Peebler – At the frontier of business and petrotechnical computing there is a requirement to move data back and forth between the two environments. Landmark was convinced that standards were required in this area, but they needed to be a high level of abstraction. Somewhere around the interpretation level, linking for example the uncertainty in reservoir analysis with business planning tools. We are currently working in the field linking production allocation to accounting where there is a requirement for real-time accounting. Other immediate targets for such technology are the drilling AFE, tying in to cost accounting systems. This is a joint industry effort.

Peebler No never - oil company executives clearly understand the need to translate business requirements into IT solutions. Landmark is a more credible partner in this than consultants from the ‘big six’ - we are closer to the action! There are however parallels from outside of the oil industry, especially in the field of reducing cycle time, which can be applied to the whole interpretation process. This is where real productivity gains are to be made, you can't have a business model that relies on $18 oil these days, you need to establish leadership through improved productivity, which I'd define as a quality decision reached at quickly. Speed is of the essence.

Peebler – There is a balance between cycle time and quality of course, but slow does not equate with quality. We don't want to generate bad prospects.

Peebler – We do have a problem of definition here. Some would have it that the Asset Team is an accountable unit that might appear on the balance sheet. For others, it is a multidisciplinary team which may be a reality, but is not universally implemented. We believe that over time the deployment of such teams will become routine.

Peebler – We believe that collaborative processes can bring both speed and quality. Discussions in the context of the right work process enhance the quality of the final decision. This is why we are investing so much in our Decisionarium for collaborative interpretation. We have also been studying team behavior inside the Decisionarium. At first, people are kind of clumsy, but by the third day they really begin to work differently. People meet up and leave energized!

Peebler – We have made sales, and we lease the facility so companies can try them out for a few days. Soon everyone will have one! When you think about it, the Decisionarium is just the modern day equivalent of the wall chart. - enhanced in 3D space.

Peebler – Landmark's primary differentiator is that we have routinely envisaged the next step of integration. Back in 1986, few people were really thinking about integration, but Landmark was putting the first pieces together, integrating interpretation and mapping. What also sets us apart is the view we have of high potential intersections - with our deliverables last year of interpretive seismic processing, and now with the ongoing work at the frontier of drilling and G&G. Both our efforts at the intersections, and our focus on integration reflect our understanding of the business drivers of our industry and our desire to put this understanding into practice.