AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 12, 2011 — Starting in February 2012, the Petroleum Extension Service (PETEX™), a component of the Division of Continuing and Innovative Education at The University of Texas at Austin, expands its Professional Land Management Certificate Program to Oklahoma City. The program was launched in Fall 2011 in Austin, Houston and San Antonio, Texas, with great success, prompting this program expansion. The Oklahoma City program will be taught by Dr. Patrick Fitzgerald, a Norman, OK, attorney, land management consultant, university scholar and accomplished author. Fitzgerald holds degrees in law, business and education.
"We are very satisfied with the results of this program in the Fall 2011 semester and are delighted to add Oklahoma City to our spring semester offering," commented PETEX Director John Hoopingarner. "Dr. Fitzgerald is an industry leader in the field and well known from his 30 years of service to the industry."
A "landman" negotiates for the mineral rights on a piece of land on behalf of either the property owner or an oil or gas company. Workers involved in land-related activities or those interested in opportunities as professional landmen may enroll in this training program to either enhance their skills or prepare for a new career in the oil and gas industry. This training, which covers 12 critical subject areas, also extends to other oil and gas industry professionals such as attorneys, accountants and current land professionals to help them learn and understand the latest "best practices" in this area.
"My collaboration with PETEX to launch the program has gone well, and I am pleased that Oklahoma residents will now be able to participate in the program in Oklahoma City," says Dr. Fitzgerald. "The opportunities for landmen in Oklahoma are very good, and this program will benefit not only those people wanting to become landmen, but also those landmen needing continuing education units."
PETEX has been training oil and gas industry workers since 1944, when the Texas Legislature asked the university to provide continuing education to the state's oil and gas workers. Sixty-seven years later, PETEX has added formal instruction on oil and gas leases, titles, mineral rights and operating agreements to its repertoire of training programs designed to improve the quality of today's energy industry workforce.
For more information about the program and enrollment, contact Megan McCulloch at 800.687.7052, or visit http://www.utexas.edu/ce/petex/ourcourses/plmcert.
About PETEX:
For 67 years, PETEX has earned an industry-wide reputation as the trainer of choice through its quality programs, strong client relationships and access to the educational resources at the university. PETEX trains workers with comprehensive on-site courses, up-to-date publications and Web-based tools, all designed to ensure that industry workers are fully trained and highly skilled. http://www.petex.org.
Contact: Megan McCulloch, Petroleum Extension Service, (281) 397-2440, Email
# # #