Mastering Production Sharing Contracts from a Contractor’s Perspective: Legal, Financial, and Strategic Considerations in Petroleum Contracting

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

• Analyze the Structure and Key Provisions of PSCs and JOAs – Examine the contractual framework governing petroleum operations, with a focus on the contractor’s rights, obligations, and financial incentives under PSCs and JOAs.
• Apply Financial Modeling and Cost Recovery Mechanisms – Utilize financial analysis techniques to calculate cost recovery, profit oil allocation, and cash flow projections, ensuring economic viability for contractors.
• Develop Effective Negotiation and Risk Management Strategies – Formulate negotiation approaches to balance contractor and host government interests, addressing stabilization clauses, fiscal terms, and dispute resolution mechanisms.
• Navigate Regulatory Compliance and ESG Requirements – Assess legal, environmental, and social responsibility obligations, integrating ESG principles and local content policies into PSC and JOA frameworks.
• Adapt to Emerging Industry Trends and Contractual Challenges – Evaluate the impact of evolving energy policies, market dynamics, and technological advancements on PSCs, ensuring long-term project sustainability and profitability.

Intermediate course designed for professionals with experience with petroleum projects and contracts. This course is ideal for: lawyers, joint venture or PSC managers, new venture managers, exploration geologists, reservoir engineers, contract negotiators, asset managers, project managers, regulators, risk and compliance managers, asset operations managers and other industry professionals that need training in managing PSCs and JOAs.

• Intermediate

OFFLINE READING: Participants will be provided with appropriate articles, book excerpts and other preparatory materials in advance of the course. The advance reading will also include 3-5 offline assignments to reinforce concepts in the presentations and reading material.

CASE STUDY: Participants will analyze a realistic offshore oil project where an international contractor enters a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with a host government and forms a Joint Operating Agreement (JOA) with other private investors. The case study follows the contractor from initial negotiations, through the exploration and development phases, to financial management, regulatory compliance, and dispute resolution challenges. Key issues include cost recovery disputes, risk allocation, fiscal stability concerns, disagreements over project budgets, and the impact of environmental regulations.

Your Expert Instructor previously served as General Counsel for a petroleum and mineral appraisal and consulting firm based in Colorado. He supports clients in business transactions and finance, particularly in the energy industry, and helps clients navigate international business opportunities. He provides consulting services to foreign government entities working in the petroleum and power sectors. He also supports domestic clients with mineral rights and business law matters. He is licensed to practice law in the State of Wyoming and the State of Colorado, as well as the Federal District of Wyoming.

His previous engagement include:

Petroleum Regulator Organizational Strategy and Management in Bosnia – Legal and regulatory specialist responsible for providing organizational strategy and management advisory assistance to government entities responsible for petroleum management and regulation, reviewing bid round documents, concession agreements and legislation affective petroleum management, and providing other legal, regulatory and policy support to the government. 2019-2020.

Onshore/Offshore Petroleum Regulatory Development in Romania – International legal and regulatory specialist responsible for reviewing petroleum data management and technical oversight practices, providing input on fiscal analysis and terms, development of offshore regulatory framework, and providing technical trainings on leading practices in petroleum legal, regulatory, fiscal, and policy issues.

International Petroleum Contracts and Legal Analysis in Albania – International oil and Gas specialist role providing legal and policy advice to Albania’s petroleum regulator, designed and presented a two-day course on production sharing contracts, supported capacity building initiatives and improved petroleum policy development in Albania, supported legal and regulatory aspects of the petroleum tender and bidding process. 2018-2020.

Natural Gas Legal and Regulatory Development in Honduras – Natural Gas legal expert responsible for supporting Honduras’national electrical utility with natural Gas and LNG legal, regulatory and policy advice, reviewed natural Gas legal and regulatory frameworks from surrounding jurisdictions and prepared a report and presentation to discuss specific challenges related to natural Gas development and utilization in Honduras.

Shale Gas Legal and Regulatory Analysis in Western Cape Province, South Africa – Legal and regulatory specialist responsible for reviewing provincial and municipal approaches to shale Gas regulation for a proposed onshore shale Gas project in the Karoo Basin, worked on behalf of provincial government to improve government collaboration and coordination for large scale industrial development and assisted with development of municipal-level regulatory practices.

Gas-to-Power Generation Policy Development in Nigeria – Natural Gas legal and regulatory specialist responsible for reviewing Gas-to-power market arrangements, government natural Gas policies and governance/financial structures to identify areas for improvement to national meet power generation goals. 2017-2018 Client: U.S. Department of State – Energy Governance and Capacity Initiative.

Sri Lanka Petroleum Legal and Regulatory Support – Legal and regulatory expert charged with reviewing and developing key areas of national petroleum regulatory policy, review of contracts and building capacity within the Ministry of Petroleum Resources Development and Petroleum Resources Development Secretariat.

Unlock the potential of your workforce with customized in-house training programs designed specifically for the energy sector. Our tailored, in-house courses not only enhance employee skills and engagement but also offer significant cost savings by eliminating travel expenses. Invest in your team’s success and achieve specific outcomes aligned with your organization’s goals through our expert training solutions. Request for further information regarding our on-site or in-house training opportunities.

In our ongoing commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility, we will no longer providing hard copy training materials. Instead, all training content and resources will be delivered in digital format. Inspired by the oil and energy industry’s best practices, we are leveraging on digital technologies to reduce waste, lower our carbon emissions, ensuring our training content is always up-to-date and accessible. Click here to learn more.

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.
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