Producers' dilemma wins Energy-TV award |
Deloitte’s eminence in the energy sector has been recognized with a prestigious award from Energy-TV for “Most Innovative Project.” Deloitte received the award for Producers’ dilemma , a pioneering initiative that uses game theory to anticipate possible outcomes in the oil sands industry.
Previously focusing on producers and providers of products and physical services such as drilling, the 2008 Energy-TV award proceedings introduced the “Most Innovative Project” category to acknowledge the contribution that firms such as Deloitte make to the operational and strategic infrastructure of many of those core companies.
“This is a real honour,” said Dick Cooper, national Energy & Resources industry leader, upon accepting the award at a ceremony that brought together hundreds of energy professionals. “On the backs of our long-standing experience not only in the energy sector but also in Alberta, we realized it was incumbent upon us to facilitate discussion of the very significant and very real issues surrounding oil sands development. We wanted to get to the root of the matter, which meant opening a dialogue with industry and government.”
Producers’ dilemma: The role of game theory in anticipating industry outcomes applies game theory, a branch of mathematics that can predict outcomes in complex situations, specifically to oil sands development. While widely used in singular strategic scenario development, such studies rarely undertake to address industry-wide dynamics and to recommend industry-wide solutions. No such study has ever been done specifically on the oil sands.
To date, the study has proven its significant industry appeal. With oil consumption growing, supplies of conventional oil becoming increasingly limited, and demand and price continuing to rise, the oil sands of northern Alberta continue to attract unprecedented levels of attention and investment. And with international attention and interest in oil sands development comes concern regarding impacts on Alberta’s economic, social and environmental fabric. Producers’ dilemma set out to explore the widest possible range of future scenarios and, in doing so, has provided stakeholders with viable options and scenarios that will have an impact on their long-term strategies.
A new report detailing results of the project’s second phase, which included the participation of representatives from major oil sands companies and the Alberta government, is due out in late summer 2008.
“The response to this initiative by all interested stakeholders has been tremendous,” reflected Debbie Stojanovic, Deloitte’s national senior marketing manager for Energy & Resources. “Given the high degree of attention on the oil sands resource, we are pleased to have developed an initiative that gets to the heart of the issues that are top-of-mind for industry, government and stakeholders,” she said.
The awards ceremony was held on June 11, 2008, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Calgary. For more information on the study and to access the documentation and podcast, visit Producers’ dilemma.
Watch the acceptance speech
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