The Fundamentals of Oil and Gas course covers:

The course provides a comprehensive grounding in all aspects of the oil and gas industry. After a broad overview of the distribution of petroleum resources and the organisations that constitute the industry, it introduces the techniques used to detect and assess the commercial viability of deposits. Next, it looks at the extraction process and the technologies used to process, store, transport and refine oil and gas. Finally, it explores the processes of selling, trading and marketing gas and petroleum products, before finishing with a survey of environmental and geopolitical risks and opportunities, and an assessment of the industry’s future.

With the flexibility of learning in your own time and environment, you can be part of a broad range of people who will benefit from studying this course. If you are just starting in the industry, it will provide a comprehensive introduction to every aspect of oil and gas.  Perhaps you already work in one segment of the value chain, and would like to gain a more global understanding of your industry, or are changing roles and seek a deeper knowledge of an unfamiliar field. People working in associated industries such as consultants, lawyers and policy-makers will also benefit from a clear overview of this complex and far-reaching industry.

Whatever your motivation, the unique blend of self-directed learning, expert tutorial support and peer interaction via a dedicated online forum will ensure thorough, accurate and up-to-date knowledge of oil and gas fundamentals, wherever you are in the world.

For the full course syllabus and course fees, please download the Fundamentals of Oil and Gas course prospectus. 

The course content includes:

Introducing Oil and Gas - Overview and Industry Segments
• The origins of oil and gas and how they are formed
• Types of petroleum: conventional and unconventional
• Global distribution of fossil fuels and Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) resource endowment
• Industry overview and segments
• Uses and markets for oil and gas
• Role of government agencies in the oil and gas industry
• Introduction to the supply and value chain: upstream to downstream
• Distinct economic issues for oil and gas supply chains

Finding Oil and Gas - Reservoir Characteristics and Exploration

• An introduction to petroleum geology
• Defining and calculating resources and reserves
• Assessing exploration chance of success
• Reservoir characterisation, performance and engineering
• Conventional and non-conventional petroleum resources
• Shale gas, tight gas sands and coal bed methane
• Shale oil, oil sands and bitumen
• Exploration and prospecting: broad surveying techniques
• Remote detection methods
• Seismic and other geophysical surveying technologies
• Exploration and appraisal drilling
• Types of borehole and reasons for drilling them
• Types of exploration and production contract and fiscal system
• Accounting for risk
• Economics of exploration: financing, time value and expected value

 Extracting and Processing Oil and Gas - Drilling, Production and Optimising Recovery
• Well planning and design
• Types of drilling rigs, systems and equipment
• Drilling procedures, problems and remedies
• Blowout preventers (BOPs) and blowout contingency planning
• Production engineering and technologies
• Marine operations
• Subsea technologies
• Artificial lift and reservoir stimulation
• Typical timings and costs

 Oil Refining and Gas Treatment - Refining, Storage and Transportation
• Crude oil evaluation and classification
• Organic chemistry of petroleum relevant to refining
• Transporting and storing crude oil: pipelines and tankers
• Refinery configurations and processes
• Supply and demand trends and markets of petroleum products
• Transporting and storing gas: pipelines and other methods
• Refining gas and gas to liquids (GTL) technologies
• Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) extraction from natural gas
• Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)
• Petroleum product and natural gas distribution networks

 Selling Oil and Gas - Markets, Trading, Risk, Margins and Stocks
• Market segments: wholesale and retail
• Spot and term sales
• Benchmark prices and formula pricing
• Commodity exchanges, electronic trading and over-the-counter (OTC) trades
• Trading instruments: forwards, futures, swaps and options
• Hedging from various supply chain perspectives
• Margin swaps and collar hedges
• Retail fuel marketing and distribution logistics
• Retail fuel margins and non-fuel margins from convenience stores at fuel stations
• Biofuels (ethanol and biodiesel) and road transport fuel markets
• Oil inventories and strategic stocks

 Managing Oil and Gas - Risks, Opportunities, Organisations and the Future
• Geopolitical risks and opportunities
• Environmental and sustainability issues
• Prudent operators and best practice
• Industry and regulatory bodies
• Legal concepts and contractual frameworks
• Farmout and joint venture arrangements
• Cost recovery from government and producer perspectives
• Future of energy: challenges and opportunities
• World primary energy mix and substitutes for oil and gas
• Forecasts for fossil fuels and the primary energy balance to 2050

For the full course syllabus and course fees, please download the Fundamentals of Oil and Gas course prospectus.