Academic initiative boosts Groningen as Energy Valley
Dit is een origineel persbericht.
Executive Master of Finance and Control for the Petroleum Industry
Netherlands - Energy Delta Institute (EDI), the University of Groningen (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, RUG) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) have announced today their intention to set up an Executive Master of Finance and Control for the Petroleum Industry (EMFC-PI) planned to go live early 2008. The EMFC-PI should become the leading international, post-academic programme to give a comprehensive grounding in the knowledge, skills and techniques required by financial controllers working at petroleum companies, whose primary focus is on the upstream segment but who also deal with topics such as energy trading and reserves accounting.
Dirk Swagerman, Professor in Controlling at the University of Groningen said: 'This initiative is very important for Groningen in its ambition to be generally recognized as Energy Valley. With the large number of activities related to petroleum and natural gas and alternative forms of energy, as well as a concentration of knowledge of energy and the energy business, Groningen fulfils all the conditions required to give this initiative a solid basis. With the involvement of well respected knowledge partners such as PricewaterhouseCoopers and the important oil majors' backing of Energy Delta Institute we believe that the development of this programme is a unique initiative that combines in-depth practical with academic knowledge. The EMFC-PI programme fills the gap that currently exists in the market and will attract highly and internationally educated employees from the multinational petroleum companies and the service industry.'
Aad Groenenboom, Energy & Utilities leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers added: 'At the moment, a high-quality post-academic programme for finance and control tailored to the petroleum industry does not exist. I believe that petroleum companies have a great need for such a programme. The highly competitive environment in which petroleum companies operate demands sophisticated and effective financial management at all levels in the organisation. At the same time, the industry is subject to rigorous rules and regulations, examples of which include auditing and accounting requirements such as US GAAP, IFRS, SOx and RRA. Furthermore, many companies in the industry will have to deal with the fact that a significant number of experienced financial controllers will retire in the next few years, with a potential brain drain as a result. The rising importance of National Oil Companies also creates further need for the development of joint high-level training programmes on an internationally established knowledge platform.'
Volko de Jong, managing director of EDI: 'A post-academic programme for finance and control perfectly fits in the ambition of EDI to be a leading business school in the international energy world. Our participants come from energy companies around the world. The huge impact of finance and control issues is clear for these companies that are among the highest valued companies in the world. We are sure that with PricewaterhouseCoopers we have a partner that can provide in-depth knowledge on top of the academic experts of the University of Groningen.'
EMFC-PI Programme information
Petroleum companies do not necessarily have the in-house resources to deal with all these developments. The EMFC-PI programme can support them by educating and training their future executive staff at a post-academic level with the ability to help ensure the financial stability of the organisation in the context of both normal operations and specific projects.
The programme will benefit from a close, high level of cooperation between business and university and bridge the gap between practice and theory. In other words, practical knowledge of finance and control issues in the industry will be secured in an academic environment. PwC will provide industry knowledge and instructors for the programme. The RUG will act as the content owner of the programme, will place EMFC-PI within its current accreditation and provide instructors. Graduates are allowed to bear the international title Executive Master of Finance and Control (EMFC). EDI will host the programme, use its network of industry specialists and is responsible for the marketing and logistics aspects.
The academic level and content of the EMFC-PI will meet international business and academic standards. The programme aims to attract high-potential university graduates with a master level background in finance, accounting or information management who have at least three years' work experience in an international finance environment in the petroleum industry. Notably those who are expected to grow into CFO, and possibly CEO level or comparable positions within the foreseeable future will enhance their career opportunities by enrolling in the programme.
The target group comprises employees from multinational petroleum companies and the service industry. A typical participant will have five to ten years work experience in a financial function within a medium or large-sized business unit of an international corporation in the upstream sector or service industry. Typically, supporting employers will value the candidates as a 'high potential'.
The programme covers topics such as Management Control, Information Management and Control Measures, Financial Accounting, Finance and Treasury, Corporate Law, Tax Law, Regulation, Logistics, Organisation, and Management and Culture. A final thesis will stimulate students to integrate the knowledge acquired in the programme with their daily practice. The EMFC-PI will use blended learning where appropriate, as an integrated strategy for delivering on promises about learning and performance. State of the art e-learning is used in preparation for courses or as a tool for testing.
Notes to Editors:
1. Energy Delta Institute (www.energydelta.nl, EDI) is an International Business School for Natural Gas, founded by N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie and the University of Groningen, with strong support from OAO Gazprom. With its extensive network EDI wants to contribute to educating the energy managers of the future. Therefore EDI provides training and performs research, particularly focussed on economic, managerial and geopolitical issues of the gas value chain that are relevant to the gas business of today and in the future. EDI works closely with business and academic partners to ensure its products meet participants' demands and are of the highest quality. They include Shell, Clingendael, RWE, Delft University of Technology, TNO-NITG, Gubkin State University for Oil & Gas, MGIMO (Moscow State Institute of International Relations) and Oxford University.
2. The University of Groningen (www.rug.nl) is a 380-year old university which provides high quality research and education, is internationally oriented, respects differences in ambition and talent, works actively with business, the government and the public, and ranks among the best universities in Europe. On 1 January 2005 the University of Groningen established the Energy Delta Research Centre in which more than 100 people work on high-quality energy research. More information about the post-master controller programmes on www.rug.nl/bdk/onderwijs/postacademischonderwijs/PDCO/index.
3. The PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Energy, Utilities and Mining group (www.pwc.com/energy) is the professional services leader in the international energy, utilities and mining community, advising clients through a global network of fully dedicated industry specialists.
4. PricewaterhouseCoopers (www.pwc.nl) provides industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services to build public trust and enhance value for its clients and their stakeholders. More than 140,000 people in 148 countries work collaboratively using Connected Thinking to develop fresh perspectives and practical advice. 'PricewaterhouseCoopers' refers to the network of member firms of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, each of which is a separate and independent legal entity.
5. For more information contact: Koen Jonker, media relations PricewaterhouseCoopers B.V., tel. 020-568 59 59 or e-mail [email protected].
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