Data and Information Sources in Oil and Gas

Oil and gas information is plentiful but uneven. Agencies and publishers use different definitions, units and revision cycles, headline figures are quoted without checking what they include, reserves and resources are confused, price benchmarks are misunderstood, and internal data is held in separate systems that marketing, planning and sales teams cannot easily combine. Reports then look authoritative but rest on inconsistent numbers.

This programme treats information as a managed business asset. It moves through five stages: understanding why information matters and how a marketing information system works, knowing the main external sources and what they measure, evaluating quality and comparability, carrying out market research and analysis, and distributing intelligence to decision makers responsibly.

Built on recognised practice. The programme references the main public sources of energy statistics, including the International Energy Agency, the US Energy Information Administration, the OPEC Annual Statistical Bulletin, the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI), the Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy and UN energy statistics. It also references the SPE Petroleum Resources Management System (PRMS) for reserves and resources definitions and ISO 20252 on quality in market research.

Decisions this programme improves. Which source to trust for a given question; how to reconcile conflicting figures; when a reserves or production number can be compared with another; which price benchmark applies to a contract or market; what internal and external data should feed a marketing information system; and how to present uncertainty to management.

How it is delivered. Twenty hours across five sessions, built around one running case: a national company's marketing and planning team preparing a market brief on a product market and a group of competitors. Participants locate and compare data from several sources, reconcile differences, build a simple market model in a spreadsheet and present a short intelligence briefing.

In-house option. For organisations, the programme can be tailored to your own products, markets, subscriptions and internal data systems, and delivered to marketing, commercial, planning and strategy teams together so that they use common sources and definitions.

Who Should Attend

Marketing and sales staff: marketing, sales and business development staff for crude, products, gas, petrochemicals, equipment and services

Commercial and planning staff: commercial analysts, economic and corporate planners

Strategy and market research staff preparing market studies and intelligence reports

Public relations and communications staff who use market data in publications and presentations

Government and regulatory staff who monitor energy markets and statistics

Objectives

Explain the importance of information to the company and its understanding of the oil and gas market

Define a marketing information system and describe its internal data, intelligence and research components

Identify the main public, industry and commercial sources of oil and gas data and what each measures

Evaluate data sources for coverage, definitions, timeliness, revisions and reliability

Reconcile differences in units, conversions and definitions between sources

Distinguish reserves, resources and production data using PRMS definitions

Interpret crude oil, product and gas price benchmarks and market reports correctly

Outline and apply the steps of the marketing research process to an oil and gas question

Analyse and present market data in clear briefings that show uncertainty

Recognise ethical, legal and confidentiality issues in gathering and sharing market information

Course Outline

Why Information Matters: The Marketing Information System in Oil and Gas

The role of information in commercial, marketing and planning decisions
Components of a marketing information system: internal records, intelligence and research
The oil and gas value chain and the data generated at each stage
Internal data sources: sales, customers, contracts, logistics and production
Information needs of different users: executives, marketers, traders and planners

Mapping the External Sources

International agencies: IEA, US EIA, OPEC Annual Statistical Bulletin and UN energy statistics
JODI oil and gas data and its use for monthly supply and demand monitoring
The Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy
National regulators, ministries and customs and trade statistics
Company reports, investor presentations and regulatory filings
Commercial price reporting, shipping and consultancy data: what they add and their limits

Judging Quality and Comparability

Definitions, units and conversion factors: barrels, tonnes, cubic metres and energy units
Reserves and resources classification under PRMS
Price benchmarks for crude, products and gas and how they are assessed
Revisions, timeliness and estimates versus reported data
Reconciling conflicting figures and documenting assumptions
Avoiding common misreadings of headline statistics

Researching and Analysing the Market

The marketing research process: problem definition to reporting
Primary research with customers, distributors and partners
Research quality principles from ISO 20252
Market sizing, share and supply-demand balances in a spreadsheet model
Competitor profiling from public information
Using data tools, APIs and AI assistants to gather and summarise information: checks and limits

Distributing Intelligence and Using It Responsibly

Turning data into intelligence briefings and dashboards
Presenting uncertainty, ranges and scenarios to management
Building a shared source library and data dictionary
Ethics in market research and competitive intelligence
Confidentiality, licensing terms for data subscriptions and competition law awareness
Action plan: improving market information in your team

Competencies

Marketing information system design

Oil and gas data source selection

Data quality and comparability assessment

Energy units and conversion accuracy

Reserves and resources data interpretation

Price benchmark interpretation

Oil and gas market research and sizing

Market intelligence briefing and presentation

Ethical and legal use of market information

Istanbul

Train in Istanbul with access to Elite Academy’s full portfolio of professional programs. In a city known as a major international business crossroads connecting Europe, the Middle East and Asia, organizations and professionals can join upcoming courses or request any program to be arranged locally. Professional training in Istanbul is not limited to a specific group of subjects. Elite Academy makes its complete portfolio available in the city across management, business, technical and industry-focused disciplines. With a major international business crossroads connecting Europe, the Middle East and Asia, Istanbul provides an effective setting for international learning. Use the schedule below to view courses already planned for the destination, or contact our team to request another program and preferred dates in Istanbul, subject to scheduling and delivery requirements.