LECTURE

DOWNSTREAM SECTORS
& PETROLEUM ECONOMICS

Worldwide Petroleum Economics

Worldwide energy supply; demand; reserves; pricing: corporate strategy; recent history and prediction of future trends; how petroleum economists make predictions.

Markets for Associated Natural Gas

The natural gas chain: industry structure and regional markets, interfuel competition; gas distribution; regulation and deregulation; economics and markets for gas, including combined-cycle power plants, LNG, ammonia, methanol and gas-to-liquids.

Refining and Petrochemicals

Refinery: capacity evolution; technology changes; capital and operating costs; profitability; net-back estimation and recent trends. Petrochemicals in perspective: links to refining; key product families; industry drivers: cost of production, supply/demand; profitability and price forecasting; prospects for the future: maturity, environmental concerns, global competition.

Crude Oil Tanker Transportation

The tanker industry and market trends: an overview of the main characteristics of crude tankers; capital and operating costs; pollution at sea and the new regulations; calculating tanker transportation rates; world scale and charter arrangements.

Marketing of Crude Oil and Products

Development of the free market for oil; current international market structure; regional markets: physicals, futures, forwards, derivatives, options; roles of participants, price formation, price volatility; price reporting; crude oil and product pricing; negotiating and pricing petroleum sales contracts; introduction to hedging and price risk management.

Products Distribution

Distribution and retail marketing of petroleum products; structure of the margins realized along the distribution value chain; transitions in the marketing of transportation fuels; economics of the modern gasoline station.

“This is a program that I would liked to have taken – several years earlier. It is highly recommended for all executives in the Oil and Gas Industry.” – 2008 participant