Economist - Upstream Oil & Gas Economics

Overview

Develop and maintain economic models, conduct financial analyses, and support commercial decisions for upstream Oil & Gas projects.

Scope of work

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain economic models for producing assets and new development projects.
• Evaluate brownfield opportunities including infill drilling, workovers, tie-backs, and redevelopment projects.
• Conduct NPV, IRR, breakeven, sensitivity, scenario, and uncertainty analyses.
• Assess the effect of production, cost, schedule, and technical uncertainties on asset value.
• Apply Malaysia’s Production Sharing Contract (PSC) fiscal terms including cost recovery, profit sharing, taxation, and incentives within economic models.
• Analyse asset performance and identify opportunities to improve commercial value.
• Support business planning, budgeting, portfolio reviews, and capital-allocation decisions.
• Screen near-field and incremental opportunities within or adjacent to existing assets.
• Collaborate with subsurface, wells, facilities, finance, and commercial teams to integrate technical and financial inputs.
• Translate complex technical information into clear commercial insights and recommendations.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Finance, Engineering, or related discipline.
• Minimum five years’ experience in upstream Oil & Gas economics or commercial analysis.
• Proven experience in asset valuation and project economics.
• Hands-on experience with Malaysia’s PSC fiscal regime.
• Strong understanding of upstream value drivers, development costs, and operating-cost structures.

Technical Skills

• Strong economic and financial modelling capabilities.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint.
• Experience with PEEP, ARIES, PHDwin, or equivalent petroleum economics software.
• Familiarity with sensitivity, scenario, and uncertainty analyses.
• Knowledge of VBA, Python, or other automation tools is advantageous.

Core Competencies

• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Ability to evaluate uncertainty and provide practical commercial recommendations.
• Effective communicator simplifying complex technical and economic information.
• Comfortable working within multidisciplinary teams.
• Proactive, detail-oriented, collaborative, and delivery-focused.

Key requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Finance, Engineering, or a related discipline
• Minimum five years of experience in upstream Oil & Gas economics or commercial analysis
• Proven experience in asset valuation and project economics
• Hands-on experience with Malaysia’s Production Sharing Contract (PSC) fiscal regime

Software and tools