Gas & LNG Contract Negotiations

Course details

This world class training course is uniquely Asia-focused. It immerses course participants in a dynamic negotiation process based entirely on real life Oil, Gas and LNG negotiating situations, many of which have been experienced directly by the course Trainers. It targets professionals who are normally peripheral to major Gas and LNG negotiations such as legal counsel, financial and engineering professionals, project leaders and senior management, any of whom may be called in to play an active part in these negotiations whether by virtue of their skill sets or seniority level. We supply focused pre-reading for each participant, which is essential to enable the participants to play a full role from day one in this intensive, enjoyable and proven successful course. The course is intended for people who want their professional contribution to major deal-making to count and places major business deal-making within contemporary technical, commercial and political frameworks.

The first day of this intensive course provides concise teaching sessions which explain the relevance of natural gas and LNG in today energy mix and how these businesses work. These sessions identify the many agreements along the value chain, explain vital risk mitigation and project evaluation procedures, and provide simplified explanations with examples of how key terms work in both Gas and LNG Sales and Purchase Agreements. These sessions will equip you with a fundamental knowledge of what really matters in these big negotiations and an ability to use the key terms in our new and highly realistic negotiation exercise. You will learn, in three days, the factors for success in negotiating gas and LNG deals.

The course provides expert training on typical Gas and LNG terms and conditions as is necessary to enable participants to engage in an informed manner in an actual negotiation and to understand the processes involved. The course relies extensively on concise and up to date descriptions of both logistical and quantitative elements of the modern Gas and LNG industry, including supply/demand and market pricing developments worldwide. The Trainers update the course on an annual basis so it reflects real world macro-economic business conditions, and many elements of these conditions are included in advisory notes distributed throughout the negotiation exercise.

Key Learning Points from this Course include the following:

• Where gas and LNG contracts "sit" in the oil and gas value chains, what gas and LNG contract terms all mean; the differences between similar terms in pipeline gas and LNG contracts and the essential balance of risk and reward in agreements.
• How to manage information overload, incomplete information and misleading information in the context of a sophisticated negotiation
• How to use and negotiate key terms in the Gas and LNG Sale and Purchase Agreements used in real world negotiations
• How to progress successfully through a competitive and demanding negotiation process and achieve negotiating closure of pro forma agreements.
• How to construct effective negotiating teams to achieve optimum results when exposed to negotiating dynamics in practice.
• Why any major gas or LNG agreement must be a balance of risk and reward, and identification of current market risks and possible structural changes
• Key risk identification - competing fuels, how "value" must be affordable in host markets, how key contract "reopeners" can help parties negotiate through tough economic times, major non-economic risk forecasting and risk management
• Project feasibility, Negotiation practice and behaviour - why it is essential to;
• Real world appetite for long, medium and short term pipeline gas and LNG contracts, role of trading, incorporating contract optionality and the impact of globalization
• Real life examples will be given from the wide personal experience of the course leaders. Learning point summaries will help the attendees grasp key structures