Forty-six examples are given of financial, planning, organizational, 

 management, engineering and general business problems to be overcome-- 

 the large capital outlays committing industry to a specific course are 

 concentrated in the latter stages of the schedule as shown below [13]: 



Elapsed Time Activity 



(years) 



1. Establishment of initial organization 



2. Determination of purpose 



3. Determination of structural approach 



of business entity (sole risk or 

 joint venture) 



4. Formation of business entity (corporation, 



partnership, etc.) 



0.5 5. Establishment of requirements (final 



needs and budget) 



6. Creation of plan 



7. Evaluation of means (to gain competitive 



position) 



8. Estimation of costs and timing 



9. Framing of objectives 



10. Study of preliminary tasks (economic 



analysis, infrastructure required, 

 and markets) 



11. Determination of equity positions 



12. Finalization of decisions 



1.25 13. Start of negotiations for lease or 



concession 



14. Contracting of seismic survey (and 



study of regional geology) 



15. Geophysical surveying of area 



16. On-site seismic surveying of area 



35 



