PJVA’s June 18th Luncheon featured Tony Cioni, a practicing energy lawyer, Partner with Torys LLP, and Canadian Regional Director for the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators. Tony led us through a highly condensed macro-history of the impact geography has had in regards to the development of Eurasian nations leading to the Russian Empire, and the growth of the British Empire, and the incredibly long-lasting impact these two empires have had upon the political stage in the middle east.
Firstly we began with the 5000 year historical trend of conflict between nomadic and farming cultures. The trend started to reverse after the Russians (a farming culture) began to assert their dominance of nomadic people. This began with Russia wanting control over their homeland, followed by the assertion of dominance over the once controlling nomadic homelands. This expansion placed the Russian borders in Central Asia within close proximity of Britain’s zone of influence.
The British Empire, unlike the vast land area controlled by the Russians, was established through their dominance as a naval power. India, a critical source of wealth for the Britons played an enormous role in the development of the Suez Canal, and therefore, the importance of controlling Egypt, regions North of the Red Sea became critical buffer zones for the critical strategic importance of the middle eastern states (what is now modern day Iraq, Iran, Syria, Saudi-Arabia, Yemen…) as key military land areas necessary for Britain’s continued interest in maintaining its naval and therefore colonial strength.
The key threat to British India was really Russia’s imperial ambitions. By using its Caspian and Central Asian territories as a base, the British were worried that Russia would mount an invasion either directly from Central Asia, or through Persia. This had the effect of turning what we now call Iran and Afghanistan into the political footballs that they are still today.
The speaker provided the interesting revelation of Churchill’s little known role in the implementation of burning oil for fuel on British naval vessels. The success of Britain’s conversion to oil resulted in increasing the importance of the middle eastern states as large production areas, already a critical point between the two empires.
This set the stage for the Saudis’ increasingly influential position as an oil exporter from the 1950s forward, taking 50% of profit from the production. In doing so, the Saudis’ got a much better deal than the Iranians. This lead to further regional tension between Saudi and Iran down to present day.
Tony further postulates it is possible that the downward trend in prices may be the result of and attempt by the Saudis to secure a greater interest in middle eastern oil by crippling Iran by forcing them to take an artificially lowered value for the commodity. Given Saudis huge US dollar currency reserves and Iran’s more fragile economy, this amounts to a sort of economic warfare. This potentially allows the Saudis to leverage their foothold in producing areas around the world by advantage of a artifically lowered price and leveraging Sunni and Shia relations to further destabilize the region to their advantage.
Year-end Academic Report
The 2014-2015 Annual Report is available online here
Volunteer Appreciation Lunch
The Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon was held on July 23rd, hosted by Crescent Point Energy in their in-house Bistro to thank all of the PJVA Volunteers for contributing their time and efforts over the last year to PJVA. We had 56 volunteers in attendance of an 90+ volunteer base. Thank-you for your outstanding efforts in helping to foster a great PJVA Association! We look forward to your continued support in the coming year. Have a great summer everyone!
Thanks,
Scott Wolfson
PJVA Volunteers Director
Upcoming Events
October 8, 2015 CO&O Course – Delta Bow Valley
October 22, 2015 – monthly luncheon
November 26, 2015 – annual Christmas Social - Register Here
December 1, 2015 – JV Audit course was postponed from Sept 22 to Dec 1st
Member Benefits
Don’t forget to check out the Resources link of the website for Member Benefits.
PJVA was incorporated in 1985 to represent individuals and organizations involved in petroleum joint ventures. JVViews is published to keep members informed about upcoming PJVA and industry events, courses and seminars offered and/or sponsored by PJVA and current projects being facilitated by the Association.