8th March - 19th March 2021 (London, UK) 5th July - 16th July 2021 (London, UK) 4th October - 15th October 2021 (Dubai, UAE)

Course Overview

The challenges of searching, boring and getting a substance that is hidden underground in vaguely defined sub-surface strata are numerous but none more important than answering the three questions (i) where is the resource? (ii) how much is there? and (iii) who owns it?

As part of ongoing processes of managing oil and gas reserves, it is important for investors, operators and host governments to develop strategies for dealing with discoveries that extend beyond certain operational or geographical boundaries.  This course will be suitable for those responsible for joint management of oil and gas reservoir with multiple owners of rights in the discoveries.

Learning Outcome

Participants will have better understanding of:

• Fundamentals and goals of unit formation
• The rule of capture and boundary determination
• Extant laws regulating pooling and unitisation
• Unit operating agreements and accounting procedures
• Governments’ regulations and statutory agencies

Indicative Contents

• Overview of unitisation
• Understanding the rule of capture
• Pooling and unitisation regulatory framework
• International legal principles, joint and cross boarder unitisation
• Unit negotiations, determination and revision of unit factors
• Unit operating agreements, laws and regulatory authorities
• Fundamentals & goals of unitisation – correlative rights (the “fair share” doctrine)
• Pooling  – voluntary v. compulsory unitisation
• Participation and investment factors
• Reservoir definition & well production
• Relationship to license & production sharing contract
• Inclusion of other interests (royalty & overriding royalty)
• Inclusion of non-straddling reservoirs & facilities
• Lifting, balancing & associated agreements
• Compulsory unitisation
• Licenses & extensions
• Assignments & fractional interests