Centre for Career and Personal Development Degree Profiles

These degree profiles look at potential jobs, key skills & atributes, associations & professional development and great books which relate to each degree and its potential career path.

Petroleum Land Management

The Haskayne School of Business offers a Bachelor of commerce degree with a concentration in Petroleum Land Management that prepares graduates for careers in the Canadian oil and gas industry. This is the only such concentration in Canada and one of only 6 in the world.

Because Canadian oil and gas leases are primarily on government (crown) lands, rather than on freehold (farm) land as in the United States, the PLMA courses have been carefully constructed for Canadian content.

The PLMA concentration includes admission to the Bachelor of Commerce program, third-year standing, and BSEN 395 as prerequisites for the PLMA courses. A junior geology course is recommended. Acceptance to the PLMA concentration is competitive. The process involves interviews, references, grade point average, and other documentation.

Two third-year courses, PLMA 475 (Introduction to Petroleum Land Management), PLMA 477 (Introduction to Oil and Gas Agreements) and related software and tutorials are offered in the winter term.

The fourth-year PLMA concentration courses include four half-courses focusing on legal agreements, oil/gas exploration strategy and analysis, PLMA cases, and management of energy regulations.

Experienced industry specialists teach PLMA courses in the evenings. The American Association of Professional Landmen and/or the Canadian Association of Petroleum Landmen award scholarships to many students.

Key Skills & Knowledge

Verbal Communication: Public speaking and presentation of ideas, issues and events. Defend arguments. Development of rhetorical skills, debating, interpersonal relations, convey complex information to general public.

Written Communication: Present ideas, apply theoretical framework, develop and support clear ideas and arguments in written form.

Problem Solving: Understand historical and contemporary problems; anticipate future challenges. Create and evaluate policy recommendations for organization challenges. Creative, responsive and able to find solutions, resolve conflict

Analytical and critical thinking: Comparative analysis, multidisciplinary research, develop and analyze arguments, critical reasoning and reflection, evaluate policy recommendations and outcomes

Cultural Sensitivity: Develop appreciation for diversity within societies and an understanding of interactions between different communities; historical, economical and geographic international appreciation, work with culturally diverse individuals and communities

Organization: Meet deadlines, organize information and materials, develop paper writing skills

Knowledge Areas

Land rights: surface rights required for seismic lines, power lines or pipeline construction

Mineral rights: rights to the oil, gas and minerals below the surface

Wells and facilities: oil and gas producing wells and facilities owned or jointly owned by the company.

Sample Job Titles

Please note some of these positions may require further training, certification or education. Check out the occupational profiles to review the full details for the occupations that interest you at alis.alberta.ca/occinfo

Surface Land Agent
Petroleum Landman
Land Representative
Municipal Land Agent
Lease Negotiator
Public Consolation Co-ordinator
Contract Land Agent
Contracts Analyst
Contracts and New Ventures Analyst
Junior Landmen
Junior Land Negotiator
Land Analyst
Land Assistant
Land Consultant
Mineral Landmen
Negotiating Landmen
Pricing Analyst

Potential Industries

Oil and Gas exploration
Government

Associations & Professional Development

Job Sites

Additional Resources

Student Clubs

Aligned Majors

Did you know?

Formal Career Assessments like the Strong Interest Inventory and the Myers Briggs Type Indicator can be helpful tools for your career development. These assessments have been used for decades to help individuals choose a major, explore career options during and upon completion of a degree and to further understand yourself in relationship to the world of work. Inquire with Career Services if you are interested in these formal assessments.