Through a careful balance of lectures by leading experts and challenging workshop sessions, this two week program provides a comprehensive working knowledge of the technology, economics, finance, and markets that shape and affect the international gas industry today. It also teaches the management skills needed to develop projects and increase performance within an integrated gas business environment.
| Program Type | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Unit | Full Program (September-October 2026), Unit One (September-October 2026), Unit Two (October 2026) |
| Dates | May 11 – 22, 2026 (Boston) • September 28 – October 9, 2026 (Boston) |
Price range: $5,750 through $10,500
This program is intended for specialists in one or more functional areas of the international energy industry who seek a comprehensive understanding of the gas industry. Many participants have said this is the best program in the industry today, due to its broad scope, challenge, realism, and fun.
Lectures – Unit 1
Gas measurements and units; the gas chain; market structures; worldwide natural gas economics; regulation and deregulation; major players; evolution of the integrated gas-power business.
Typical host country exploration agreements: summary of the history and key provisions, including bonus payments, royalties, taxes; production sharing; participation arrangements.
The exploration process: petroleum geology, exploration geophysics, well logging, developing exploration prospects, preparing and interpreting geological maps; case studies.
Planning the well; logistics; drilling functions; drilling procedures; formation evaluation methods; horizontal wells; improvements in drilling.
Economic yardsticks; project cash flow before and after tax; tax expenses and benefits; net cash flow stream and payout; time value of money; discounted cash flow analysis and internal rate of return; risk assessment and sensitivity analysis.
A comprehensive and practical understanding of the processes that are applied in the development of unconventional gas projects, by looking at an active investment area: the Marcellus shale project in the United States.
Overview of production and reservoir management in the gas system; production technology; well testing; reservoir performance; reserves estimation.
Overview of gas processing systems; liquid separation processes; LPG fractionation options; compression; engineering design and contracting methods; the market for LPGs; project feasibility/economics; ethylene processing, economics, and markets.
Major considerations in the cost-effective design, construction, and operation of gas pipeline systems; system design variables: impact on cost and capacity; estimating project costs; pipeline load factors; typical pipeline tariff; examples of recent pipeline construction costs.
Needs for load balancing and system/customer benefits; storage options, capital and operating costs: underground, cavern and LNG facilities; operational procedures; new options for marketing storage service; case examples.
Typical terms in gas sales contracts; price-volume; risk allocation; from gas contracts to tariffs; indexing; re-openers; typical contract examples.
Review of financial statements: income statement, balance sheet, cash flow and shareholders equity; capital and operating costs; measurements of financial performance; benchmarking; utility accounting methods; taxation; the accounting and audit process.
Lectures – Unit 2
The need to identify gas markets early; gas market analysis; netback pricing and interfuel competition; market segments and market opportunities.
Overview of combined-cycle gas turbine power systems; technology: plant design, fuel efficiency, available packages; project feasibility: capital costs, economics, risk, financing, contracts, markets, capital and operating cost estimating; contracting for fuel supply and power sales; worldwide power trends; examples of recent and planned projects.
Overview of the role of LNG within the gas chain; technology: LNG plants, liquefaction, ship design and operations, LNG re-gasification units; LNG project feasibility: capital costs, economics, risk, financing, markets; LNG plant design: gas reserves to support a plant, contract prices, contracting; examples of recently completed and planned projects.
Use of gas for ammonia and methanol and conversion to liquid fuels; processes for conversion of gas to methanol; markets and project economics; ammonia and fertilizers: source of supply, types of processes, intermediate and end products, markets; project economics; examples of recent and planned projects; gas-to-liquid conversion; available technology; major players; capital and operating costs; economic analysis.
Overview of the gas distribution system; classes of customers and load factors; competition from other fuels; sources of gas supply: gas supply contracts, prices, character of gas supply; structure and regulation of local distribution companies (LDCs); marketing demands; design and construction of distribution systems; expansion; operations: load balancing, distribution planning, maintenance, environmental considerations, rate-making policies and practices.
Corporate and project financing; sources of debt and equity financing; public and private sources of capital; multilateral and bilateral sources of financing; risk assessment and mitigation; structuring of financing; preparing the financing plan; negotiating the term sheet; preparing the financing documents; closing. Case Studies – Examples of Project Financing: Qatar Gas Project; Colombia Power Project; U.S. Gas Storage Project.
The nature of regulation in the energy sector; history and current state of the gas industry deregulation process at the wholesale and retail markets: U.S., Europe and elsewhere; effect of deregulation on the structure of the industry; convergence of gas and power.
U.S. market structure; basic deal types and where they are done; the commercial organization; and current issues in U.S. natural gas markets.
The history of energy price risk management; physical, forward and futures markets; typical futures market transactions; hedging, swaps and options; volume risk management; weather derivatives.
This business game is an integral part of the learning process. Participants, divided into teams, make real-life technical, financial, and market decisions that commonly confront managers in the international gas business today. Team performance is measured on a financial basis and is catalyzed by healthy competition
The challenging Atlantic Basin business game takes place in “Expetra,” a small island country in the Caribbean, north of Trinidad. Gas and condensates are expected to be discovered in the deep offshore. Teams enter into exploration agreements, explore for and discover hydrocarbon resources, and then decide on the best way to market them over a 15-year production period. Markets include LNG exports to the U.S. and Europe, LPG and ethylene plants, gas pipeline to Miami, gas distribution and storage operations in the U.S., power plants in the U.S. and Expetra, and export-focused ammonia, methanol and gas-to-liquid plants in Expetra.
Workshop Unit 2
Note: For Workshop details see Unit One. The Atlantic Basin Gas Business game is run during Units One and Two of the International Gas Business Management Certificate Program.
