Few industries swing as hard as oil and gas: prices move overnight, projects take years to pay back, and a single accounting standard – IFRS 6 – exists only because exploration assets do not behave like ordinary fixed assets. Finance and accounting staff who step into this sector without sector-specific training often struggle to reconcile what they learned in general accounting with what an upstream or integrated oil company’s books actually show. This Oil and Gas Finance and Accounting programme from the Arab British Fellowship Training Academy was built to close exactly that gap.

Participants work through how oil and gas companies raise capital, evaluate projects, and account for reserves, resources and jointly-held assets under the Successful Efforts and Full Cost methods, before moving into the financial analysis, strategic and risk management skills needed to read a sector annual report and defend a financing decision in the boardroom.

Who Should Attend?

• Finance and accounting staff moving into, or already working within, the oil and gas sector.
• Bankers and lenders who evaluate financing requests from energy companies.
• Professionals responsible for raising capital or making capital investment decisions.
• Anyone who needs a deeper, sector-specific grip on finance and accounting to perform their role.

Knowledge and Benefits:

After completing the programme, participants will be able to:

• Recommend suitable financing methods for capital-intensive oil and gas projects.
• Evaluate capital investment proposals using Payback, ARR, NPV and IRR.
• Prepare and interpret financial statements in line with IFRS, including IFRS 6.
• Read and improve an oil and gas company’s financial statements to support better organisational decisions.

• Module 1: The Oil & Gas Business Reality – Volatility, Capital Intensity and Strategic Stakes
  • Nature of the oil and gas sector and the risks unique to it.
  • Current and future challenges: the ongoing question of supply and demand.
  • Volatility in demand, energy prices, exchange rates and interest rates.
  • Resources, reserves and the case for sustained research and development.
• Module 2: Financing Growth – Raising and Evaluating Capital for Oil & Gas Projects
  • The business and financial environment surrounding growth decisions.
  • Identifying growth opportunities and financing them through equity, debt or alternative sources.
  • Evaluating capital investment using Payback, ARR, NPV and IRR.
  • Capital rationing, internal and external.
• Module 3: Core Accounting Foundations for Oil & Gas Companies
  • The accounting system and how to read the annual report.
  • Preparing financial statements in accordance with IFRS.
  • Revenue recognition under IAS 18/IFRS 15, and IFRS 6 exploration and evaluation of mineral assets.
  • Accounting approaches: the “Successful Efforts” (SE) method versus the “Full Cost” (FC) method.
• Module 4: Reserves, Resources and Asset Accounting Under IFRS
  • Resources and reserves: their size and strategic importance.
  • Reserve classification and reserve quantity disclosures.
  • Accounting for assets under IAS 16, 36, 37, 38 and 39.
  • Depreciation, depletion and amortisation (DD&A), ceiling and impairment tests, and decommissioning and restoration obligations.
• Module 5: Partnerships in a Capital-Intensive Industry – Business Combinations, Joint Arrangements & PSAs
  • Why cooperation matters in a capital-intensive industry.
  • IFRS 3 business combinations and IFRS 10 consolidated statements.
  • IFRS 11 joint arrangements, joint operations and joint ventures.
  • Production sharing agreements and their revenue, cost, cash flow and reserve implications.
• Module 6: Reading Performance – Financial Analysis and Efficiency Improvement
  • Analysing financial statements, off-balance-sheet items and contingencies.
  • Profitability, liquidity, operational and solvency measures.
  • Investment measures used by leading international oil and gas companies.
  • Improving return on equity and implementing change in light of the analysis.
• Module 7: Strategic Decision-Making and Financing Strategies in Practice
  • Strategic planning and decision-making in a volatile market, supported by analytical tools.
  • Diversifying income across upstream, midstream and downstream activities.
  • Growth strategies: exploration, diversification, vertical/horizontal integration, mergers, acquisitions and strategic alliances.
  • Sources of finance, optimum capital structure, and financial forecasting using Excel.
• Module 8: Managing Risk and Delivering Projects – Risk Management and Project Control
  • Developing and implementing a financial risk management strategy, including sensitivity, scenario and Monte Carlo analysis.
  • Hedging energy prices, interest rates and foreign exchange using financial derivatives, and accounting for hedges under IFRS.
  • Estimating activity durations and costs, critical path and manpower planning, and earned value analysis.
  • Budgetary control, variance analysis, and managing change, suspension or shutdowns.