MSO 500
Integrated Troubleshooting in the Midstream Operation
COURSE SCHEDULE
| Code | Date | Location | price (€)* |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSO 500 | 23-27 Feb 2026 | Online | 3300 |
| MSO 500 | 3-7 Aug 2026 | Doha | 4400 |
* 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
A midstream operation is a connected chain of fluids, processes, constraints, and commercial commitments. A change that begins at the wellhead does not stay there. A shift in fluid composition can affect separation performance, gas quality, crude specifications, produced water handling, flow assurance risks, export operations, and ultimately the customers and contracts that depend on them. Understanding a midstream system means understanding how changes propagate through the entire chain, not just how individual facilities operate.
This program is built around that integrated operational perspective. Over five days, participants develop a practical understanding of how fluids behave, how processing systems transform them into saleable products, what operational constraints limit performance, and how experienced professionals diagnose and respond when conditions change. The program is deliberately not a specialist course in thermodynamics, gas processing, crude treatment, water management, or flow assurance. It is a program in operational thinking and troubleshooting across the full midstream value chain.
Throughout the program, participants learn to interpret fluid behavior, recognize developing constraints, anticipate downstream consequences, and apply a structured troubleshooting methodology to real operational situations. Technical concepts are presented as tools for understanding operational reality and supporting decision making, not as academic or design exercises.
The program culminates in the Troubleshooting Capability Laboratory™ (TCL), where participants work through an integrated midstream scenario under conditions of operational information, conflicting signals, and time pressure. The focus is not on finding a perfect answer, but on making sound operational decisions based on evidence, assumptions, and risks.
By the end of the program, both operators and engineers will be able to follow how a change in fluid behavior propagates through gas, oil, water, and export systems; recognize where operational constraints are developing; anticipate their likely consequences; and apply the REAL© Troubleshooting Methodology to protect production and commercial commitments under uncertainty.
The signature capability developed throughout the program is Propagation Vision™: the ability to anticipate how a change in fluid behavior will affect downstream processing, treatment, export systems, and commercial commitments before the consequences become visible.
COURSE OUTLINE
5 days
Day 1: Understand The Fluids
o How oil, gas, and water behave inside production facilities
o Why separation works and why it sometimes stops working
o Understanding pressure, temperature, and fluid changes
o Recognizing early signs of separation problems
o Diagnosing unstable separators, liquid carryover, and off spec performance.
Day 01 Key Question: "If the fluid changes today, what will happen next?".
Day 2: Understand The Processes
o Gas quality requirements and sales specifications
o Gas dehydration, sweetening, and compression
o Crude oil treatment and export specifications
o Understanding processing bottlenecks
o Identifying where production limitations originate.
Day 02 Key Question: "Which process is limiting production today?".
Day 3: Understand The Constraints
o Produced water handling and treatment
o Hydrates, wax, scale, and corrosion
o Chemical treatment programs
o Early warning signs of developing restrictions
o Understanding how operational constraints affect production.
Day 03 Key Question: "Where will the next restriction appear if nothing changes?".
Day 4: Troubleshoot The System
o Detecting what matters in large amounts of operational data
o Separating symptoms from causes
o Prioritizing the most effective response
o Making decisions under uncertainty
o Communicating and verifying operational decisions.
Day 04 Key Question: "What is the system trying to tell me?".
Day 5: Troubleshooting Capability Laboratory™ (TCL)
Participants work through a realistic integrated midstream scenario involving gas, oil, water, export systems, conflicting information, and commercial commitments under time pressure.
Workshop Activities
o Establish what information can be trusted
o Diagnose a developing operational event
o Forecast how the problem will affect the rest of the system
o Prioritize competing operational commitments
o Present and defend recommendations to management
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
Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:
o Explain how changes in produced fluid behavior affect separation performance, gas processing, crude treatment, water handling, and export operations across the midstream value chain
o Identify the key fluid, process, and operating variables that influence the performance of gas, oil, and water processing systems
o Interpret phase behavior, separation performance, and process conditions to understand why fluids behave differently under changing operating conditions
o Trace the propagation of an operational deviation from its point of origin through downstream processing, treatment, and export systems
o Recognize the operational constraints that limit production performance, including gas quality requirements, crude specifications, water handling capacity, and flow assurance risks
o Distinguish between symptoms, causes, and consequences when diagnosing operational problems involving gas, oil, water, and production chemistry systems
o Evaluate how hydrates, wax, scale, corrosion, water breakthrough, and other production threats develop and affect system performance
o Anticipate the impact of changing fluid conditions on commercial commitments, product specifications, and facility operating objectives
o Apply the REAL© Troubleshooting Methodology to integrated midstream operational problems under operational information and time pressure
o Prioritize operational responses and defend decisions using available evidence, stated assumptions, and risk based reasoning
o Demonstrate Propagation Vision™ by forecasting how a change in fluid behavior will affect downstream processing, treatment, export systems, and commercial commitments before the consequences become visible.
COURSE LEVEL
Intermediate
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:
o Explain in their own words why PSM exists and how the system as a whole protects against major incidents
o Use the Bow Tie model to explain how barriers work, how they fail, and why every person in the plant is part of at least one barrier
o Identify what triggers a Management of Change (MOC) and explain the consequences of classifying a real change as replacement in kind
o Explain why operating procedures are safety barriers and describe the characteristics that make a procedure effective vs. one that will not be followed in practice
o Describe what a Pre-Start up Safety Review (PSSR) is, when it is required, and what it is protecting against
o Explain the role of mechanical integrity in PSM and describe what a deferred inspection means for the safety system
o Apply a basic root cause analysis approach to distinguish immediate causes from the systemic causes of an operational incident
o Recognize the early warning signs that a PSM system is degrading and understand what to do about them
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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