Petroleum Field Development Economics Training Course

Petroleum Field Development Economics Training Course

Introduction

Petroleum Field Development Economics Training Course is designed to equip oil and gas professionals with the advanced economic evaluation, financial modelling, and strategic decision-making skills required to plan, assess, and optimize petroleum field development projects. This comprehensive training course explores petroleum economics, field development planning, capital investment analysis, discounted cash flow modelling, net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), project payback period, breakeven analysis, production forecasting, and risk-adjusted economic evaluation. Participants will learn how to assess exploration and production opportunities, estimate capital and operating expenditures (CAPEX and OPEX), evaluate reservoir development alternatives, and quantify project profitability under different technical, commercial, and market conditions. The course also examines petroleum fiscal systems, production-sharing contracts, royalties, taxation, government take, and investment incentives to help professionals understand how fiscal structures influence project economics and investment decisions.

The programme emphasizes integrated asset economics, uncertainty analysis, sensitivity modelling, Monte Carlo simulation, economic limit determination, reserves valuation, portfolio optimization, and energy transition investment considerations. Participants will learn to compare alternative field development concepts, prioritize investment opportunities, optimize production strategies, and identify the economic drivers that influence long-term asset value. The course also addresses the impact of carbon pricing, methane emissions, decarbonization initiatives, decommissioning liabilities, and energy market transitions on petroleum project profitability. By combining technical reservoir and production considerations with financial and commercial evaluation, this training enables participants to strengthen investment proposals, improve capital allocation, manage economic risks, and maximize value throughout the petroleum field lifecycle.

Course Duration

5 days

Course Objectives

By the end of this training course, participants will be able to:

1. Explain the fundamental principles of petroleum field development economics and their application to upstream investment decisions.
2. Conduct comprehensive oil and gas project economic evaluations using industry-standard financial assessment techniques.
3. Develop integrated CAPEX, OPEX, and lifecycle cost models for petroleum field development projects.
4. Calculate and interpret NPV, IRR, discounted payback period, and profitability indices.
5. Perform breakeven oil price analysis and determine the economic viability of development concepts.
6. Apply petroleum fiscal modelling to assess royalties, taxation, production-sharing contracts, and government take.
7. Evaluate alternative field development strategies using comparative economic analysis and value optimization.
8. Integrate reservoir forecasts, production profiles, reserves estimates, and decline curves into financial models.
9. Conduct sensitivity analysis, scenario planning, and Monte Carlo simulation to quantify economic uncertainty.
10. Assess investment risk, probability-weighted outcomes, and risk-adjusted project returns.
11. Optimize capital allocation through petroleum asset valuation and portfolio economics.
12. Incorporate carbon costs, environmental obligations, and decommissioning expenses into lifecycle economic assessments.
13. Prepare robust investment business cases, economic feasibility reports, and executive-level development recommendations.

Target Audience

1. Petroleum engineers and reservoir engineers involved in field development planning.
2. Petroleum economists and energy economics analysts.
3. Oil and gas financial analysts, accountants, and corporate finance professionals.
4. Exploration and production (E&P) managers and asset managers.
5. Field development planners and project evaluation specialists.
6. Investment analysts, commercial managers, and business development professionals.
7. Petroleum project managers, planning engineers, and cost engineers.
8. Regulators, government petroleum officials, consultants, and energy investment advisors.

Course Modules

Module 1: Fundamentals of Petroleum Field Development Economics

• Principles and scope of petroleum economics in upstream oil and gas operations.
• Petroleum value chains and the economics of exploration, appraisal, development, and production.
• Key economic indicators: NPV, IRR, payback period, and return on investment.
• Relationship between reservoir performance, production forecasts, and project profitability.
• Case study: Comparing the economic attractiveness of two discovered oil fields with different reserve sizes, production profiles, and development costs.

Module 2: Petroleum Field Development Planning and Concept Selection

• Field development planning frameworks and investment decision gates.
• Evaluation of onshore, offshore, subsea, and unconventional development concepts.
• Comparison of fixed platforms, floating production systems, subsea tiebacks, and onshore facilities.
• Technical-commercial trade-offs in wells, facilities, infrastructure, and export systems.
• Case study: Economic comparison of a standalone offshore development against a subsea tieback to an existing production facility.

Module 3: Capital Expenditure, Operating Costs, and Lifecycle Costing

• Estimation of development CAPEX for drilling, facilities, pipelines, and infrastructure.
• Forecasting OPEX, maintenance costs, logistics expenses, and production support requirements.
• Lifecycle costing and cost benchmarking across petroleum assets.
• Cost escalation, inflation, foreign exchange exposure, and contingency allowances.
• Case study: Assessing how drilling cost overruns and rising offshore operating expenses affect a field development project's profitability.

Module 4: Petroleum Financial Modelling and Investment Appraisal

• Building integrated petroleum project cash flow models.
• Calculating NPV, IRR, discounted payback period, and profitability index.
• Discount rates, weighted average cost of capital, and time value of money.
• Free cash flow estimation, investment recovery, and shareholder value creation.
• Case study: Developing a discounted cash flow model to determine whether a proposed oil field investment meets corporate investment thresholds.

Module 5: Oil and Gas Revenue Forecasting and Market Economics

• Oil and gas price forecasting and commodity market fundamentals.
• Production profiles, decline curve analysis, reserves recovery, and sales volumes.
• Oil price differentials, gas pricing mechanisms, transportation tariffs, and export costs.
• Revenue forecasting under fixed-price, indexed-price, and market-linked contracts.
• Case study: Comparing project returns under low-price, base-price, and high-price scenarios for an oil field with a long production life.

Module 6: Petroleum Fiscal Systems, Taxation, and Government Take

• Overview of royalties, petroleum income tax, bonuses, and production levies.
• Economic modelling of production-sharing contracts and concessionary fiscal systems.
• Cost recovery, profit oil, profit gas, and contractor entitlement calculations.
• Government take, investor returns, fiscal stability, and investment incentives.
• Case study: Comparing investor profitability under a royalty-and-tax regime and a production-sharing contract with different cost recovery provisions.

Module 7: Risk, Uncertainty, and Economic Sensitivity Analysis

• Identification of geological, reservoir, technical, commercial, and regulatory risks.
• Sensitivity analysis for oil prices, reserves, production rates, CAPEX, and OPEX.
• Scenario analysis, break-even thresholds, and economic limit determination.
• Monte Carlo simulation, probability distributions, and probabilistic NPV.
• Case study: Evaluating the probability of achieving an acceptable NPV for a marginal field exposed to reserve uncertainty and volatile oil prices.

Module 8: Field Development Value Optimization and Investment Decisions

• Economic comparison of infill drilling, enhanced oil recovery, and production optimization.
• Marginal field economics, late-life asset management, and redevelopment opportunities.
• Portfolio optimization, capital rationing, and investment prioritization.
• Integration of carbon pricing, emissions reduction, abandonment costs, and decommissioning liabilities.
• Case study: Ranking competing brownfield redevelopment projects using risk-adjusted NPV, capital requirements, production upside, and emissions-related costs.

Training Methodology

• Interactive lectures and presentations.
• Group discussions and brainstorming sessions.
• Hands-on exercises using real-world datasets.
• Role-playing and scenario-based simulations.
• Analysis of case studies to bridge theory and practice.
• Peer-to-peer learning and networking.
• Expert-led Q&A sessions.
• Continuous feedback and personalized guidance.

Register as a group from 3 participants for a Discount

Send us an email: info@datastatresearch.org or call +254724527104 

Certification

Upon successful completion of this training, participants will be issued with a globally- recognized certificate.

Tailor-Made Course

 We also offer tailor-made courses based on your needs.

Key Notes

a. The participant must be conversant with English.

b. Upon completion of training the participant will be issued with an Authorized Training Certificate

c. Course duration is flexible and the contents can be modified to fit any number of days.

d. The course fee includes facilitation training materials, 2 coffee breaks, buffet lunch and A Certificate upon successful completion of Training.

e. One-year post-training support Consultation and Coaching provided after the course.

f. Payment should be done at least a week before commence of the training, to DATASTAT CONSULTANCY LTD account, as indicated in the invoice so as to enable us prepare better for you.