An Interactive 5-Day Training Course
Licensing Rounds, Bid Evaluation & Acreage Assessment
Valuing Acreage and Bids Before Drilling
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Duration
5 Days
Price
$ 3,500
Starting From
04 Oct 2027
Home Geology and Geoscience Licensing Rounds, Bid Evaluation & Acreage Assessment
Licensing Rounds, Bid Evaluation & Acreage Assessment
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Licensing Rounds, Bid Evaluation & Acreage Assessment - GG-BID-PEA27
| Code | Date | Time | Duration | Location | Currency | Early Bird Fee Per Person |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GG-BID-PEA27 | 04 - 08 Oct 2027 | 10 AM CST | 4 Hours Per Day |
Online |
USD |
3500 |
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Licensing Rounds, Bid Evaluation & Acreage Assessment
This training covers licensing round participation and acreage assessment. It works through round announcement analysis, block screening and ranking, technical evaluation with limited data, work programme design and costing, fiscal and contractual terms, bid strategy and competitive assessment, bid preparation and submission, and post-award work programme delivery.
Description
A licensing round compresses an acreage decision into a fixed timetable with limited data and a competitive bid. The evaluation has to screen the blocks on offer, assess the prospectivity of those worth pursuing, design a work programme that is both competitive and deliverable, understand the fiscal terms well enough to value the outcome, and judge what competitors are likely to offer. The decisions are binding, the commitments are expensive, and the data available is usually a speculative seismic survey and whatever is in the public domain.
This training covers the full cycle. Round analysis is established first, covering the announcement and its terms, block definition, data packages, timetable, and the questions to resolve before committing evaluation effort. Block screening follows, covering rapid prospectivity assessment, play reasoning applied to acreage, and the criteria for carrying blocks forward. Technical evaluation with limited data is then developed, covering what can be established from speculative seismic and regional data, the use of analogues and conjugate margins, and the honest treatment of the resulting uncertainty. Work programme design follows, covering commitment structure, phasing, cost estimation and deliverability. Fiscal and contractual terms are then addressed, covering the main regime types and their effect on value. Bid strategy is developed, covering scoring systems, competitor assessment and the balance between winning and overcommitting. The training closes with bid preparation and post-award delivery.
Winning the wrong block is worse than losing it. A competitive round rewards the largest commitment, and the bidder who most overestimates the prospectivity usually wins. The result is a block with a work programme that commits to seismic and a well on acreage that does not justify either, with the obligation enforceable and the alternative being relinquishment and penalty. The discipline is to decide the maximum commitment the block justifies before seeing what competitors do, and to be willing to lose.
Work programme design is where the technical and commercial judgement meet. A phased programme with a modest firm commitment and a larger contingent one limits the downside while keeping access, but it scores lower in rounds that weight total commitment. A programme that commits to a well in phase one scores highly and is expensive if the seismic then shows no prospect worth drilling. Understanding how the specific round scores bids, and shaping the programme to score well on what matters while limiting the firm commitment, is a specific skill.
Fiscal terms change the answer more than most technical parameters. The same discovery under a concession with moderate royalty and tax is worth a multiple of what it is worth under an aggressive production sharing contract with high government take and slow cost recovery. A technical evaluation that establishes a hundred million barrel prospect without establishing what a hundred million barrels is worth under the terms on offer has not answered the question. Minimum economic field size under the actual terms is often the decisive number.
Finally, the competitive assessment is a legitimate part of the analysis. Knowing which companies are active in the region, what they have bid before, which blocks their existing positions make them want, and what the government is likely to be seeking, informs both whether to bid and at what level. It does not replace the technical view of the acreage, but it determines whether a given commitment is likely to be enough, and whether a block is worth evaluating at all.
By the end of this training, participants will be able to:
- Analyse a round announcement and its terms and timetable
- Screen and rank blocks rapidly on prospectivity grounds
- Evaluate acreage technically with speculative seismic and regional data
- Apply play and analogue reasoning to undrilled acreage
- Estimate prospectivity and resource potential with honest uncertainty
- Design work programmes balancing competitiveness and commitment
- Estimate work programme costs and assess deliverability
- Assess fiscal and contractual terms and their effect on value
- Develop bid strategy including competitor and scoring assessment
- Prepare bid submissions and deliver post-award work programmes
The training is run as a licensing round exercise. Participants receive a round announcement, data package and timetable, screen the blocks, evaluate the shortlist, design work programmes and submit bids against a defined scoring system. Bids are evaluated competitively between teams. The actual round outcome and the subsequent drilling results are disclosed afterwards, allowing both the bid decisions and the acreage assessments to be reviewed against what happened.
Organisations sending participants to this training will:
- Screen and evaluate licensing opportunities more efficiently
- Avoid overcommitment on acreage that does not justify it
- Design work programmes that are competitive and deliverable
- Value acreage under the actual fiscal terms on offer
- Improve bid strategy through competitor and scoring assessment
- Deliver post-award commitments without distress
Participants will:
- Evaluate acreage with limited data and state the uncertainty
- Design work programmes balancing access and commitment
- Understand fiscal terms well enough to value outcomes
- Contribute to bid strategy and competitive assessment
- Prepare technical content for bid submissions
- Build capability valued in new ventures roles
- New ventures and acreage evaluation staff
- Exploration geoscientists supporting licensing rounds
- Business development and commercial staff
- Portfolio and planning staff
- Geoscientists preparing bid submissions
- Managers responsible for acreage decisions
- Technical staff delivering post-award work programmes
Module 1 - Rounds and Their Terms
- Licensing round types and processes
- Round announcement and its contents
- Block definition and sizing
- Data packages and their quality
- Timetable and its constraints
- Qualification and prequalification requirements
- Bid evaluation criteria and scoring
- Open door and direct negotiation alternatives
- Government objectives and their reading
- Questions to resolve before committing effort
- Deciding whether to participate at all
Module 2 - Block Screening
- Screening criteria for acreage
- Play presence reasoning
- Proximity to discoveries and infrastructure
- Water depth and operational feasibility
- Data availability by block
- Regional geological reasoning
- Rapid prospectivity indication
- Block size and shape considerations
- Ranking blocks for further work
- Eliminating blocks early
- Allocating evaluation effort
Module 3 - Technical Evaluation with Limited Data
- Speculative seismic and its interpretation
- Regional seismic reconnaissance
- Gravity, magnetic and satellite data
- Public domain well data
- Published studies and their use
- Seismic stratigraphic interpretation
- Play element assessment on the acreage
- Lead identification from reconnaissance data
- Resource potential estimation
- Analogue and conjugate margin reasoning
- Expressing high uncertainty honestly
- What more data would resolve
Module 4 - Work Programme Design
- Work programme components
- Seismic acquisition commitments
- Reprocessing and studies
- Well commitments and their cost
- Firm and contingent commitment structure
- Phasing and decision points
- Programme duration and relinquishment
- Deliverability assessment
- Cost estimation for each component
- Contingency and cost risk
- Programme flexibility and its value
- Balancing score against exposure
Module 5 - Fiscal and Contractual Terms
- Concession and royalty tax regimes
- Production sharing contracts
- Service contracts
- Cost recovery mechanisms and limits
- Profit sharing and sliding scales
- Royalty structures
- Taxation and ring fencing
- Signature and production bonuses
- Local content and domestic obligations
- Government take calculation
- Minimum economic field size under the terms
- Fiscal sensitivity of project value
Module 6 - Bid Strategy
- Scoring system analysis
- What the round actually rewards
- Setting the maximum justified commitment
- Competitor identification and assessment
- Competitor strategic interests
- Historic bidding behaviour
- Partner and consortium options
- Equity level and operatorship decisions
- Bidding on multiple blocks
- Portfolio effect of round outcomes
- Willingness to lose
- Avoiding the winner's curse
Module 7 - Bid Preparation and Submission
- Bid document structure and requirements
- Technical submission content
- Geological and prospectivity presentation
- Work programme specification
- Financial and corporate requirements
- Compliance with round rules
- Internal approval processes
- Approval timelines and their management
- Submission logistics and deadlines
- Common disqualification causes
- Post-submission clarifications
- Award negotiation
Module 8 - Post-Award Delivery
- Licence terms and obligations
- Work programme planning after award
- Seismic acquisition planning
- Study programme and its sequencing
- Prospect maturation towards the well commitment
- Partner alignment on the programme
- Government reporting and relations
- Commitment deferral and variation
- Relinquishment planning
- Exit and withdrawal options
- Reviewing acreage decisions against outcomes
- Capturing learning for future rounds
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
All course bookings made through PEA are strictly non-refundable. By registering for a course, you acknowledge and accept that all fees are payable in full and are not subject to refund under any circumstances, including changes in personal or professional commitments or partial attendance.
PEA reserves the right to make reasonable adjustments to course content, trainers, or schedules where necessary, without entitling delegates to a refund. Comprehensive details of each course — including objectives, target audience, and content — are clearly outlined before enrolment, and it is the responsibility of the delegate to ensure the course's suitability prior to booking.
For any inquiries related to cancellations or bookings, please contact our support team, who will be happy to assist you.
