IT in Petro

Petro (oil & gas) is not what it was even a few years ago. Understanding emerging information technologies (especially AI) and their impact on the petroleum industry, and the roles and responsibilities of IT and non-IT stakeholders in leveraging these emerging technologies in light of the digital transformation, will be at the heart of all of the courses.

  1. Online chat platform that helps customers navigate product databases and processes
  2. Asset performance management
  3. Hydrocarbon exploration and production
  4. Intelligent plants
  5. Better safety measures
  6. Finding new resources
  7. Automated Supply Chain Management
  8. Understanding of reservoirs and better exploration and production decisions

Naturally, having accurate, accessible, secure data is fundamental to a successful AI initiative, thus providing additional topics addressed in this program.  The Digital Petroleum Certificate focuses on the use of IT to enhance the strategic, tactical, and operational elements across the petroleum industry value chain.

This 4-course certificate is intended for aspiring IT and non-IT leaders in the upstream, downstream and midstream hydrocarbons (oil & gas) industry. While the entire value chain is covered, the major emphasis is on the exceptional IT challenges of upstream, in light of transforming emerging technologies (e.g., blockchain, cognitive computing, analytics, big data), industry changes, and regulations. 

The courses are designed for IT and non-IT professionals in the petroleum industry whose roles involve leveraging digital petroleum industry opportunities to provide demonstrable value from their IT investments, in light of the digital transformation and emerging information technologies (e.g., AI, blockchain, social media, analytics, big data), while addressing important considerations like providing a secure infrastructure and hybrid work environment.

GIIM will work with you to derive the appropriate focus & content for the courses within this certificate, based on the backgrounds and objectives of the candidates, including programs focused on water, green /renewable energy, and nuclear energy.

The following is the template describing the 4 courses for this certificate:

(All courses are available live/synchronously face-to-face & online)

1. Petro Industry Trends and Issues

The certificate starts with the business imperatives of companies operating in this sector, and their approach to creating an IT strategic plan and project roadmap intended to create worthwhile business value. The unique challenges of regulatory compliance, state secrets, security of national critical infrastructure (SCADA), massive data sets, super-computing, networks to extreme locations, regulatory compliance, etc. are addressed. This course focuses on how the digital transformation enables innovation, especially by leveraging technology to empower customers/clients, along with the ever changing regulatory considerations. The impact of emerging technologies (e.g., blockchain, robotics, AI, cognitive computing, analytics, big data) will be focused on.


2. Petro Industry Technical Processes

The certificate then deals with the technologies involved in petro-technical systems for exploration, drilling, reservoir engineering, refining, transportation and retail.


3. Petro Industry IT Back Office Operations

The third course addresses the business functions that support finding, development & production, such as Finance, HR, Production Accounting, Legal, Tax, Treasury etc.


4. Petro Industry Best Practices

The fourth and final course deals with best-practice execution, in terms of organizational governance, sourcing & vendor management, portfolio & project management, and service delivery.

As Petro (oil & gas) organizations accelerate the digital transformation of their industry, they are focusing their investments in leveraging information technology to improve customer/client products/services while lowering overall costs. In today’s highly regulated, increasingly resource-constrained, and cost-focused environment it is essential to understand how to effectively and efficiently manage an organization’s information technology (IT) resources. There are numerous strategic, tactical, and operational choices to be made about managing Petro IT resources and it is essential to ensure that IT and non-IT executives across the organization work in harmony.


Experience has made it clear that Petro organizations need well-conceived organizational structures, skills, processes, and decision rights to ensure that IT investments are appropriately leveraged across the organization, especially when considering the impact of emerging information technologies. 


This course prepares Petro executives by providing a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental decisions related to the management of IT resources in the Petro environment. The course will also provide an overview of current and future information technologies and their potential impact on customers/clients, organizations, and associated stakeholders.


The course is designed to be delivered live/synchronously (face-to-face or online) with a total of twenty (20) contact hours. While the schedule is flexible, it is usually delivered in approximately ten (10) 2-hour modules/lectures/sessions.


The IT-Petro topics include:

  • Deriving IT-business strategies
  • Considerations for types of
  • organizational structure
  • sourcing
  • governance (i.e., decision-making and decision rights)
  • roles/responsibilities
  • processes
  • Leverage emerging digital technologies
  • The business value of IT
  • The definition, concepts, and contexts of Petro IT
  • Enhancing business-IT alignment
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