Petroleum, Energy Economics and Finance, _MScEcon

This course, which is prescribed for all taught postgraduate students, is studied entirely online, takes approximately 5-6 hours to complete and can be taken in one sitting, or spread across a number of weeks.

Topics include orientation overview, equality and diversity, health, safety and cyber security and how to make the most of your time at university in relation to careers and employability.

Successful completion of this course will be recorded on your Enhanced Transcript as ‘Achieved’.

15 Credit Points

This course develops a mathematical and statistical ‘toolbox’ for PGT students in the Business School. These tools will be useful in understanding and implementing research in business- and economics-related fields both during a student’s academic career as well as after graduation. The first part of the course covers basic mathematical models common across these fields. The second part of the course develops standard data analysis methods, including multivariate regression. The final part of the course examines shortcomings in the standard model and describes ways of overcoming those shortcomings.

15 Credit Points

The course will cover the main elements of Microeconomic Theory. Consumer theory will be examined by discussing how consumers choose under the constraint of a budget to generate demands. This theory will then be extended to include choice under uncertainty and intertemporal choice. Some basic elements of competitive markets will also be presented. Producer theory will be examined to understand how firms decide the quantity to be produced under the constraint of a technology. Other relevant topics, such as public goods, externalities, and auctions, will be covered.

15 Credit Points

This course discusses the world petroleum market in the context of overall energy markets. The main features of the evolving petroleum market are analysed including examination of the Hotelling model and Hubbert curve. Oil price determination is discussed with detailed consideration of the special characteristics of the demand and supply curves in the industry. The role of OPEC in the market is examined, including discussion of the various models of OPEC behaviour and the determinants of its market power. The economics of climate change and the place of renewable energy in the wider energy market is discussed.

15 Credit Points

This course ensures students understand why companies behave the way they do with respect to financing choices and how this interacts with financial markets, with particular reference to the petroleum and energy industries. The course covers Investment Appraisal Techniques Employed in the Petroleum Industry, Risk Analysis, Portfolio Theory and the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM).

15 Credit Points

The goal of this course is to deepen and broaden students' understanding and develop their analytical skills regarding investment decisions under uncertainty and the value of flexibility and information. The course will introduce relevant concepts from economics and finance such as decision trees, the Black-Scholes equation and the binomial option pricing model and discuss how these concepts may be applied to assess investments with applications related to the energy industry such as the development of an oil lease.

15 Credit Points

Much of this course is devoted to petroleum policies. Concepts of economic rents from petroleum exploitation and the various mechanisms by which the rents can be collected by the state are discussed, including production sharing and service contracts. Licensing policies, including relinquishment terms, pricing, procurement, domestic market obligations, the role of state oil companies, and depletion policy are examined. The Oil Fund concept and the issue of oil and gas security of supply are discussed. State and private ownership and control of gas acquisition, transmission and distribution to customers are examined. The economics of CO2 capture and storage is discussed.

15 Credit Points

Business Strategy covers a broad range of topics that come under the general heading of “Business Strategy” / “Strategic Management”. The course introduces participants to concepts, frameworks and models that are useful in providing explanations of how companies operate with respect to goal setting, understanding their competitive landscape, assessing opportunities, managing own capabilities, coordinating their activities with other companies, and competing to create value for customers. The course is interactive in nature, applying a learning-by-doing method involving students taking on roles as part of a series of simulation exercises.

15 Credit Points

This course will build on the skills introduced in the first semester Quantitative Methods and develop skills in applying a variety of empirical methods taught across the programme to issues in energy.

60 Credit Points

This compulsory element of the Masters degree in Petroleum, Energy Economics & Finance is the final stage of the degree programme.