Offshore field development is characterised by scale, irreversibility and long lead time. The decision to build a facility is taken years before first oil, on the basis of a reservoir description derived from a handful of wells, using cost estimates prepared before detailed design and a price assumption nobody believes. Once the concept is fixed and fabrication begins, changing it is prohibitively expensive. The quality of the work done between discovery and final investment decision therefore determines the outcome of the entire project.

The central technical difficulty is that the subsurface uncertainty is largest exactly when the most consequential decisions must be taken. Facility capacity is set by a production profile derived from an in-place volume with a wide range, a recovery factor based on analogues and a well productivity estimated from limited tests. Size the facility for the high case and it runs half empty for twenty years. Size it for the low case and the field is constrained precisely when it could have produced most. Appraisal exists to narrow this range, but appraisal wells are expensive offshore and each must be justified by the decision it will change.

Concept selection is where the disciplines collide. The reservoir may favour many wells, which suits a platform with dry trees. Water depth may rule out a fixed structure. Flow assurance may make a long tieback unworkable. Existing infrastructure may make a subsea development to a host far cheaper than a standalone facility, at the cost of tariff exposure and dependence on someone else’s asset life. Local content, permitting and partner preferences all constrain the field. A good development plan is one where these constraints have been confronted early and the selected concept is genuinely the best of the feasible options rather than the first one that survived. This course develops that process.

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• Design an appraisal programme justified by the decisions it will influence
• Evaluate subsurface uncertainty and generate production profiles with a defensible range
• Develop a reservoir development strategy including recovery mechanism, well count and depletion plan
• Screen and select offshore development concepts against technical and commercial criteria
• Design a well and drilling programme with realistic cost and schedule
• Define facility configuration, processing requirements and capacity philosophy
• Evaluate subsea architecture, flow assurance and export options
• Build an execution plan covering fabrication, installation, hook-up and commissioning
• Estimate capital and operating cost and evaluate the development economically under uncertainty
• Assemble a field development plan that satisfies regulatory, partner and internal approval requirements

The course is delivered as a project development programme, following an offshore field from discovery through appraisal, concept selection and definition to final investment decision. Each discipline contribution is developed in terms of what it must deliver to the plan and what it requires from the others. Case material covers developments where concept selection proved correct, developments constrained by facility sizing decisions taken too early, and projects where flow assurance or execution issues emerged after commitment. Participants work through concept screening and profile generation exercises with realistic uncertainty.

Organisations sending participants to this training will:

• Improve the quality of concept selection and reduce the risk of committing to the wrong development
• Size facilities appropriately against genuine subsurface uncertainty
• Justify appraisal expenditure against the decisions it will influence
• Improve cost and schedule realism in development planning
• Strengthen integration between subsurface, wells, facilities and commercial functions
• Produce development plans that meet regulatory and partner expectations first time

Participants will:

• Understand the full offshore development process and where each discipline contributes
• Generate and defend production profiles under substantial uncertainty
• Contribute to concept screening and selection with a whole-project view
• Understand the constraints wells, facilities and installation impose on subsurface plans
• Build and present a development case for approval
• Move into field development planning, project or asset leadership roles

• Reservoir and petroleum engineers working on offshore developments
• Field development planners and project engineers
• Facilities, subsea and process engineers contributing to development plans
• Drilling and completion engineers involved in development programmes
• Geoscientists supporting appraisal and development evaluation
• Commercial, planning and economics staff working on offshore projects
• Asset managers, project managers and regulators reviewing development plans

Upon successful completion of this training course, delegates will be awarded an official Certificate of Completion issued by the Petroleum Engineers Association (PEA), an ISO 9001:2015 certified training organization. The certificate carries 10 Credits and formally records the total learning hours completed.

Each certificate is signed by the Course Facilitator and the CEO of the Petroleum Engineers Association, and serves as verifiable proof of professional training that delegates can present to employers and professional bodies worldwide.