Leadership and Management > Managing Innovation and New Technologies in the Upstream Oil & Gas Industry - Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT)

About this Training Course 

The upstream oil and gas industry has become more technology-intensive over the years, and the pace of technological change within the sector is accelerating. But how should an organisation manage the development, deployment, and use of new innovations that are emerging within the industry?

Designed by the researcher behind both of the Society of Petroleum Engineers’ Global Innovation Surveys, this course gives participants an awareness of how innovation and R&D happen within the sector and, by teaching them how to apply a broad range of tools, shows them how they can get better results from their organisation’s innovation-related activities.

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

  • Develop an appreciation for the role of innovation in the success of oil & gas firms
  • Understand the industry-specific challenges of R&D in the oil & gas industry
  • Know how to be innovative even in a low-price or turbulent environment
  • Understand “open innovation” and know a few ways that they can become open innovators who successfully leverage innovations and good ideas from other organisations and industries
  • Know how to articulate the potential value of oil & gas technologies, and to recognise the limitations of different valuation methods
  • Understand how innovation can help the oil & gas industry to survive and compete in a carbon-constrained world
  • Develop an appreciation for how digital technologies like Big Data, cloud computing, Internet of Things, blockchain, etc are changing the competitive dynamics of the sector
  • Understand how/why dominant designs emerge in the marketplace, but not always (and the market conditions that typically give rise to each scenario)
  • Know how to connect your technology strategy to the larger strategic aims of your organisation
  • Know how organisational designs impact innovation processes, thereby helping them to design organisations that are more innovative and successful in managing novel technologies
  • Understand tools and approaches for managing and tracking new product development and their organisation’s R&D portfolio

This course will benefit anyone who is connected to the innovation-related aspects of their organisation, who works in decision-making roles that are frequently impacted by the emergence of new technologies, or who wants to play a role in creating a more innovative environment within their business.

No prior experience or training in this area is required for this course.

Prior to joining the Queensland University of Technology in Australia as an Associate Professor in 2011, your expert course leader worked in a wide variety of roles and locations for Shell International’s Exploration & Production division. He started his career in Shell’s Strategy & Economics team in 1997, and then worked for several years as a production engineer in the company’s overseas operations (offshore and onshore). He then left Shell for three years to work as an Industrial Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge, but re-joined Shell again in 2004 to become the company’s Executive Coordinator of R&D.

Your expert course leader has a B.Eng. in mechanical engineering from McMaster University in Canada, a Master’s degree in Technology & Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and a PhD in engineering from the University of Cambridge, where he was a Gates Cambridge Scholar. He is a Fellow of both the UK’s Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) and Engineers Australia, and is chartered as a Eur. Ing. in Europe.

He is a member of the United Nations’ Resource and Energy Expert Group, and is a technical adviser to MIT’s Mining, Oil & Gas Club and several energy and resource sector technology startups around the world. He works for the Australian Government on an ad hoc basis as a member of their Expert Network, where he provides advice about the energy industry and emerging innovations in the energy sector. He was the lead architect and researcher for the Society of Petroleum Engineers’ Global Innovation Survey in both 2012 and 2017, and has written and evangelized extensively on the topic of innovation in the oil & gas sector. He was a TEDx speaker, and Teacher of the Year in one of the top ranked MBA and Executive MBA programs in Australia.

To further optimise your learning experience from our courses, we also offer individualized “One to One” coaching support for 2 hours post training. We can help improve your competence in your chosen area of interest, based on your learning needs and available hours. This is a great opportunity to improve your capability and confidence in a particular area of expertise. It will be delivered over a secure video conference call by one of our senior trainers. They will work with you to create a tailor-made coaching program that will help you achieve your goals faster.
Request for further information about post training coaching support and fees applicable for this.

Learn what past participants have said about EnergyEdge training courses

By blending his deep industry experience and his research on tomorrow’s technology trends, the instructor does a great job of unpacking this important subject.

Group Technical Authority – Composites and Advanced Materials,PETRONAS

This course should be compulsory for every technical manager in the petroleum industry.

Head of Competitive Technical Intelligence, Mexican Petroleum Institute

The best course I have been to for a long, long time!

Manager, Santos