Taking advantage of its strategic location in Geneva, where one-third of the world’s free oil trade takes place, the Executive Education department of the Graduate Institute has created a programme to offer management training for company executives and civil servants involved in oil and gas sector governance. Globe, The Graduate Institute Review, talked with Professor Giacomo Luciani, Co-director of the new Executive Master in Oil and Gas Leadership and Visiting Professor at the Institute to find out more about the programme.
What are the major components of the new Executive Master in International Oil and Gas Leadership?
The programme consists of three intensive sessions of three weeks apiece held over a nine-month period; it is designed so professionals can carry on with their day jobs at the same time. The faculty includes international academics and experts such as John Gault, former Managing Director of IED Consultants and the International Energy Development Corporation and Alexander Van de Putte, Head of Scenario Processes and Applications at PFC Energy International. Aimed at a wide international audience, the programme will be conducted in English.
Specific focuses include: management of relations between international oil companies and host governments, management of giant infrastructure projects, corporate finance, energy institutions and energy policies, economic development and diversification in energy-rich countries, the future of the hydrocarbon industry and other topics critical to hydrocarbon producing and exporting countries.
What is the comparative advantage of the Graduate Institute for an executive programme in International Oil and Gas Leadership?
The new training will combine a long history of expertise in international relations and development with the Graduate Institute’s location in Europe’s leading oil trading hub to fill a gap in Geneva’s and the continent's education in this important and growing field. Some 75% of Russian exports of crude oil and products are traded in Geneva and many major oil and gas-related companies, including trading and hydrocarbon-related firms, have set up their headquarters in the city in recent years. In addition, international organisations involved in various aspects of the sector such as the WTO, UNCTAD, EFTA and others have their secretariats in Geneva.
Geneva is also a prominent centre for arbitration and dispute resolution with a wealth of legal expertise, which is crucial to the industry. It is a key banking centre – energy projects are the largest and most complex in financial terms. Geneva is a centre of expertise in the earth sciences and specifically in the evaluation of oil and gas reserves.
All of these factors mean this new programme has the potential to make Geneva’s Graduate Institute a key international centre for executive training for the petroleum industry.
What do you think are the major geopolitical trends that young leaders in the sector now have to deal with?
We face a series of contrasting trends related to energy consumption and the environment. The rapid pace of development in some large emerging countries – notably China and India – is leading to fast increases in energy demand. For the foreseeable future (3 decades or more), this demand will only be satisfied through continued, indeed increasing, reliance on fossil fuels, along with alternative sources. However, CO2 emissions are a problem for climate change. The solution to this contradiction requires a combination of tools: technological, financial, legal, political. Today, top managers of oil and gas companies in all countries must acquire and project a vision of the future that combines the interests of their company with those of their countries and the global community. This is a huge challenge for emerging managers who, in most cases, come from highly technical and specialised backgrounds.
How do – or should – current international discussions on global environmental change affect leadership in the oil and gas sectors?
The oil and gas sectors are profoundly affected. Most interestingly, the net effect is uncertain. Depending on which policies are adopted nationally and internationally the outcome will be either an increase in international demand – especially of gas – or stagnation. The outcome will also vary by region. Oil and gas leaders must engage in the global debate to avoid resorting to globally sub-optimal policies or those primarily motivated by the self-interest of specific lobby groups. They should also be aware of the consequences of those policies: will they find markets for their oil and gas? In which regions? Will they have a chance to integrate downstream and add value, exporting transformed products rather than raw materials?
Do you see a new generation of leaders from the Global South emerging in this field?
Of course! The national oil companies of oil exporting and major emerging countries such as the BRICs are the new protagonists of the global oil and gas industry. They control the largest reserves and have the largest production. They play a dominant role in increasing capacity – in their own countries but increasingly also through foreign direct investment. They are the new leaders. This programme recognises this; it is a tool to increase awareness and complement the education of young leaders so that they feel comfortable participating in the global debate.
Giacomo Luciani is co-Director of the Graduate Institute's Executive Master in Oil and Gas Leadership as well as Visiting Professor at the Institute. He is also Director of the Gulf Research Centre Foundation (Geneva) and Visiting Professor at Sciences-Po (Paris).
This interview appeared in the Spring 2011 issue of Globe.
An audio interview of Giacomo Luciani was featured in the Institute's podcast.