NONPROFIT SOFTWARE GROUP TAKING SHAPE

The Petrotechnical Open Software Corp. (POSC), a nonprofit corporation founded by five major U.S. oil companies, is starting up in Houston. POSC plans to build a worldwide partnership between customers and suppliers of technical software for the oil industry. Founding sponsors of POSC are units of BP Exploration, Chevron Corp., Ste. Nationale Elf Aquitaine, Mobil Corp., and Texaco Inc. They have appointed representatives to the POSC board of directors, and the board has elected the

Dec. 24, 1990

2 min read

The Petrotechnical Open Software Corp. (POSC), a nonprofit corporation founded by five major U.S. oil companies, is starting up in Houston.

POSC plans to build a worldwide partnership between customers and suppliers of technical software for the oil industry.

Founding sponsors of POSC are units of BP Exploration, Chevron Corp., Ste. Nationale Elf Aquitaine, Mobil Corp., and Texaco Inc. They have appointed representatives to the POSC board of directors, and the board has elected the group's officers.

POSC aims to develop and deliver a software integration platform that will be the common reference of the international exploration and production industry. POSC says the benefit for all members will be opening and extension of the exploration and production software market and the ability to focus on business added value.

The corporation will focus on specifications of an integrated logical data model, an application programming interface, a common look and feel user front end, and a set of test suites to certify compliance branding of vendor software. POSC also will promote relevant research and development.

Membership in POSC is open to all, including corporations, business entities, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and academic institutions. Membership fees are tiered to allow small companies to pay less than large companies, with the intent of encouraging broad representation.

There are two levels of membership: sponsors and members. Sponsors make a multiyear commitment to participation, while members can join on a year to year basis.