International Oil and Gas Exploitation Contracts

The Contracts & How They Work 

• What are ‘international exploitation contracts’ and how do they work?
• Why do we have PSCs?
• Who gets the production? 

Participants will learn the key differences between PSCs, concessions, service contracts, and joint venture contracts, including the rights and obligations of the parties at each stage.  Then they will learn how to structure the agreement(s) to meet their company's needs and objectives. Industry case studies will illustrate how the different types of international contracts for petroleum exploration, development, and production deal with the allocation of costs, production, revenues, and taxes.

Contract Implications at Different Stages in Field Life 

• How are the contracts dealt with in the exploration phase? 
• What are the objectives in the development and production phase? 
• Where is the balance of risk in the contract provisions? 

Participants will learn how to manage timescales, minimum work programs, appraisal decisions and how to set criteria, as well as evaluate and agree ‘commerciality'.  They will also learn to recognize that there will be differences between host countries and contracting companies and how to bridge the gaps.  Bonuses, royalties, taxes, and pricing issues will be explained, along with the use of incentive structures to even out the upsides and downsides of the contract terms for each party.

Commercial Issues 

• How to manage the economics of international contracts 
• Who pays for and carries the risk during development programs? 
• Pricing issues 

On the third day, participants will learn which tools will be used for assessing the value of success and the cost of failure, including when dealing with marginal fields.  The day will continue on to discuss where to find sources of funding from the public and private sector, as well as and how to accommodate national policies and contract commitments for employment, training, local purchasing, and HSE compliance. Additionally course participants will learn how to deal with uncertainty and risk through the use of EMVs.

Financial and Non-Financial Issues  

• Financing Oil Company and Government Shares
• Working with Financial Institutions
• General economic issues in country affecting your contract
• Safety and Environmental data

The objective of this day will be to show participants how access contacts are affected by the changing economic climate.  They will also learn how to build the above criteria into lifetime modelling of the contract.

Special Considerations 

• What are the effects of Unitisation and Redetermination?
• In what ways are gas contracts different?
• Future trends 

Building on the earlier understanding, course participants will learn how the industry deals with Unitisation and Redetermination, along with natural gas and LNG production, transportation, processing, and sales agreements.  At the end of the day the course will conclude by opening the debate about current developments, the changing role of IOCs, and the future of PSCs.