Upstream Project Decision Quality and Assurance Training Course

Overview

Upstream Project Decision Quality and Assurance Training Course is a one-week course for project managers, subsurface and facilities leads, investment analysts, and decision assurance professionals who leave with an Upstream Project Decision Quality and Assurance Pack. Participants use decision framing, alternative generation, uncertainty analysis, probabilistic economics, stakeholder alignment, decision governance, and value assurance to improve complex upstream project choices. Agile Leaders Training Center presents this course on upstream project decision quality.

Who Should Attend

• Teams responsible for upstream project framing and development choices
• Functions responsible for subsurface, wells, and facilities integration
• Groups responsible for investment evaluation and portfolio recommendations
• Personnel responsible for project risk and uncertainty analysis
• Teams responsible for decision governance and assurance reviews

The course assumes participants can interpret upstream project, economic, risk, or investment information at work; it leaves out introductory petroleum engineering and software-specific modeling instruction.

Departments and Industries

The course supports departments and industries that make or assure capital decisions under technical and commercial uncertainty.

• Upstream oil and gas operators
• Subsurface, wells, and facilities organizations
• Project development and capital planning functions
• Energy investment and infrastructure finance teams
• Engineering, advisory, and assurance services
• Joint-venture and portfolio management groups

Learning Objectives

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

• Build a decision frame and governance path
• Generate distinct project alternatives and value measures
• Analyze uncertainty with deterministic and probabilistic tools
• Evaluate project economics and information value
• Align stakeholders around evidence and tradeoffs
• Apply decision assurance before resource commitment

Course Agenda

Day 1: Frame the Upstream Decision

• Decision Statement and Scope Canvas
• Decision Hierarchy and Boundary Map
• Stakeholder Purpose and Perspective Matrix
• Decision Governance and Authority Path
• Decision Quality Readiness Checklist

Day 2: Build Alternatives and Value Logic

• Strategy Table for Project Alternatives
• Value Measure and Tradeoff Register
• Influence Diagram for Project Drivers
• Alternative Completeness Challenge
• Decision Model Structure Sheet

Day 3: Analyze Uncertainty and Economics

• Uncertainty Range and Dependency Register
• Deterministic Sensitivity Tornado Diagram
• Decision Tree and Expected Value Model
• Probabilistic Project Economics Profile
• Value of Information Screening Matrix

Day 4: Align and Assure the Recommendation

• Evidence Quality and Assumption Log
• Stakeholder Alignment Conversation Map
• Alternative Comparison Decision Dashboard
• Decision Bias and Challenge Checklist
• Value Assurance Review Gate

Day 5: Practice Upstream Decision Quality

• Suggested Exercise: Frame a Development Choice
• Suggested Exercise: Generate and Screen Alternatives
• Suggested Exercise: Test Uncertainty and Value Drivers
• Suggested Exercise: Conduct a Decision Assurance Review
• Capstone Exercise: Present an Upstream Project Decision Quality and Assurance Pack

Practical Exercises

The course uses suggested activities to convert technical, economic, and stakeholder evidence into auditable upstream project decisions.

• Suggested activity: frame a field-development choice using scope, boundaries, authority, value measures, and stakeholder perspectives.
• Suggested activity: compare development alternatives through influence diagrams, sensitivities, decision trees, and probabilistic economics.
• Suggested activity: identify information worth acquiring before commitment and document the assumptions that drive value.
• Suggested activity: run an assurance review that challenges evidence, bias, alignment, governance, and recommendation quality.

FAQs

Who suits upstream project decision quality training, and what does it assume?

Upstream project, subsurface, facilities, investment, risk, and assurance professionals suit the training. It assumes experience interpreting project evidence and contributing to development or investment choices.

How does upstream project decision quality differ from general project risk training?

Upstream project decision quality integrates framing, alternatives, values, uncertainty, stakeholder alignment, governance, and commitment. General project risk training usually concentrates on identifying and treating threats and opportunities.

How does decision framing improve complex upstream project choices?

Decision framing establishes the purpose, scope, boundaries, authority, value measures, alternatives, and key uncertainties before analysis, reducing effort spent solving the wrong problem.

How is probabilistic economics used in upstream decision quality?

Probabilistic economics represents ranges and dependencies for key drivers, compares outcome distributions across alternatives, and shows how uncertainty affects value without replacing decision-maker judgment.

What does decision assurance test before an upstream project commitment?

Decision assurance tests frame quality, alternative breadth, information relevance, value logic, uncertainty treatment, stakeholder alignment, governance, and the clarity of the recommended action.

Conclusion

Participants take an Upstream Project Decision Quality and Assurance Pack back to their organization. It connects the decision frame, alternatives, value measures, uncertainty analysis, probabilistic economics, alignment evidence, and assurance record. Teams can use the pack to challenge recommendations, document tradeoffs, and improve the quality of resource commitments in development, facilities, and joint-venture decisions.