Oil and Gas Contract Management for Upstream Projects Training Course

Course overview

Upstream projects depend on contracts that allocate technical, commercial and operational risk long before a rig mobilises, a subsea package is fabricated or a well intervention begins. Contract managers must interpret scope boundaries, manage change, protect schedule entitlement and administer payment without damaging critical supplier relationships. Weak contract administration can turn drilling delays, interface failures, variations and claims into avoidable cost exposure. This course addresses the practical decisions faced across exploration, drilling, development, production and decommissioning contracts.

Participants examine the full upstream contract-management cycle: developing contracting strategies, selecting appropriate contract forms, defining scope and deliverables, evaluating bids, administering notices, managing variations, validating invoices and preparing claims positions. They learn to use responsibility matrices, risk registers, change-control logs, correspondence protocols, milestone schedules and claims evidence files. Particular attention is given to EPC/EPCM, drilling, marine, well services, fabrication, logistics and long-term service agreements, with emphasis on the contractual consequences of delay, disruption, force majeure, indemnities and liability caps.

The five-day programme combines instructor-led analysis with document-based workshops using realistic upstream project scenarios. Participants review contract clauses, assess a contractor change request, build a notice and claims chronology, and negotiate a variation position. They leave with an upstream contract administration toolkit: a contract-management plan, obligations register, change-control workflow, correspondence template set and claims-evidence checklist that can be adapted to their own project.

The course is designed for professionals who already work with upstream contracts and need a more disciplined method for controlling commercial exposure at project and operational level.

Course objectives

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

• Develop an upstream contract-management plan covering governance, roles, reporting and escalation routes
• Interpret scope, interface, indemnity, liability and change clauses in drilling and EPC contract packages
• Build an obligations register that links contractual commitments to owners, dates, evidence and status
• Apply a bid-evaluation matrix to assess technical compliance, commercial risk and contractual deviations
• Administer variation requests through a documented instruction, valuation, approval and audit trail
• Prepare contractual notices for delay, disruption, changed conditions and potential claims
• Construct a claims chronology and evidence file using schedules, correspondence, cost records and daily reports
• Conduct a close-out review that captures final account issues, lessons learned and supplier performance data

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Contract Managers — who administer upstream project contracts and need defensible control of changes and claims
• Commercial Managers — who protect project margin and manage contractual exposure across contractors and suppliers
• Procurement and Supply Chain Professionals — who prepare tender packages, evaluate deviations and support award decisions
• Project Managers — who must align technical delivery, schedule recovery and contract notice requirements
• Drilling and Wells Engineers — who manage rig, well service and intervention contractors under time-critical conditions
• Project Controls and Cost Engineers — who substantiate delay, disruption, variation and final-account positions

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical exposure to procurement, project delivery, operations or contract administration in oil and gas, preferably on an upstream asset, drilling campaign or capital project. They should understand basic contract terminology such as scope of work, purchase order, variation, milestone, invoice, indemnity and liquidated damages, and be comfortable reading commercial documents and project schedules. Experience with Excel and document-control systems is useful. Legal training, prior claims experience, SAP Ariba expertise and detailed knowledge of any one model contract are not required; contract clauses and case materials are worked through in class.

Training methodology

The instructor uses upstream contract extracts, drilling and EPC case studies, and facilitated discussions to connect legal wording with operational decisions. Participants work in small groups to map interfaces, review bidder qualifications, assess change requests, draft notices and test claim evidence against a project timeline. Short instructor briefings establish the governing principles before each document-based exercise. On the final day, each participant adapts the course templates into an application plan for a live or upcoming contract, with peer and instructor feedback.

Course outline

Day 1: Upstream contracting strategy and risk allocation

• Upstream project lifecycle and contracting decision points
• Contracting strategies for drilling, EPC, fabrication and operations
• Lump sum, reimbursable, unit-rate and incentivised contract models
• Risk allocation through indemnities, insurance and liability caps
• Scope of work hierarchy and document precedence rules
• Interface management between operator, contractor and subcontractors
• Contract-management plan governance and escalation structure

Workshop: Participants map risks and interfaces for a field-development package and produce a contract-management plan outline.

Day 2: Tendering, award and mobilisation controls

• Prequalification criteria for upstream suppliers and service companies
• Invitation-to-tender structure and bidder instruction requirements
• Technical compliance matrices and clarification management
• Commercial bid comparison and total-cost-of-ownership analysis
• Contractual deviation logs and negotiation priorities
• Award recommendation documentation and delegated authority controls
• Kick-off meetings, baseline deliverables and mobilisation checklists

Workshop: Teams evaluate competing drilling-services bids and produce a weighted recommendation with a contractual deviation register.

Day 3: Contract administration and change management

• Obligations registers for deliverables, dates and acceptance criteria
• Notice provisions, communication protocols and document-control discipline
• Instructions, field directives and authority-to-proceed boundaries
• Variation identification, scope validation and change request logs
• Valuation methods for rates, lump sums and reimbursable work
• Invoice certification, milestone verification and payment controls
• Performance monitoring through KPIs, service levels and corrective actions

Workshop: Participants assess a subsea fabrication change request and produce an approved change-control record with valuation assumptions.

Day 4: Delay, disruption and claims management

• Delay analysis concepts for upstream project schedules
• Critical path evidence using Primavera P6 schedule updates
• Concurrent delay, acceleration and mitigation obligations
• Claims chronology construction and contemporaneous record keeping
• Cost substantiation using timesheets, invoices and productivity data
• Force majeure, suspension, termination and dispute escalation clauses
• Without-prejudice negotiation and settlement strategy

Workshop: Working from rig downtime records and correspondence, groups build a claims chronology and draft a notice of potential claim.

Day 5: Close-out, disputes prevention and workplace application

• Final account preparation and unresolved variation reconciliation
• Completion, acceptance, warranty and defect-liability administration
• Supplier performance evaluation and contractor close-out meetings
• Dispute avoidance boards, mediation and arbitration pathways
• Lessons-learned capture for future tender and contract templates
• AIPN and LOGIC model terms in upstream contracting practice
• Ninety-day contract-management improvement planning

Workshop: Participants assemble a close-out and claims-prevention action plan using their obligations register, change log and evidence checklist.

Tools & standards covered

AIPN Model Contracts, LOGIC General Conditions of Contract, Oracle Primavera P6, SAP Ariba

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions