Found a Job - Talking Heads (1978)

For many graduates these next few months mark the close of academic chapters and the opening of corporate ones at brand new spanking jobs (and that's despite the economy).

The energy sector is sure to have its share of hires who will need to get up to speed (and that's certainly the case in times like these) on the skills and knowledge base needed to be effective employees. Training programs are on the forefront of HR and T&D (training and development) Managers' agendas.

The Oxford Princeton Programme prides itself as being the preferred provider for introductory coursework whether it is in oil, natural gas, power or derivatives and commodity trading.

Share your entering workforce's profile with us and what will be expected of them and we'll prescribe a customized program all your company's own.

On A Little Street in Singapore - Frank Sinatra (1944)

...will you not only find our Asia-Pacific regional headquarters but venues for several courses arriving these coming months. And to entice you regsiter for them, we have a one-week only (April 20 - 24) Singapore Summer Training Sale which offers a 20% discount on all public courses running in June, July and August, 2009.

Choose from any of these today and save:

LPG Trading and Pricing - Shipping, Contracts and Price Risk Management
17 - 19 Jun 2009

Fundamentals of Technical Analysis
17 - 18 Jun 2009

Advanced Technical Analysis and Technical Trading
19 June 2009

Aviation Fuels: Supply, Trading and Risk Management
20 - 22 Jul 2009

Energy Value Chain Asia-Pacific - The Fundamentals of Oil, Gas, Coal and Power
23 - 24 Jul 2009

Total Risk Management in the International Oil and Derivatives Market
11 - 14 Aug 2009

The Synergies of Refining, Trading and Supply
17 - 20 Aug 2009

Tiny Bubbles – Don Ho (1966)

The Oil & Gas Journal is reporting that research in nanotechnology could make a “not-so-nano” difference in the recovery of the oil and gas sectors. Supposedly, nanosensors have the potential to assess rock and fluid properties from inside the pore spaces of reservoirs albeit 5-10 years down the road.

Read on to learn more as well as how others are assessing the pace of recovery in the energy sector as a whole.

Up Where We Belong - Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes (1982)

How soon might the price of crude oil go back up to over $100? It may be a matter of understanding supply dynamics just as much, if not more so than demand ones in a downturn.

Some argue that once the global economy is back on track, perhaps in 2011, the barrel will again break the “century” barrier.

According to The Globe and Mail, OPEC’s response to curtail production which if maintained, will tighten supply by approximately 330 million barrels for 2009 and may raise the price by so much. But it is the non-OPEC countries like Canada that are postponing or curbing new oil sands and deepwater field projects which are not profitable at today’s prices. They would be more so at around the $70 mark so market forces will need to boost prices before any further investment takes place. This potential supply, or lack thereof, may factor in as well and in the end, getting to $100 might very well be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

What do you think?

Old Atlantic Shore – Stompin’ Tom Connors (1970)

Photo: Kate Walsh

To drill or not to drill?

That was just one of many ongoing heated debates that took center stage yesterday in Atlantic City, New Jersey at the first of four federal hearings on offshore oil drilling along the outer continental shelf of the U.S. East Coast. It’s a tug of war between environmentalists who prefer renewable energy alternatives and oil producers. How far the government’s plan will sway one way or the other is, well, still up in the air.

With the need for employment atop any agenda, both sides tout job creation as the beneficial outcome. But can blue, white and green collar ones coexist? To find out more, read here.

Speaking of Atlantic City, we do have courses coming in August:

• Fundamentals of Energy Futures
  10 August 2009
  
  
• Options I - Fundamentals of Energy Options
  11 August 2009
  
  
• Energy Risk Management
  12-13 August 2009

Politically Incorrect – Gord Bamford (2004)

Are petroleum facilities receding as a terrorist target for al-Qaeda? That’s what Eric Watkins, editor at Oil & Gas Journal is suggesting now that the barrel is half price of what it was a year ago. Yet local jihadi groups may still consider the disruption of supply a key objective in forwarding their own agendas. Read on here.

This and other such potential problems facing the energy sector will be discussed at our forthcoming workshop on The Changing Geopolitics of Oil and Gas: Identifying and Managing Political Risk coming to London on 8-9 June 2009.

Alberta Bound - Paul Brandt (2004)

It was noted in today's edition of The Calgary Herald that the American stimulus package along with other efforts such as interest rate cuts around the world are certainly fueling a rebound in commodity prices including that of oil. It could be a sustainable uptick too as long as the dual "stimulee" targets -- consumption and credit -- do respond .

But so far so good, with oil prices rebounding 40% since Valentine's Day. Sure there's the risk of inflation to contend with, but let's see how things play out.

To read more, click here.

In the meantime, if you are in Calgary or are able to make it there soon, consider investing a few days sharpening your skills and knowledge base with these bestselling seminar workshops (all to be held at the Calgary TELUS convention Center):

Overview of Physical Crude Oil Trading and Operations
27 - 28 Apr 2009

Fundamentals of Energy Futures
28 April 2009

Options I - Fundamentals of Energy Options
29 April 2009

Fundamentals of Petroleum Refining - A Non-Technical Introduction
29 - 30 Apr 2009

Energy Risk Management
30 Apr - 1 May 2009

Front to Back Office: Trading Controls and Best Practices
6 May 2009

Value-at-Risk: The Basics and Beyond
7 May 2009

Advanced Energy Derivatives Pricing, Hedging and Risk Management
27 - 28 May 2009

Delta Dawn – Tanya Tucker (1972)

It looks like the Nigerian government is taking the tougher steps necessary to secure the Niger Delta to stem both the spike in crude oil theft by gangs and pirates and exodus of foreign interests in the region by empowering its special military force to go on the offensive. Also in the plans is amnesty for those who turn in their weapons.

Can it finally work this time? This and other critical current issues are addressed in our forthcoming workshop on The Changing Geopolitics of Oil and Gas: Identifying and Managing Political Risk coming to London on 8-9 June followed by sessions in Singapore (11-12 September) and Washington, D.C. (15-16 September).

www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hY0IwoOAsvDYErM5vqx486ye2P-A

What’s Too Much – Smokey Robinson (1987)

10%? 15%? None? How much ethanol blend in gasoline is too much?

That’s the public debate in the U.S. that the NPRA (National Petrochemical & Refiners Association) wants to have as the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) studies the impact of higher levels of ethanol content in cars, boats and power equipment on the machines themselves and environment.

If you would like more perspective on how the debate got to this point, check out Overview of the Ethanol Market, a less than two-hour web-based course that will undoubtedly round out any interested party’s understanding and enable one to come to his or her own conclusions.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090401/BUSINESS01/90401017/1001/

April Fools – Rufus Wainwright (1998)

I start out this month’s The Oxford Princeton Pipeline e-newsletter noting that today is the day the more gullible among us better look out for pranks, which in a way are welcome distractions from recessionary woes that are nothing to joke about. I continue to emphasize on how those who “stick to their guns” to ensure investment in training does not fall off in times like these will undoubtedly have the last laugh when the inevitable recovery returns.

I am upbeat about the energy education landscape from The Oxford Princeton Programme vantage point for several reasons, among them the fact that we’ve added more new courses into the worldwide schedule and we are constantly launching just-in-time web-based courses into our library. Also, we are turning around in-house (on site) training requests faster than ever thanks to a robust roster of expert faculty as well as a global team dedicated to the highest levels of customer service.

It helps, too, that I am seeing more sunlight these days and that temperatures are rising. If we have a spring storm here on the Eastern Seaboard, I’ll be the first to claim I am an April Fool.

Jobert E. Abueva
Global Marketing/North American Sales Director