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Institute For Oil & Gas Training
OGI-1125 New

Budgeting & Forecasting: Rolling & Zero-Based Techniques Training Course

Duration
5 days
CPD hours
15
Language
English
Next date
05 Oct 2026
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Overview

Budgeting & Forecasting is a specialist course from Institute For Oil & Gas Training designed to strengthen financial planning, cost control and forecasting capability across oil and gas operations. The course focuses on practical Budgeting & Forecasting techniques that support disciplined resource allocation, reliable cost visibility and stronger financial decision making across complex petroleum businesses.

Oil and gas organisations operate in an environment where expenditure plans, production assumptions, commodity prices, project schedules, contractor commitments and operating requirements change throughout the business cycle. Annual budgets provide an important financial baseline, but effective management also requires continuous forecasting, structured reforecasting and clear visibility of emerging cost and performance drivers. This course addresses the gap between static annual budgeting and the dynamic planning requirements of modern petroleum operations.

The programme examines the rolling forecast cycle, zero based budgeting, activity based budgeting and driver based planning as complementary approaches for managing financial performance. Participants develop a structured understanding of how different budgeting techniques support upstream, midstream and downstream activities, while learning how to connect financial plans with operational assumptions.

A central focus is the practical development of a latest estimate and outlook process. Participants examine how organisations establish a current view of expected revenue, expenditure, production, cash requirements and operational performance without losing control of the approved budget baseline. The course also explores reforecast triggers, forecast accuracy tracking and the governance disciplines required to determine when financial plans require formal revision.

Budgeting in the petroleum sector requires more than consolidating departmental submissions. Effective planning connects expenditure with activities, operational drivers and business objectives. Participants therefore examine how activity based budgeting identifies the cost of business activities and how driver based planning links forecast movements to measurable operational factors such as production volumes, drilling activity, well interventions, maintenance requirements, lifting schedules, headcount and contractor utilisation.

The course also addresses contingency and management reserve as important components of disciplined financial planning. Participants explore the distinction between identified budget requirements, known uncertainties, management reserves and uncommitted expenditure. This supports stronger governance around cost pressures and reduces the risk of treating contingency as an unrestricted spending allowance.

Planning tool integration is another important element. Petroleum organisations frequently use enterprise resource planning platforms, financial planning applications, spreadsheets, production systems, project controls systems and operational databases. The course examines how these environments support the rolling forecast cycle, how planning data moves between systems and how organisations establish consistent assumptions, ownership and version control.

The programme is structured around five integrated modules. It begins with the foundations of petroleum budgeting and forecasting, progresses into zero based and activity based techniques, then examines driver based planning and the latest estimate and outlook. The final module focuses on forecast governance, accuracy tracking, planning tool integration and the practical control of contingency and management reserve.

Institute For Oil & Gas Training delivers the course for professionals responsible for financial planning, cost management, operational budgeting, project controls, performance management and petroleum economics. The content supports professionals working across corporate functions and operating assets, giving participants a common framework for connecting financial plans with operational realities.

The course is particularly relevant where organisations need stronger cost visibility, more responsive forecasts and greater consistency between operating plans and financial expectations. Participants learn how to challenge assumptions constructively, identify the drivers behind forecast movements and communicate financial outlooks clearly to management.

The emphasis remains on application. Real-world petroleum scenarios demonstrate how budgeting decisions are affected by changing production profiles, project priorities, operating expenditure, capital expenditure, procurement commitments, maintenance requirements and market conditions. Participants work with practical planning situations that reflect the interconnected nature of petroleum financial management.

By the end of the course, participants understand how rolling and zero based techniques fit within a broader petroleum planning framework. They develop practical capability in building, reviewing and challenging forecasts while maintaining appropriate governance over budget changes. The programme provides a structured approach to improving planning discipline, financial transparency and management insight across oil and gas organisations.

Objectives

  • Understand the principles of Budgeting & Forecasting within petroleum organisations

  • Apply the rolling forecast cycle to changing operational and financial conditions

  • Develop practical approaches to zero based budgeting

  • Apply activity based budgeting to petroleum operating activities

  • Identify and use appropriate driver based planning assumptions

  • Establish a structured latest estimate and outlook process

  • Define practical reforecast triggers for financial and operational changes

  • Strengthen forecast accuracy tracking and variance analysis

  • Connect financial forecasts with production and operational drivers

  • Improve the relationship between operating plans and financial budgets

  • Evaluate capital and operating expenditure assumptions within integrated plans

  • Distinguish budget baseline, forecast movement, contingency and management reserve

  • Strengthen governance over changes to approved financial plans

  • Improve planning tool integration and data consistency

  • Establish stronger controls over planning assumptions and forecast versions

  • Analyse forecast variances and identify their underlying business drivers

  • Improve communication of financial outlooks to management

  • Support more consistent cost control across petroleum functions

  • Develop practical methods for challenging unsupported or outdated budget assumptions

  • Improve financial planning visibility across upstream, midstream and downstream activities

Training methodology

Institute For Oil & Gas Training uses an applied corporate delivery approach throughout the programme. The methodology combines structured technical discussions with petroleum business cases, forecasting exercises, budgeting simulations, group analysis and practical planning scenarios.

Participants work with realistic oil and gas planning situations covering operating expenditure, capital expenditure, production assumptions, project activity, contractor costs, maintenance requirements and financial performance. These scenarios demonstrate how individual planning assumptions influence the wider financial outlook.

Case studies are used to examine the rolling forecast cycle and the transition from an approved annual budget to a current forecast. Participants assess changing assumptions, identify reforecast triggers and determine which changes require management attention.

Budgeting simulations focus on zero based budgeting and activity based budgeting. Participants examine existing cost structures, challenge historical spending patterns and build resource requirements from operational activities. This approach demonstrates how cost planning becomes more transparent when expenditure is connected to business activities and measurable drivers.

Group exercises address driver based planning by requiring participants to identify the operational factors that influence financial outcomes. Production volumes, activity levels, contractor utilisation, maintenance programmes and project schedules are analysed as planning drivers.

Forecast accuracy tracking exercises help participants compare previous estimates with actual outcomes and identify the reasons behind forecast variances. The emphasis is on understanding forecast performance rather than simply measuring numerical differences.

Planning tool integration scenarios examine the relationship between financial planning systems, enterprise resource planning environments, spreadsheets and operational data sources. Participants consider data ownership, assumptions, version control and reconciliation requirements.

The delivery also incorporates management discussion scenarios. Participants practise presenting the latest estimate and outlook, explaining significant movements, distinguishing controllable from uncontrollable factors and communicating the implications of forecast changes.

Organisational impact

The course strengthens organisational capability by connecting budgeting discipline with operational planning and cost control. Sponsoring organisations gain a more structured approach to managing financial expectations as operating conditions change.

A stronger rolling forecast cycle provides management with a current view of expected performance while preserving the approved budget as an important baseline. This distinction improves visibility of genuine forecast movements and prevents routine changes from being hidden within broad budget revisions.

Zero based budgeting provides a structured method for challenging historical expenditure assumptions. Organisations gain a clearer basis for evaluating whether costs remain justified by current activities, business priorities and operational requirements.

Activity based budgeting improves cost transparency by linking expenditure to activities. This supports stronger understanding of where resources are consumed and provides management with more meaningful information when reviewing cost structures.

Driver based planning creates a clearer connection between operational activity and financial outcomes. When production volumes, maintenance activities, contractor requirements or project schedules change, their financial implications become easier to identify and explain.

Improved latest estimate and outlook processes support management reporting by providing a consistent methodology for updating expected results. This improves the quality of discussions around emerging cost pressures, revenue expectations and operational performance.

Defined reforecast triggers establish greater consistency in deciding when a forecast requires formal review. This reduces unnecessary forecasting activity while ensuring material changes receive appropriate attention.

Forecast accuracy tracking supports continuous improvement in planning performance. Organisations can identify recurring sources of forecast variance, examine the assumptions behind previous estimates and strengthen future planning processes.

Better planning tool integration supports data consistency across finance, operations, projects and other business functions. Clearer ownership of assumptions and stronger version control reduce reconciliation issues and improve confidence in management information.

The course also strengthens governance around contingency and management reserve. Clear distinctions between planned expenditure, identified uncertainty and management-controlled reserves support more disciplined use of financial resources.

For project-intensive petroleum organisations, these capabilities improve alignment between project schedules, expenditure profiles and financial expectations. For operating assets, they support better integration between production assumptions, operating activities and cost plans.

The programme also supports stronger management accountability. When forecast movements are connected to named drivers and activities, managers can explain the reasons for changes more effectively and take targeted action where performance deviates from plan.

Personal impact

Participants develop practical expertise in Budgeting & Forecasting that strengthens their contribution to financial planning and business performance discussions.

They gain a broader understanding of how petroleum budgets are constructed, challenged, updated and monitored across operational and corporate environments. This enables professionals to work more effectively with finance, operations, procurement, projects and senior management.

Participants strengthen their ability to apply zero based budgeting when historical spending patterns do not provide an appropriate basis for future planning. They learn how to examine requirements from an activity and resource perspective.

The course develops capability in activity based budgeting, enabling participants to connect cost requirements with the activities that generate them. This supports more meaningful cost analysis and budget challenge.

Driver based planning skills help participants identify the operational variables that influence financial outcomes. They become better equipped to translate changes in operational assumptions into financial implications.

Participants also develop stronger forecasting judgement through practical work on the latest estimate and outlook. They learn how to distinguish approved budget positions from current expectations and communicate the difference clearly.

Reforecast trigger analysis strengthens the ability to recognise when changing assumptions require formal forecast intervention. Participants gain a more disciplined approach to forecast updates.

Forecast accuracy tracking improves analytical capability by focusing attention on the causes of forecast variance. Participants learn how to use previous forecast performance to improve future planning assumptions.

The course also strengthens understanding of contingency and management reserve. Participants gain clearer capability in reviewing financial buffers, understanding their intended purpose and supporting appropriate management controls.

Professionals involved in planning systems develop greater awareness of planning tool integration and the importance of consistent data, assumptions and version control.

The overall capability gain extends beyond technical budgeting. Participants become more confident in challenging assumptions, explaining financial movements and presenting a credible outlook to stakeholders and management.

Who should attend

Petroleum Finance Professionals

Finance managers, financial analysts and petroleum accountants benefit from stronger methods for integrating budgets, forecasts and operational assumptions.

Budgeting and Planning Teams

Budget analysts, planning specialists and corporate planning professionals gain practical techniques for building, updating and challenging financial plans.

Cost Control Professionals

Cost controllers and cost engineers strengthen their ability to connect expenditure movements with operational drivers and forecast requirements.

Management Accountants

Management accountants gain additional approaches for activity based budgeting, driver based planning and forecast accuracy tracking.

Finance Managers

Finance managers develop stronger frameworks for reviewing forecast movements, reforecast triggers and management reporting.

Operations Managers

Operations managers gain greater insight into how production and operational decisions influence budgets, forecasts and cost expectations.

Asset Managers

Asset managers strengthen financial planning capability across operating assets by connecting activities, cost drivers and forecast assumptions.

Project Controls Professionals

Project controls managers and specialists gain practical approaches for integrating project expenditure expectations with wider financial forecasts.

Planning Managers

Planning managers develop structured methods for coordinating operational assumptions with financial planning and latest estimate processes.

Procurement Professionals

Procurement managers and specialists gain insight into how contracting commitments and purchasing activity affect forecasts and cost plans.

Supply Chain Professionals

Supply chain managers benefit from stronger understanding of how procurement activities, commitments and operational requirements feed into financial forecasts.

Petroleum Economists

Petroleum economists gain additional budgeting and forecasting techniques for integrating operating assumptions with financial planning.

Senior Management

Senior managers responsible for financial performance gain a clearer framework for evaluating forecast movements, resource requirements and management reserves.

Course outline

This module establishes the core framework for Budgeting & Forecasting in oil and gas organisations. It examines the relationship between strategic plans, operating plans, approved budgets, current forecasts and management outlooks. Participants explore the role of budgeting as a financial baseline and forecasting as a continuous management process.

  1. COSO Internal Control Framework

    • Provides a recognised framework for internal control and financial governance

    • Supports structured consideration of control activities within budgeting processes

    • Helps organisations establish accountability around financial planning information

    • Supports monitoring of controls associated with forecast preparation and reporting

    Learning Outcomes

    • Explain the role of budgeting and forecasting within petroleum businesses

    • Distinguish approved budgets from current financial forecasts

    • Structure a practical rolling forecast cycle

    • Develop a consistent latest estimate and outlook process

    • Identify important planning assumptions and ownership responsibilities

    • Analyse the relationship between operational plans and financial expectations

This module focuses on approaches that challenge historical expenditure patterns and establish stronger links between resources and business activities. Participants examine zero based budgeting and activity based budgeting as practical techniques for improving cost visibility and strengthening budget challenge.

  1. ISO 55001 Asset Management

    • Provides requirements for an asset management system

    • Supports structured consideration of asset-related activities and resources

    • Provides a recognised reference for aligning asset management with organisational objectives

    • Supports disciplined planning across asset life cycles

    Learning Outcomes

    • Apply zero based budgeting principles to petroleum cost planning

    • Challenge historical expenditure assumptions systematically

    • Build activity based budget structures

    • Connect costs with operational activities

    • Identify relevant cost drivers for planning purposes

    • Improve transparency around resource requirements

    • Support stronger budget challenge and resource prioritisation

This module examines how operational drivers influence financial forecasts. Participants learn to identify the variables that have the greatest effect on revenue, expenditure and resource requirements, then incorporate those drivers into integrated planning processes.

  1. ISO 31000 Risk Management Guidelines

    • Provides recognised principles for managing uncertainty

    • Supports systematic identification and assessment of planning risks

    • Provides a useful reference for considering uncertainty within forecasts

    • Supports structured communication of risk and opportunity information

    Learning Outcomes

    • Identify key operational and financial planning drivers

    • Link operational activity to financial outcomes

    • Develop driver based forecast assumptions

    • Analyse the financial implications of changing operational conditions

    • Integrate production and activity assumptions into financial forecasts

    • Identify planning uncertainties that require management attention

    • Strengthen communication between finance and operational teams

This module develops practical capability in maintaining current forecasts and determining when financial plans require revision. Participants examine reforecast triggers, forecast accuracy tracking and variance analysis as connected elements of an effective forecasting framework.

  1. ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems

    • Provides a recognised framework for controlled processes and continual improvement

    • Supports consistent procedures for planning and monitoring activities

    • Provides useful principles for reviewing process performance

    • Supports structured improvement based on identified process issues

    Learning Outcomes

    • Establish practical reforecast triggers

    • Maintain a disciplined rolling forecast cycle

    • Analyse forecast variance and underlying causes

    • Develop forecast accuracy tracking approaches

    • Identify recurring planning weaknesses

    • Improve the quality of management outlooks

    • Strengthen forecast review and governance processes

This module brings the budgeting and forecasting process together through governance, systems and financial control. Participants examine planning tool integration, data consistency, version control, contingency and management reserve, with emphasis on maintaining a reliable and controlled planning environment.

  1. ISO 8000 Data Quality

    • Provides an international reference for data quality management

    • Supports consistent approaches to data requirements and information quality

    • Provides principles relevant to reliable planning information

    • Supports improved consistency when financial and operational data are integrated

    Learning Outcomes

    • Assess planning tool integration requirements

    • Improve consistency between financial and operational planning data

    • Strengthen planning data ownership and version control

    • Distinguish contingency from management reserve

    • Improve governance over financial plan changes

    • Support more reliable forecast consolidation

    • Establish stronger controls around planning information

    • Integrate budgeting, forecasting and operational assumptions into a coherent planning process

Certificate

Attendees receive a Certificate of Completion from Institute For Oil & Gas Training upon successfully finishing the course.

The certificate confirms participation and completion of the full programme. Attendance across the course is required to receive the Certificate of Completion.

Course dates

  • Europe

    Middle East

    Asia

    Africa

    North America

    Online

    Fee: £4,300

  • Europe

    Middle East

    Asia

    Africa

    North America

    Online

    Fee: £4,300

  • Europe

    Middle East

    Asia

    Africa

    North America

    Online

    Fee: £4,300

  • Europe

    Middle East

    Asia

    Africa

    North America

    Online

    Fee: £4,300

Fees include tuition, course materials and refreshments. Need different dates or a different city? Ask about your preferred date.

Frequently asked questions

What does this Budgeting & Forecasting course cover?

The course covers petroleum budgeting and forecasting with emphasis on rolling forecast cycle management, zero based budgeting, activity based budgeting, driver based planning, reforecast triggers, forecast accuracy tracking, planning tool integration and contingency and management reserve.

Who should attend this course?

The course is designed for finance, budgeting, planning, cost control, project controls, operations, procurement, supply chain, asset management and petroleum economics professionals across oil and gas organisations.

How is the course delivered?

Institute For Oil & Gas Training uses an applied corporate methodology featuring case studies, practical exercises, simulations, group analysis and real-world petroleum planning scenarios.

How does the course improve forecasting capability?

Participants learn how to establish a rolling forecast cycle, identify reforecast triggers, develop a latest estimate and outlook, analyse forecast variances and implement forecast accuracy tracking.

Do attendees receive a certificate?

Yes. Attendees receive a Certificate of Completion from Institute For Oil & Gas Training upon finishing the full course, subject to the required attendance.

Next: 05 Oct 2026

4 dates available

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