Training and Conferences

Passing on what we know, training courses can be tailor-made to your requirements, from corporations to public courses, we can provide effective training in the commercial skills required in the energy and petrochemical industry. ECC provides training courses in gas and LNG contract negotiation, commercial fundamentals of the oil and gas industry, dispute resolution and petroleum economics. For further information on in-house courses please contact us.

The following public courses are currently available:

LNG Commercial Management and Fundamentals

Kuala Lumpur 1 to 4 March 2010

At a time when global LNG markets are experiencing dramatic changes, the challenges for the commercial manager in LNG are greater than ever before. This four day course is designed for an intensive training in all the commercial elements of the upstream and downstream Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) business. The course examines every aspect of the commercial business in the LNG sector and looks at technical aspects with a view to their impact on the commercial arrangements. Addressed in detail are the contracts for sale and purchase of LNG and for the use of LNG import terminals. Practical examples of the scheduling and management for LNG terminals are included, both for the structuring of upstream gas supply agreements and the reception and regasification of LNG supplies. New developments and trends in the industry, both technologically and commercially are addressed. The course will be valuable both to those who already have experience in natural gas as well as to new comers to the commercial sector of the industry.

Negotiating Successful LNG & Gas Contracts

5 to 8 October 2009, Dubai
10 to 13 November 2009, Perth
1 to 4 February 2010, Cape Town

The Energy Contract Company has been successfully holding its training courses in Gas and LNG Contracts since 1994. The course is immensely popular and well attended, and is now regularly held in Dubai, Singapore and Trinidad. Altogether, this premier course is training in excess of 100 people in the energy industry every year. Companies that have participated in the previous rounds of this course in the past l4 years in Singapore include virtually all of the majors (including: BP, Chevron Texaco, China Light and Power, Pertamina, BG Group, Itochu Japan, Petronas, Shell and CNPC China)

The course provides detailed training, in workshop format, of the terms and conditions in recently concluded Gas and LNG Sales Agreements. Based upon a composite of recent contracts, a case study approach highlights all the issues addressed in such contracts, and examines the various alternative means of handling them. The course is based on the up-to-date practical experience of The Energy Contract Company.

Participants will gain a practical understanding of how Gas and LNG Sales Agreements work and what their objectives should be. Participants will gain an insight into the way in which Buyers and Sellers view and negotiate Sales Agreements, and understand the detail of the terms that are important to them. Case studies are used to examine the practical negotiation process. The course goes on to examine the inherent risks in a Gas or LNG Project, and how these risks are addressed within the Gas and LNG Sales Agreement. Risk assessment is a complex issue, and this module examines it from a commercial perspective, looking at the project structure and identifying how the commercial terms deal with risk in a satisfactory manner. It encourages a participative, case study approach and is highlighted by a detailed examination of the Risk Matrix of an entire project, showing the balance and interaction between its various elements.

»Download the brochure for this course.
»Book a place on this course via Neo Edge

Economic Assessment Techniques used in Oil & Gas Investments

22 to 25 February 2010, Dubai

This in-depth four day programme builds on the Commercial Fundamentals to apply commercial principles to the economic assessment of investments in the upstream oil and gas industry. Both technical analysts and corporate managers need to have a firm grasp of these principles to operate effectively in the upstream oil and gas industry.

The course provides participants with a practical, thorough training on the skills: to use economic evaluation techniques to calculate the economic and financial viability of projects; to quantify the impact of risk and uncertainty; to compute various measures of project viability including net present value, internal rate of return, profitability index and payback; the understanding of the appropriate choice of method for various situations.

The course first introduces participants to the global world of finance and the objectives of companies in setting economic targets. The course then addresses the type of data used in economic assessment and the sources and selection of data. Economic evaluation techniques are examined in depth to include project economics as well as accounting for project finance and corporate financials. Risk and uncertainty in economic assessment is then addressed as central to management decision making. Interactive case studies provide participants with hands on experience of practical economic modeling techniques.

»Download the brochure for this course.

Price Review and Dispute Resolution

TBA

The Energy Contract Company provides training on current practice in the Price Review provisions of Gas and LNG Sales Contracts. In a period of turbulence in world energy prices, there is increasing reliance in the industry on the price review provisions in gas and LNG sales for ensuring that prices reflect market value. The course looks at price review case studies, and a means of addressing this difficult pricing issue.

This course includes training on the practices commonly used in the oil and gas industry for the resolution of contractual disputes: arbitration; expert proceedings; litigation. In two sections:
1) the procedures of dispute resolution (process; contractual / factual disputes; costs; reputational damage; etc. and
2) addressing dispute resolution in oil & gas contracts; including arbitration and dispute resolution clauses, price review clauses and referral to experts

Executive Training B: Negotiating LNG Sales & Purchase Agreements and Contract Risk Management

In response to an increasingly globalised LNG market space, many LNG executives are now confronted with the tasks of negotiating contract agreement with a more diverse group partners spanning across different parts of the world. Cultural differences coupled with a fast-changing market condition where LNG prices can fluctuate significantly make it extremely difficult for LNG executives to effectively negotiate complicated commercial contracts and handle unpredictable risks with different parties.

Effective training on these areas becomes an urgent need for relevant executives from both LNG buyer and seller sides. This advanced one-day course aims to provide an express training on identifying latest crucial developments in LNG sales & purchase agreements as well as strategies in managing important risks in LNG business dealing with different parties from Asia and other important regions.

Course outline:

  • Insight into the way in which buyers and sellers view and negotiate contract and understand the details of the terms that are important to them and what their objectives should be
  • The contractual chain; the complexity of multi-party contracts that are the heart of most gas projects
  • Pricing strategies and incorporating price volatility into contractual agreement
  • Identification & handling of risk in gas projects
  • Gas transportation agreements and how transportation risks have to be handled and apportioned
  • Counter-party risk throughout the contractual chain
  • Market risk; the commercial balance that defines who bears Take or Pay Risk
  • Price risk and the mechanics of price indexation
  • The Risk Matrix – a techniques for risk assessment

Commercial Fundamentals of the Upstream Oil and Gas Industry

TBA

This intensive four day programme is an introductory course to the commercial functions of the oil and gas industry. It provides participants with a practical, thorough and in-depth understanding of the upstream commercial environment and how each part of the value chain should be tackled. It will enable participants to gain an insight into the approaches of all the players in the industry.

The course first introduces participants to the commercial world of upstream oil and gas, explaining all the important commercial factors and considering the points of view of the various players involved. The course moves on to a wide ranging review at the key features of all the main commercial agreements (and other instruments) in current use across the industry including PSC, JVs, Sales and Transportation etc, together with practical training on how these contracts have to be managed during the life cycle of a project.

Financial and M&A aspects are then examined from the perspectives of project financing, investment and acquisitions, with particular emphasis on economic modeling techniques and feasibility analysis.