THE University of Guyana’s Institute of Energy Diplomacy (IED) has announced a suite of executive-level professional courses which are set to begin in June 2021, with courses in energy markets, oil-and-gas value chain, energy transport and shipping and crude-oil trading.

The institution in a press release noted that the courses will be taught by leading international academics and experts from universities around the world, with long track records in training for the energy sector.

“IED aims to certify several hundred persons across various disciplines in its first year of offerings, commencing from June 2021, as the university rolls out its programmes in an effort to help fill the performance gaps and expressed interests of professionals in Guyana and the Region,” the press release noted.

The courses are said to cover a range of upstream, midstream, and downstream oil- and-gas activities, and also equip participants with wider energy training. Prospective participants are expected to possess an undergraduate degree, or at least five years of experience in a related field to register.

Each professional course is assessed by a 100 per cent final online exam and is taught over a period of 1 or 2 weeks. The press release also noted that a person may opt for an exam or no-exam mode, and that the certification and costs of the two options will differ.

The university’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paloma Mohamed, has said that the courses underscore UG’s continued drive to ensure that Guyanese can take full advantage of the local-content requirements, as well as those spin-off opportunities that are emerging rapidly in the local market.

Additionally, she noted that the courses join the new offerings in the Faculty of Technology (Degree and Masters in Petroleum Engineering and Masters in Renewable Energy), Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences (Masters in Environmental Management for the Oil and Gas Industry), and SEBI (Masters in Management of Supply Chains and Procurement), all to be offered from September 2021.

The energy markets course provides fundamental knowledge of energy-market economics. Some of the topics that will be covered are energy demand, oil and refined products, natural gas, electricity and renewables. The course aims to provide participants with an energy-specific toolkit, which will foster understanding of the broader economic concepts and issues in this sector.

The oil-and-gas value chain course provides participants with an overview of the key business aspects of the oil and gas business, with an emphasis on the upstream petroleum business. It explores the oil and gas value chain, key contracting and portfolio management, risks and challenges in the 21st century, among other things.

The energy-transport and shipping course provides fundamental knowledge of energy transportation and the tanker shipping market. It consists of six topics with an introduction of energy transportation, the world tanker market and operations, shipping contracts and freight-market economics, and international regulations in shipping.

The crude-oil trading course seeks to provide fundamental knowledge of energy- trading economics. Areas covered include oil-pricing mechanisms, trading strategies, contracts and contract exposures, and risk management.

IED Founding Director, Alex Armogan, stated that the institute’s professional courses are optimised for online delivery and a busy work life.

The institution has noted that it will deliver a minimum of two professional courses per month for the rest of 2021, and expects to accelerate its offerings in 2022. Interested persons can visit www.ugied.com or contact the institute directly at team@ugied.com or call 613-5776 for more information.