Advanced Contract Negotiation Skills for Energy Sector (Middle East)

Course Overview

In major Middle East energy projects, negotiation errors rarely appear as immediate failure. They surface later as variation leakage, extended EOT exposure, diluted warranties, unclear acceptance criteria, and governance friction between operators, contractors, and joint venture partners.

Working in EPC and services contracting, you operate in environments where margins compress quickly, risk shifts down the contracting chain, and approval pathways can materially reshape outcomes late in the process. In these conditions, experience alone is insufficient. This contract negotiation training gives you a repeatable structure to position risk clearly, leverage authority pathways effectively, and secure cleaner commercial outcomes before value is lost.

You Will Learn

• Prepare negotiations with defined targets, walkaway positions, and mapped authority pathways to strengthen leverage in asymmetric EPC, services, and JV environments
• Position variations, EOT claims, and LD exposure strategically using structured risk allocation frameworks and trading variable models specific to energy sector contracting
• Structure agreements beyond price by trading scope, schedule, governance, performance guarantees, acceptance criteria, mobilization terms, spares commitments, and interface ownership
  
  

This Course Is Ideal For

This contract negotiation training is designed for professionals negotiating within live energy sector projects and contract environments across the Middle East.

It's particularly suited to Contracts Managers, Commercial Managers, Claims Managers, and Project Directors responsible for protecting margin, managing variations, and controlling claims exposure.

The programme also benefits Project Managers, Procurement Managers, Legal Counsel, and PMO Leads working within multi-disciplinary projects or commercial teams, where negotiation positioning directly impacts delivery risk, cost recovery, and financial outcomes. It's especially relevant for professionals operating within EPC agreements, services contracting, and joint ventures across Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf region.

Certification Requirements

You must meet two criteria to be eligible for an Informa Connect Academy Certificate of Completion:

• Satisfactory attendance: You must attend all sessions of the course. If, for any reason, you miss more than two hours of the course sessions, you will not be eligible to sit the course assessment
• Successful completion of the course assessment: Assessments will be ongoing and based on in-class participation, simulation performance, and contribution to structured debrief sessions. There is no formal written examination. A short post-course action plan forms part of the completion process.

If you do not meet these criteria, you will receive an Informa Connect Academy Certificate of Attendance. If you have not attended all of the course, the certificate will clearly state the number of hours you attended.

Delivered by Sean

Sean has spent two decades training energy sector professionals in high-stakes contract negotiation, working with organisations including Shell and Saudi Aramco. As creator of the Negotiation Hero methodology, he brings a powerful toolkit of practical, field-tested techniques used in live EPC and joint venture negotiations.

Download the brochure to discover the full framework and course outline.

Run this course in-house

Informa Connect Academy’s customised training solutions have helped organisations deliver tailored learning in different languages to suit every requirement.