Cost per barrel is the number that governs a mature asset's life, and it is not one number. Fixed cost per barrel rises steeply as rates decline, which is why a field's economic limit usually arrives long before the reservoir is empty. Understanding which costs are genuinely variable and which continue regardless of production is the starting point for any serious cost work.

Investment decisions in production are mostly incremental. A workover, a stimulation or a lift conversion costs money now and produces incremental cash flow later, and the comparison should be made on that incremental basis with the right time value applied. Many production proposals fail approval not because they lack value but because they were presented without credible numbers.

Cost reduction deserves the same discipline as production addition. A dollar saved in operating cost and a dollar of additional margin are worth the same, and in mature assets the cost side is often the easier one to move. Energy, chemicals, maintenance strategy, manning and contract structure are all levers production engineers can influence, and this course covers them alongside the evaluation methods.

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

• Analyse operating cost structures and separate fixed from variable costs.
• Calculate cost per barrel and understand its behaviour with declining rates.
• Describe revenue, price realisation and the main fiscal regimes affecting producers.
• Build cash flow models for production projects.
• Apply payback, net present value and rate of return to production decisions.
• Evaluate incremental production projects consistently.
• Calculate economic limits for wells and fields and assess abandonment timing.
• Identify and quantify operating cost reduction levers.
• Prepare operating budgets and cost forecasts.
• Benchmark cost performance and present economic cases for approval.

Organisations sending participants to this training will:

• Make production decisions on consistent economic grounds.
• Reduce operating cost per barrel and extend field life.
• Improve the quality of project proposals going for approval.
• Improve budgeting and cost forecasting accuracy.
• Give engineers a shared economic language with finance and management.

Participants will:

• Understand where production operating cost goes.
• Be able to build and interpret a production cash flow model.
• Be able to evaluate and rank production projects.
• Be able to calculate economic limits and abandonment timing.
• Be able to present an economic case that gets approved.

• Production engineers
• Operations engineers and supervisors
• Production and operations managers
• Planning, budgeting and economics staff
• Asset and development engineers
• Procurement and contract staff supporting operations

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.