Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Upstream Planner

🎯 Role Definition

This role requires a results-driven Upstream Planner to own short-, medium- and long-term planning activities across upstream assets (onshore/offshore). The Upstream Planner will create and maintain integrated drilling and production schedules, coordinate materials and logistics, perform production forecasting and scenario analysis, and partner closely with Drilling, Completions, Production Engineering, Reservoir and Supply Chain teams to deliver safe, on-time, on-budget operations. Success in this role requires strong technical planning skills, hands-on experience with ERP and scheduling tools, commercial acumen, and demonstrated ability to drive decisions with data.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Planning Coordinator / Planning Analyst (Onshore or Offshore)
Junior Production Engineer or Field Operations Coordinator
Supply Chain / Logistics Coordinator supporting upstream operations

Advancement To:

Senior Upstream Planner / Lead Planner
Production Planning Manager / Drilling & Completions Planning Manager
Asset Operations Manager or Operational Excellence Manager

Lateral Moves:

Reservoir or Production Engineer (planning-focused)
Drilling Program Manager / Drilling Engineer
Supply Chain Manager (oil & gas inventory and logistics)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop, maintain and optimize integrated drilling, completion and production plans and schedules (short-, medium- and long-range) using industry-standard tools (Primavera P6, MS Project, SAP PS, or equivalent), ensuring alignment with reservoir models and commercial targets.
Prepare and deliver weekly and monthly rolling forecasts for production, capex and opex, including volumetric forecasts, liftings, and well testing plans to support commercial planning and board-level reporting.
Coordinate rig schedules, mobilization/demobilization windows, and vessel/shore base logistics to minimize non-productive time (NPT) and reduce demobilization/mobilization costs.
Drive materials and spares planning (MRO and critical long-lead items) in collaboration with Supply Chain to ensure on-time delivery to wells, platforms and shore bases while optimizing inventory levels and safety stock.
Build and maintain scenario-based plans (what-if analysis) for contingency planning, deferrals, accelerated drilling, or emergency well interventions to support timely management decision-making.
Interface with Reservoir and Production Engineering to translate reservoir models, well deliverability and production constraints into feasible operational schedules that maximize field recovery and business value.
Conduct risk assessments and P50/P90 planning scenarios, quantifying schedule and volume uncertainties and implementing mitigation measures to manage execution risk and commercial exposure.
Coordinate cross-functional planning workshops and gating reviews (pre-FEED, FEED, pre-drill, pre-completions) to validate scope, sequencing, safety and regulatory compliance.
Maintain and update well master schedules, work order plans, and project milestones, ensuring traceability of changes and clear change-control processes for scope, schedule and budget.
Lead NPT reduction initiatives by analyzing historical downtime, identifying root causes, and implementing standardized operating procedures and best practices across multiple assets.
Prepare and present planning deliverables, dashboard KPIs, and variance analysis to asset leadership, finance, and commercial teams, providing clear recommendations and decision-support materials.
Manage interfaces with third-party contractors (rig owners, subsea vessels, service companies) on schedule commitments, mobilization timelines, and contractual milestones to safeguard schedule integrity.
Optimize helicopter, vessel, and pipeline logistics to support personnel rotations, supplies delivery and wellsite materials handling while minimizing transport costs and environmental impact.
Deliver cost-to-complete and earned value reporting for drilling/completions campaigns, collaborating with finance to track forecast vs actuals and support month-end close.
Implement and continuously improve planning processes, standards and templates (S&OP / Integrated Business Planning) to enhance forecast accuracy and execution reliability.
Ensure planning activities incorporate HSE, regulatory and local content requirements; coordinate permit windows, inspections and safe work planning in tandem with HSE and compliance teams.
Prepare and execute staged resourcing plans (labour, subcontractors, equipment) to support peak campaign activity while optimizing utilization across assets.
Support well delivery optimization by aligning stimulation, production logging, and completion sequencing with production ramp-up objectives and facility constraints.
Maintain master data integrity in ERP and scheduling systems (BOMs, equipment lists, lead times, supplier contracts), ensuring planners and operations rely on accurate inputs.
Facilitate post-campaign lessons learned and continuous improvement reviews, capturing best practices and updating playbooks to improve future planning cycles.
Collaborate with commercial and trading teams on lifting schedules, storage capacity and third-party processing arrangements to maximize product realization and minimize curtailment risk.
Support digitalization and planning automation initiatives, working with IT and Data teams to implement dashboards, API integrations and scheduling optimization algorithms.

Secondary Functions

Prepare ad-hoc analysis, KPI packs and performance snapshots for senior leadership, including sensitivity analysis and Monte Carlo forecast outputs when required.
Assist in audits and internal control reviews related to planning, inventory and logistics processes, providing evidence and remediation support.
Train and mentor junior planners and field coordinators on planning tools, schedule discipline and standard operating procedures.
Support incident response and recovery planning by coordinating logistical reallocation, spare parts dispatch and rapid rescheduling after unplanned downtime.
Participate in vendor selection and bid evaluations for long-lead equipment and major services, providing planning input to commercial negotiations.
Contribute to sustainability initiatives by identifying planning changes that reduce fuel consumption, emissions and offshore supply chain footprint.
Maintain awareness of regulatory changes and industry best practices around well delivery and supply chain that may impact planning assumptions and timelines.
Support the continuous improvement of digital planning tools by validating outputs, providing user feedback and defining business requirements.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Production forecasting and scheduling: experience producing daily/weekly/monthly forecasts and multi-scenario production plans for upstream assets.
Integrated drilling & completions planning: ability to build master schedules, critical path analysis and resource levelling for multi-well programs.
ERP and planning systems: practical experience with SAP (PP/PS/MM), Oracle, IFS, or equivalent for work order creation, materials planning and spend tracking.
Scheduling tools: proficiency with Primavera P6, MS Project, or other enterprise scheduling software.
Advanced Excel: pivot tables, advanced formulas, macros/VBA for modeling and automated reporting.
Data analytics & scripting: working knowledge of SQL and/or Python/R to extract, transform and analyze operations and production datasets.
Inventory & logistics management: demand planning, reorder point calculations, consignment and VMI concepts specific to offshore/onshore logistics.
Cost control & forecasting: ability to develop cost-to-complete estimates, variance analysis and earned value management (EVM).
Risk assessment & scenario modeling: quantitative risk analysis, sensitivity analysis, and Monte Carlo simulation experience preferred.
HSE & regulatory compliance: understanding of relevant safety permitting, well control principles and onshore/offshore regulations.
Contract & vendor management: experience aligning schedule milestones with commercial contracts and service-level agreements.
Well delivery optimization: familiarity with well integrity, stimulation, and production ramp-up sequences that impact planning.

Soft Skills

Clear stakeholder management and communication — able to present complex schedule trade-offs to commercial, technical and executive audiences.
Strong analytical thinking and structured problem solving with an evidence-based decision-making approach.
Proactive planning mindset and ownership — prioritizes critical path and acts early on schedule risks.
Negotiation and influencing skills — able to align internal teams and third-party service providers to committed schedules.
Attention to detail and discipline in maintaining master data, schedule integrity and change control.
Team leadership and mentoring — experience guiding junior planners and cross-functional coordination.
Adaptability and resilience under operational pressure and shifting priorities.
Time management and the ability to manage multiple concurrent drilling/completions campaigns.
Cultural awareness and ability to work with multi-national teams in complex supply chains.
Continuous improvement orientation with a bias for automation and process simplification.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Petroleum Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Geoscience, Supply Chain Management, or a related technical/business field.

Preferred Education:

Master's degree in Petroleum Engineering, Project Management, Business Administration (MBA) or MSc in Supply Chain/Operations.
Professional certifications such as APICS/CPIM, PMP, PMI-ACP or industry-specific planning certifications.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Petroleum Engineering
Mechanical / Chemical Engineering
Supply Chain & Logistics
Geoscience
Project Management / Business Administration

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3–8 years of upstream oil & gas experience with progressive planning responsibilities; field/asset exposure preferred.

Preferred:

5+ years of direct upstream planning experience (drilling, completions, production planning) on offshore and/or onshore assets.
Demonstrated track record of delivering multi-well programs, reducing NPT, and improving forecast accuracy.
Experience with ERP and scheduling systems, plus proven ability to implement planning standards and drive cross-functional alignment.