By the end of this Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT), participants will be able to:

1. Improve the evaluation, execution and delivery of exploration projects, measured in terms of successful bids for new acreage, increased success rate and volume delivery from exploration drilling, and more rapid progress in appraisal of discoveries.
2. Describe concepts, simple processes, workflows and analysis tools for project execution. Tools include the expert course leader’s proprietary project management framework, including project framing and after-action review methodologies, templates for strategy development, decision trees, decision quality frameworks. They also include customised Excel spreadsheets for portfolio modelling, project risk assessment (in new ventures and prospect maturation) and business planning.
3. Understand their role in (a) delivering the company’s strategy, (b) contributing data and assessments to key exploration decision makers, and (c) communicating project progress and results to senior management.

The Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT) is aimed at exploration professionals with more than 5 to 10 years of experience in the business, who would like to develop their skills for managing exploration projects and presenting the goals and results of their project work to senior management.

• Exploration and engineering professionals who work in exploration project teams, across the spectrum from new ventures (exploration business development), prospect identification and maturation, and appraisal of discoveries
• Exploration project leaders
• Exploration managers

The VILT will also benefit professionals from well engineering, petroleum engineering, finance and planning who support exploration activities.

Participants are requested to bring a mini-poster (two PowerPoint slides, each printed on A3 paper) as background material for discussion during the course.

• Basic or Foundation

Your expert course leader draws on more than 35 years of experience managing, reviewing and directing projects in all aspects of the exploration business: from exploration business development (new ventures), through prospect maturation and drilling, to the appraisal of discoveries. He has more than 30 years’ experience with Shell International, followed by 10 years consulting to NOCs in Asia Pacific, Africa and South America and independent oil companies in the United Kingdom, continental Europe and North America.

Other than delivering industry training, he has worked on projects for oil & gas companies of all sizes, including independents, national oil companies and (super)-majors, private equity firms, hedge funds and investment banks, and leading management consulting  firms.

He is an alumnus of Cambridge University. He has M.A and Ph.D. degrees in geology and is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London as well as a respected speaker on management panels at international conferences.

Professional Experience

• Management consultancy & executive education: Advice to investment banks, businesses and major consulting firms. Specialist expertise in upstream oil & gas, with in depth experience in exploration strategy, portfolio valuation and risk assessment.
• Leadership: Managed and led teams and departments ranging from 3 – 60 in size. Provided technical leadership to a cadre of 800 explorationists in Shell worldwide. Member of the 12-person VP team leading global exploration in Shell, a $3 bln p.a. business and recognised as the most effective and successful among its industry peers.
• Accountability & decision-making: Accountable for bottom-line results: in a range of successful exploration ventures with budgets ranging from $10’s million to $100’s million. Made, or contributed to, complex business decisions / investments, taking into account strategic, technical, commercial, organisational and political considerations.
• Corporate governance: Served as non-executive director on the Boards of the South Rub al Khali Company (oversight of gas exploration studies and drilling in Saudi Arabia) and SEAPOS B.V. (exploration deep-water drilling and facilities management).
• Technical & operations: Skilled in exploration opportunity evaluation, the technical de risking of prospects, portfolio analysis and managing the interface between exploration and well engineering activities. Unparalleled knowledge of the oil and gas basins of the world, and of different operating regimes and contractual structures, ranging from Alaska, Gulf of Mexico and Brazil, through to the Middle East, former Soviet Union, Far East and Australia.
• Safety: Following an unsatisfactory audit, became accountable for safety performance in Shell’s exploration new ventures. Through personal advocacy and leadership of a small team, delivered pragmatic and effective HSE systems, tools and staff training / engagement and a dramatically improved safety record.
• R&D: Experience in the 3 key roles in R&D: scientific researcher, research manager, and ‘customer’ for R&D products. After re-defining Shell’s exploration R&D strategy, led the re-structuring of the R&D organization, its interface with ‘the business’ and approaches to deployment and commercialization.
• Strategy: Accomplished at formulating competitive strategies in business, R&D and technology deployment, translating them into actionable tactics and results. Defined the exploration strategy of PDO (a Shell subsidiary in Oman) and latterly of Shell’s global exploration programme.
• Professional education, behavioural/motivational coaching: Experienced in organisational re-design, change management, leadership education and talent development.
• Commercial skills: Personally negotiated drilling compensation claims, educational contracts and E&P contracts, with values of $5 million to $100+ million.

To further optimise your learning experience from our courses, we also offer individualized “One to One” coaching support for 2 hours post training. We can help improve your competence in your chosen area of interest, based on your learning needs and available hours. This is a great opportunity to improve your capability and confidence in a particular area of expertise. It will be delivered over a secure video conference call by one of our senior trainers. They will work with you to create a tailor-made coaching program that will help you achieve your goals faster.
Request for further information about post training coaching support and fees applicable for this.