Crude Oil Fundamentals Training Course

Consultant/Trainer: Danny Peferoen / Dr Frans van den Berg

Understanding crude oil quality is key to smarter decisions across trading, supply, and refining. This training builds a clear foundation in crude assay and its impact on valuation, processing, and product yields. It connects technical and commercial perspectives, showing how different roles use assay data to guide acceptance, scheduling, and margin optimisation.

Participants gain insight into the value of crude flexibility and how it can unlock profit in a changing market. Designed for professionals across the oil value chain, the course brings clarity to complexity—equipping teams to act faster, reduce risk, and improve performance.

Participants

All Petrogenium courses can be tailored for awareness/inexperienced staff, for intermediate and for experienced personnel. Furthermore courses can be customized for a specific refinery, plant or unit. The option for post-course consultancy/help-desk support is also available.

Participants may include: the course is ideally suited for anyone who needs a better understanding of how the world of crude oil works. It is particularly useful for people involved with the crude oil supply chain (Traders, Schedulers, Economists, Modelers, Crude Unit Engineers, etc.).  It can also be appropriate for additional roles (Upstream, Process Engineering, Laboratory, etc.) that need and use knowledge concerning crude oil characterization and how that characterization is utilized for decisions within Refining.

Learning Objectives

After completion of the course participants will be able to:
  • Explain the general principles of crude oil origin, composition and relevance to processing
  • Discuss the most significant issues related to exploration and production
  • Describe the impact of crude composition and properties on transportation and storage
  • Explain the significant of crude composition and properties on valuation
  • Describe the main principles and practices related to crude oil trading
  • Explain how crudes are characterised, the uses and pitfalls of crude assays, and how crude data should be managed and used
  • Identify the most significant crude oil properties and discuss their implications on refinery processing and product quality
  • Describe measurement, custody transfer and loss management in relation to crude oil
  • Identify the most significant HSE issues related to crude oil
1st half day (4h)
  • Introductions
  • Welcome, safety, arrangement
  • Introduction of participants
  • Programme & course objectives
  • Crude Oil and other fossil fuels origin and evolution
  • Exploration and Production

2nd half day (4h)
  • Transport and Storage of Crude Oil
  • Crude Oil Characterisation
  • Crude Oil Assay

3rd half day (4h)
  • Crude Oil in the Refinery
  • Crude Oil Trading and Supply Planning
  • Crude Oil Scheduling

4th half day (4h)
  • Crude Oil Valuation
  • Loss Abatement, Measurement & Custody Transfer
  • HSE Aspects
  • Course review & close out

Programme

1st half day (4h)
  • Introductions
  • Welcome, safety, arrangement
  • Introduction of participants
  • Programme & course objectives
  • Crude Oil and other fossil fuels origin and evolution
  • Exploration and Production

2nd half day (4h)
  • Transport and Storage of Crude Oil
  • Crude Oil Characterisation
  • Crude Oil Assay

3rd half day (4h)
  • Crude Oil in the Refinery
  • Crude Oil Trading and Supply Planning
  • Crude Oil Scheduling

4th half day (4h)
  • Crude Oil Valuation
  • Loss Abatement, Measurement & Custody Transfer
  • HSE Aspects
  • Course review & close out