An Interactive 5-Day Training Course
Midstream Oil & Gas Fundamentals
Pipelines, processing, LNG and terminals — from wellhead to market
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Duration
5 Days
Price
$ 4,000
Starting From
15 Mar 2027
Midstream Oil & Gas Fundamentals
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Midstream Oil & Gas Fundamentals - SF-MOGF-PEA27
| Code | Date | Time | Duration | Location | Currency | Early Bird Fee Per Person |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SF-MOGF-PEA27 | 15 - 19 Mar 2027 | 10 AM CST | 5 Days |
Online |
USD |
4000 |
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Midstream Oil & Gas Fundamentals
A complete introduction to the midstream sector. It covers crude and product pipelines, gas transmission and compression, gas processing plants and natural gas liquids fractionation, liquefied natural gas, storage in tanks and underground facilities, terminals and marine transport, measurement and custody transfer, integrity and regulation, and the commercial arrangements that determine how midstream assets earn money.
Description
Midstream is everything between the production facility and the refinery, power station or export cargo. It is the pipelines, compressor and pump stations, gas processing plants, fractionation trains, liquefaction facilities, storage installations, terminals and jetties that physically move hydrocarbons and bring them to the specification the buyer requires. It is also a distinct commercial sector, with its own contract structures, tariff arrangements, regulatory treatment and business models, which differ fundamentally from upstream in that revenue is generally earned on volume handled rather than on the commodity itself.
This course covers both aspects. On the technical side it addresses crude, product and gas pipeline design and hydraulics, pump and compressor station arrangements, pipeline operation, pigging and integrity management, gas processing including dehydration, acid gas removal, hydrocarbon dew point control and natural gas liquids recovery, fractionation into ethane, propane, butane and natural gasoline, liquefied natural gas liquefaction, shipping and regasification, storage in atmospheric tanks, pressurised vessels, salt caverns and depleted reservoirs, terminals, jetties and marine loading, and measurement and custody transfer. On the commercial side it covers midstream business models, tariff and transportation contract structures, capacity rights, quality specifications and their commercial consequences, regulation and third party access, and the effect of energy transition on midstream infrastructure
Hydrocarbons have no value at the wellhead. They acquire value when they reach a market in a form the market accepts, and midstream infrastructure is what carries out that conversion. A gas stream leaving a production facility may be saturated with water, contain hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide, carry heavy hydrocarbons that would condense in a pipeline, and be at the wrong pressure for the transmission system. Making it saleable requires dehydration, acid gas removal, dew point control, compression and metering, all before a molecule reaches a customer.
The sector is defined by scale and by contract. A transmission pipeline represents a very large capital commitment with a design life measured in decades, and it is financed against long term transportation agreements rather than against the commodity price. That changes the engineering priorities: throughput reliability, integrity and measurement accuracy matter more than optimising a marginal barrel. It also changes the commercial exposure, since a midstream operator with firm transportation contracts is largely insulated from price and exposed instead to volume, counterparty and regulatory risk.
Specification is where the technical and commercial sides meet. A pipeline entry specification sets water content, hydrogen sulphide, carbon dioxide, oxygen, hydrocarbon dew point and heating value limits, and a producer who cannot meet them cannot access the market regardless of how much gas the field produces. Crude quality specifications, vapour pressure limits and blending constraints work the same way. Understanding what those specifications are, why they exist and what equipment is required to meet them is the practical core of midstream work, and it is the foundation this course builds.
By the end of this training, participants will be able to:
- Describe the midstream sector, its asset classes and its position between production and end use
- Perform basic hydraulic calculations for liquid and gas pipelines and determine pressure and capacity
- Describe pump and compressor station arrangements, spacing and operating requirements
- Explain pipeline operation including batching, pigging, leak detection and integrity management
- Describe gas processing operations including dehydration, acid gas removal and dew point control
- Explain natural gas liquids recovery and fractionation into individual product streams
- Describe liquefied natural gas liquefaction, shipping, storage and regasification
- Compare storage options including tanks, pressurised vessels, salt caverns and depleted reservoirs
- Explain measurement, custody transfer and quality specification requirements across midstream assets
- Describe midstream commercial structures including tariffs, transportation agreements and capacity rights
The course is delivered as a broad technical and commercial programme covering each midstream asset class in turn, developing the engineering behind it and then the commercial arrangements that govern its use. Process flow diagrams, pipeline schematics and terminal layouts are used throughout, alongside real specification sheets and contract structures. Case material covers pipeline capacity expansions, processing plant configurations, liquefied natural gas projects and storage operations, including cases where specification or capacity constraints determined the commercial outcome.
Organisations sending participants to this training will:
- Build shared understanding of midstream constraints across upstream and commercial teams
- Improve evaluation of transportation, processing and storage options for produced volumes
- Strengthen negotiation of transportation, processing and terminal agreements
- Reduce the risk of developing production that cannot meet downstream specifications
- Improve technical review of midstream project proposals and expansions
- Support workforce transfer between upstream, midstream and commercial functions
Participants will:
- Understand the complete path hydrocarbons take from the field to the market
- Perform basic pipeline, compression and processing calculations
- Explain what each midstream facility does and why it is required
- Understand product specifications and the consequences of failing to meet them
- Interpret midstream commercial structures and tariff arrangements
- Move into midstream technical, operational or commercial roles with a solid foundation
- Engineers moving into midstream roles from upstream or downstream
- Pipeline, terminal and gas plant operations and engineering staff
- Production and facilities engineers dealing with export and transportation
- Commercial, marketing and business development professionals in oil and gas
- Project engineers working on pipeline, processing or terminal projects
- Regulatory, planning and government staff dealing with midstream infrastructure
- Graduate engineers and new entrants to the midstream sector
Module 1 — Midstream Overview and Value Chain
- Definition and boundaries of the midstream sector
- Asset classes: pipelines, processing, fractionation, liquefaction, storage and terminals
- The path from wellhead to market for crude, gas and liquids
- Product specifications and why they govern access to market
- Midstream business models and revenue mechanisms
- Key participants: producers, midstream operators, shippers and buyers
- Regulatory environment and third party access principles
Module 2 — Liquid Pipeline Engineering
- Crude, product and natural gas liquids pipeline applications
- Hydraulic calculation: friction, elevation and pressure profile
- Line sizing, velocity limits and pipeline capacity
- Pump station spacing, selection and operation
- Batching, interface management and product contamination control
- Drag reducing agents and capacity enhancement
- Slack line, column separation and surge control
- Pipeline start-up, shutdown and transient operation
Module 3 — Gas Pipeline and Compression Engineering
- Gas transmission and gathering pipeline applications
- Gas flow equations, pressure drop and line capacity
- Compressibility, temperature effects and line pack
- Compressor station configuration, spacing and staging
- Compressor selection, drivers and fuel consumption
- Pressure control, regulation and city gate arrangements
- Line pack management and swing service
- Pipeline network operation and capacity allocation
Module 4 — Pipeline Operations, Pigging and Integrity
- Pipeline control room operation and supervisory systems
- Leak detection methods and their limitations
- Pigging: cleaning, batching and inspection pigs
- In-line inspection technologies and data interpretation
- Corrosion control: coatings, cathodic protection and inhibition
- Integrity management programmes and risk based assessment
- Third party damage prevention and right of way management
- Repair methods, hot tapping and pipeline maintenance
- Emergency response and pipeline incident management
Module 5 — Gas Processing Plants
- Purpose and configuration of a gas processing plant
- Inlet reception, slug catching and separation
- Gas dehydration by glycol absorption and solid desiccant
- Acid gas removal: amine systems and alternatives
- Sulphur recovery and tail gas treatment
- Mercury and other contaminant removal
- Hydrocarbon dew point control methods
- Nitrogen rejection and helium recovery
- Plant utilities, energy consumption and emissions
Module 6 — Natural Gas Liquids Recovery and Fractionation
- Natural gas liquids composition and product definitions
- Recovery methods: refrigeration, lean oil and turboexpander
- Cryogenic recovery and ethane rejection and recovery decisions
- Demethaniser and deethaniser operation
- Fractionation train: propane, butane and natural gasoline separation
- Product specifications and treating requirements
- Natural gas liquids transportation and storage
- Economics of liquids extraction versus gas sales
Module 7 — Liquefied Natural Gas
- Liquefied natural gas value chain overview
- Feed gas pre-treatment requirements
- Liquefaction processes and refrigeration cycles
- Liquefaction train capacity, efficiency and configuration
- Liquefied natural gas storage tanks and boil-off management
- Loading, shipping and cargo containment systems
- Regasification terminals and send-out arrangements
- Small scale liquefied natural gas and floating facilities
- Safety considerations specific to cryogenic operations
Module 8 — Storage
- Purpose of storage: operational, strategic and seasonal
- Atmospheric tank storage for crude and products
- Pressurised storage for liquefied petroleum gas and natural gas liquids
- Underground storage in salt caverns
- Depleted reservoir and aquifer gas storage
- Working gas, cushion gas and deliverability
- Storage injection and withdrawal cycles
- Inventory management, measurement and losses
- Storage safety, integrity and environmental protection
Module 9 — Terminals, Marine Transport and Distribution
- Terminal configuration and functions
- Jetty, berth and marine loading arrangements
- Loading arms, hoses and vapour recovery
- Tanker sizing, chartering and voyage considerations
- Ship-shore interface, safety and emergency release
- Truck and rail loading facilities
- Blending operations and quality management at terminals
- Terminal operations, scheduling and demurrage
Module 10 — Measurement, Quality and Custody Transfer
- Custody transfer principles and legal metrology
- Liquid measurement: meters, provers and tank gauging
- Gas measurement: orifice, turbine and ultrasonic meters
- Flow computers, correction and standard conditions
- Sampling, analysis and quality determination
- Energy measurement and heating value determination
- Measurement uncertainty, loss control and reconciliation
- Quality specifications and off-specification handling
- Allocation across shared infrastructure
Module 11 — Midstream Commercial Structures and Regulation
- Midstream business models: fee based, keep whole and percentage of proceeds
- Transportation agreements, firm and interruptible service
- Tariff structures, rate setting and regulated returns
- Capacity rights, nominations and scheduling
- Processing, gathering and treating agreements
- Take-or-pay, ship-or-pay and minimum volume commitments
- Open season, expansion and shipper commitment processes
- Regulatory oversight, access rules and market structure
- Contract risk, counterparty exposure and dispute areas
Module 12 — Safety, Environment and the Future of Midstream
- Process safety management in midstream facilities
- Pipeline and terminal emergency planning
- Environmental permitting and compliance obligations
- Emissions sources, methane management and leak detection
- Land use, community and right of way considerations
- Repurposing infrastructure for hydrogen and carbon dioxide transport
- Carbon dioxide pipelines and storage infrastructure requirements
- Energy transition effects on midstream investment and asset life
- Asset integrity and life extension for ageing midstream infrastructure
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.
This course is led by a process and production specialist with more than 23 years in the oil and gas industry, built on the facilities that gather, treat, process and move hydrocarbons from the field to the market.
He currently holds production and process safety leadership responsibility with a Shell joint venture operating offshore gas assets, covering separation, dehydration, gas treating, compression and condensate handling — the front end of every midstream chain. Earlier in his career he served as start-up process engineer with Shell in the Caspian region, leading the process team through commissioning and start-up on one of the industry's most demanding gas and condensate developments. Across more than two decades he has taken several major projects from pre-commissioning through to stable, optimised operation.
That operating background shapes how he teaches. Delegates learn not only how a facility is designed to work, but how it behaves in practice — where capacity is really lost, why compressors surge, what upsets a dehydration or treating unit, how measurement disputes arise, and how engineering and operations resolve these issues together. Every module is anchored in real plant behaviour, operating data and decisions taken under pressure.
His subject coverage spans the full midstream chain: gathering systems, pipelines, compression and pumping, gas processing and NGL fractionation, liquefied natural gas, storage, terminals and marine transport, measurement and allocation, and the commercial structures that govern how midstream assets earn their return. As a process safety leader, he brings a disciplined safety and risk perspective throughout — essential where the subject matter is high-pressure gas, cryogenic liquids, bulk storage and marine loading.
He has delivered process and operations training for many years across Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Syria and Malaysia, working with mixed groups of engineers, operators, technical staff and commercial teams at every level of experience. He is an active contributor to the industry's professional community, with a following of more than 10,000 practitioners, and is currently engaged in doctoral research in his field.
His approach is practical, discussion-led and grounded in the plant — not the textbook.
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.
