Upstream oil and gas accounting differs sharply from standard commercial practice. Costs are incurred years before any revenue, outcomes are uncertain, partners share risk through joint ventures, and governments take their share through contracts and special taxes. Mistakes in cost classification, cost recovery claims or tax filings can be very expensive and may damage relationships with partners and regulators.

This ten-day programme builds capability in two linked halves. The first five days establish the accounting framework: the petroleum value chain, the lifecycle of an asset, treatment of exploration and development expenditure, depreciation and depletion, reserves, decommissioning, impairment and the preparation of financial statements. The second five days apply that foundation to commercial and fiscal arrangements. Participants study joint operating agreements, cost recovery under production sharing contracts, concession and royalty regimes, corporate income tax rules, ring-fencing, indirect taxes, transfer pricing and the tax consequences of transactions.

Every topic is anchored in worked models in spreadsheets, supported by anonymised statements and joint venture billings. In the closing days, delegates complete an integrated case that takes a field from exploration to production, producing the accounts, partner statements and tax computation, and then defend their treatments to a review panel.

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

• Explain the petroleum value chain and its implications for financial reporting.
• Apply successful efforts and full cost methods to exploration, evaluation and development spending.
• Calculate depletion, impairment and decommissioning provisions for upstream assets.
• Prepare joint venture accounts, cash calls and partner billings under a joint operating agreement.
• Compute cost recovery, profit oil and government take under production sharing contracts.
• Prepare petroleum income tax computations, including ring-fencing and capital allowances.
• Identify transfer pricing, withholding tax and indirect tax exposures in oil and gas transactions.
• Evaluate the tax and accounting consequences of farm-ins, disposals and asset swaps.

The course is designed for finance, tax and commercial professionals working in or alongside the petroleum sector, including:

• Financial accountants and controllers in oil and gas companies
• Joint venture accountants and partner accounting staff
• Tax managers and external tax advisers
• External and internal auditors of extractive entities
• Staff of national oil companies and petroleum ministries
• Revenue authority officials who audit petroleum taxpayers
• Commercial and business development analysts
• Oilfield services and contractor finance managers
• Investors and bank officers who review petroleum clients

Participants leave with:

• Spreadsheet models for depletion, impairment and decommissioning provisions.
• A joint venture billing and cash call template.
• A production sharing cost recovery and profit split model.
• A petroleum tax computation template with ring-fencing logic.
• A checklist of audit and dispute risks in cost classification.
• A completed integrated case from exploration through to tax filing.

The programme is technical and model driven, built around calculation practice. It includes:

• Concise lectures that explain each rule before it is applied
• Spreadsheet labs where delegates build depletion, JV and PSC models
• Anonymised joint venture statements, audit queries and tax returns
• Group exercises comparing accounting and tax positions
• A final integrated case reviewed by a facilitator panel

Delegates who attend the ten days and complete the modelling labs and integrated case are awarded a CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion issued by Vision Reach Global Consultancy.