Courses

If you are working in the field and want to expand your knowledge, or if you are considering a career in petroleum production accounting, this certificate is designed to meet your needs.

Requirements

Canadian high school diploma or equivalent, or mature student status with at least two years of business experience. Internet is access required for all CAPPA students. CAPPA requires all students to complete additional online training modules provided by CAPPA and Petrinex. The fee for each course includes access to the online Petrinex modules.

Earning your certificate

The CAPPA certificate is earned upon the completion of our five required courses (244 hours) with a minimum grade of 70% in each course. The certificate must be completed within five years.

Lecture Time 45 hours per course plus registry modules to be completed outside of class time.

Challenge Exams

If you have oil and gas experience that includes specific course content, you may choose to write an applied exam to test your foundational knowledge. Successful completion of the exam allows for course credit; however, there are no rewrite options if you do not receive a passing grade (70%).

CAPPA Program Overview

The Five level program was developed by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Production Accounting (CAPPA). This program provides students with a solid working knowledge of petroleum products. The student will be able to understand the industry’s financial practices and government regulations. The program is offered in several formats. The day time programs are offered at SAIT. The evening programs, which are lecture based, are offered at both Mount Royal University and SAIT. There is also an on-line independent study course.

Strongly Recommended:To be successful at this program CAPPA strongly recommend an introductory accounting course and MS Excel course before starting this program.

Level 1

This course provides an excellent overview of the Petroleum Industry including geology, exploration, land and scouting, reservoir engineering, economics, enhanced recovery, drilling, completions and work over’s, production operations, oil pipelines, transportation, refining and marketing and the roles of the production, revenue and joint venture accountants.

Level 2

Topics include field practices and accounting procedures from wellhead to market, including AER oil well reporting, oil royalties and APMC reports, Alberta heavy oil reporting, compliance & AER reporting, pipeline operations and BC and Saskatchewan reporting.

Prerequisites: Level 1 and all mandatory Petrinex modules

Level 3

Materials and exercises on field handling and gas processing, gas measurement, shallow gas, AER gas well and facility reporting, oil, gas, NGL and sulphur marketing, natural gas purchase/sale contracts, gas plant allocations and joint venture accounting.

Prerequisites: Level 2 and all mandatory Petrinex modules

Level 4

Topics include Alberta gas royalties, allowable costs, volumetric/royalty trigger, valuation, Alberta Gas Royalty/Crown Royalty invoice, Indian royalties, Saskatchewan and BC royalties, unitization and oil and gas revenue accounting.

Prerequisites: Level 3 and all mandatory Petrinex modules

Level 5 (in class Practicum)

This course assists learners by improving their analytical skills and acquiring knowledge that is required for a junior production accounting role. It includes a complete monthly production cycle, case study simulation, and will allow the learner to apply previous learning acquired in Levels 1 through 4 of the CAPPA program. Independent of any production accounting software, Excel models and templates are used whenever possible to increase the learners experience using Microsoft Excel.

Prerequisites: Level 4 and all mandatory Petrinex Modules.