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ECO 704

Upstream Engineering Economics

COURSE SCHEDULE

Code Date Location price (€)*
ECO 704 28-30 Sep 2026 Online 2000
ECO 704 19-21 Oct 2026 Bergen 2700

* Prices are subject to VAT and local terms. Ph.D. students, groups (≥ 3 persons) and early bird registrants (8 weeks in advance) are entitled to a DISCOUNT!

COURSE OVERVIEW

Every engineer working in Oil & Gas makes economic decisions every day, often without realizing it. Choosing between two equally valid technical solutions. Deciding whether to invest in preventive maintenance or accept the risk of failure. Recommending higher quality material that costs more upfront but lasts three times longer. These are engineering decisions with direct economic consequences, and engineers who can articulate those consequences in financial terms are significantly more effective than those who cannot.
This course is not about teaching engineers to think like economists. It is about giving engineers the tools to think rigorously about the economic dimension of their own technical decisions. Over three days, participants learn to compare alternatives using life cycle cost analysis, evaluate the true cost of CAPEX vs. OPEX tradeoffs, quantify the economics of maintenance and reliability strategies, and build the financial case for the technical recommendation they already know is right.
The workshop on Day 3 is structured around a realistic engineering scenario with multiple valid technical solutions and a constrained budget exactly the situation engineers face in the field.

COURSE OUTLINE

5 days
Day 1: How Engineers Think About Money

o CAPEX vs. OPEX: The Most Important Decision in Plant Design.
o Life Cycle Cost Analysis: Total Cost of Ownership.
o Maintenance Economics: Preventing Failures vs. Paying for Them.
o Energy Efficiency Economics: When Is the Investment Worth It?
o Exercises:
• Exercise 01: Determine which separation configuration is genuinely cheaper over 20 years when the option with lower CAPEX quietly accumulates higher energy costs every day it runs.

• Exercise 02: Decide whether replacing a compressor seal on schedule is worth it or whether waiting for failure is the cheaper bet.

• Exercise 03: Build the life cycle cost comparison that reveals which pump option is actually cheaper once maintenance and energy consumption enter the equation.

• Exercise 04: Quantify what a fouling heat exchanger is costing every month and build the argument that makes scheduling a cleaning shutdown the obvious decision.

Plant Delta Anchor Scenario: All case studies and exercises draw from a single onshore gas processing facility with multiple deferred investment decisions, used progressively across all three days.

Day 2: Tools for Evaluating Engineering Alternatives

o Comparing Alternatives: Payback Period & Cost-Benefit Analysis.
o Time Value of Money Applied to Engineering Decisions.
o Risk & Uncertainty in Engineering Cost Estimates.
o O&G Project Economics: How Investment Decisions Are Made.
o Exercises:
• Exercise 05: Apply NPV to three pipeline remediation options and identify which one is genuinely cheapest once the time value of money enters the calculation.

• Exercise 06: Determine which capacity expansion configuration creates more value and identify the exact point where a shift in gas price or throughput flips the decision.

• Exercise 07: Build the cost benefit analysis that turns a safety system upgrade from a compliance cost into a quantified risk reduction investment.

• Exercise 08: Stress test the Day 1 pump recommendation against changing assumptions and determine exactly where the numbers stop supporting the original conclusion

Day 3: Practical Workshop

Morning Session: Participants apply LCC, NPV, and sensitivity analysis to three compression upgrade options and build a fully supported economic recommendation.

Afternoon Session: Participants defend their recommendation to a management panel under challenge, what happens if gas prices rise 30%, equipment life is shorter than estimated, or the budget is cut in half.
Individual Quiz Assessment: 20 questions. Minimum passing score: 60%.

INSTRUCTOR

Petro Teach Instructor

The Instructor is a Petroleum Engineer, holds M.Sc in Mechanical Engineering,  and is Specialist Natural Gas Engineering. He has over 20 years of hands-on O&G industry experience spanning gas processing, crude treatment, production operations, and technical training across onshore and offshore environments in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa.
His operational background includes five years as OJT Instructor at production facilities in the Middle East, AGRU Package Leader roles, and extensive experience as Process Engineer across upstream and downstream O&G facilities.
Since 2015 he has been a Senior Lecturer on IFP Training’s international instructor roster, delivering advanced gas processing, thermodynamics, field processing, and operations training to engineers and operators across three continents.

FAQ

DESIGNED FOR

Engineers and technical professionals who make or influence decisions involving capital expenditure, operating cost, or maintenance strategy:
o Process Engineers
o Mechanical Engineers
o Project Engineers
o Maintenance Engineers
o Reliability Engineers
o Production Engineers
o Facilities Engineers
o Technical Leads and Senior Engineers involved in FEED, detailed design, or brownfield modifications
Recommended experience: Minimum 3-5 years in an O&G engineering role. No prior economics or finance background is required.

COURSE LEVEL

Intermediate 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:
o Distinguish between CAPEX and OPEX and explain how each affects total project economics over the facility life cycle
o Apply Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) to compare competing technical solutions with different cost profiles
o Quantify the economic trade-off between preventive maintenance investment and the cost of unplanned failures
o Evaluate the financial case for energy efficiency improvements using simple payback and cost-benefit analysis
o Apply the concept of time value of money to engineering investment decisions without relying on financial expertise
o Use payback period and basic break-even analysis to support technical recommendations with economic evidence
o Communicate technical alternatives in economic terms that resonate with management and project stakeholders

REGISTER

Registration is now OPEN!

* Prices are subject to VAT and local terms. Ph.D. students, groups (≥ 3 persons) and early bird registrants (8 weeks in advance) are entitled to a DISCOUNT!

For more details and registration please send email to: register@petro-teach.com

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