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Institute For Oil & Gas Training
OGI-1140 New

Anti-Money Laundering (AML) for the Petroleum Sector Training Course

Duration
5 days
CPD hours
15
Language
English
Next date
05 Oct 2026
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Overview

Anti-Money Laundering AML for the Petroleum Sector Training Course from Institute For Oil & Gas Training provides a focused corporate framework for managing financial crime exposure across oil and gas operations. This Anti-Money Laundering AML course addresses the controls, investigative practices and risk-based processes required to identify, assess and respond to money laundering and related financial crime risks within petroleum businesses.

The petroleum sector operates through complex commercial structures involving exploration and production companies, joint ventures, contractors, service providers, traders, brokers, agents, distributors, financial institutions and government-linked entities. High-value transactions, cross-border payments, layered ownership structures, intermediaries and transactions involving multiple jurisdictions create a demanding compliance environment. Effective AML controls therefore require more than routine financial checks. Organisations need structured processes that connect customer onboarding, commercial due diligence, payment controls, transaction monitoring, sanctions screening and escalation procedures.

This course develops practical capability in Know Your Customer, customer due diligence, enhanced due diligence, beneficial ownership identification, politically exposed persons screening, source of funds assessment and suspicious activity reporting. It also examines how AML controls operate across petroleum procurement, trading, joint ventures, contracting, finance, treasury and third-party relationships.

Institute For Oil & Gas Training focuses on the operational application of AML principles rather than treating compliance as a purely theoretical function. Participants examine how financial crime risks enter petroleum supply chains, how risk indicators are identified and how compliance teams establish appropriate responses. The course also addresses the relationship between AML requirements and sanctions screening, anti-bribery controls, fraud prevention, procurement governance and broader enterprise risk management.

The petroleum industry presents distinctive AML challenges because commercial relationships often involve substantial contract values, international counterparties and transactions routed through different financial centres. Ownership structures can also involve holding companies, trusts, nominees and other arrangements that make it necessary to establish the natural persons who ultimately own or control a business relationship. Beneficial ownership therefore forms a critical component of effective customer risk assessment.

Customer due diligence provides the foundation for understanding who an organisation is dealing with, why the relationship exists and whether the associated activity aligns with the customer's stated business purpose. Enhanced due diligence applies where risk factors require deeper investigation. Participants learn how these processes support proportionate decision-making while maintaining appropriate records and escalation routes.

The course also explores politically exposed persons and the additional controls associated with relationships presenting heightened corruption or financial crime risk. Participants examine the importance of identifying relevant persons, understanding relationships and applying appropriate risk-based controls rather than treating screening as an isolated administrative exercise.

Source of funds analysis is another important component of petroleum-sector AML controls. Participants learn how financial flows can be assessed against the commercial purpose of a transaction and the known profile of a customer or counterparty. The course addresses warning signs associated with unexplained payments, unusual transaction patterns, inconsistent documentation and complex payment arrangements.

Sanctions screening is addressed alongside AML because petroleum organisations frequently operate across international markets where counterparties, vessels, banks, jurisdictions and transactions can create sanctions exposure. Participants learn how screening processes integrate with onboarding, ongoing monitoring and transaction review.

The course also introduces the FATF Recommendations as a globally recognised reference point for AML and counter-financial-crime controls. Participants examine the risk-based approach, customer due diligence, beneficial ownership, suspicious transaction reporting and other principles that influence national AML regimes and corporate compliance frameworks.

For sponsoring organisations, the course strengthens the practical connection between policy and operational execution. It supports finance, compliance, procurement, legal, commercial and risk teams in recognising financial crime indicators and applying consistent escalation procedures. For individual attendees, it builds a structured understanding of AML controls that supports stronger judgement when reviewing customers, suppliers, agents, counterparties and transactions.

Objectives

  • Understand the principles and purpose of Anti-Money Laundering AML controls within petroleum-sector organisations.

  • Identify money laundering and financial crime risks across upstream, midstream and downstream activities.

  • Apply Know Your Customer processes to petroleum customers, suppliers, contractors and counterparties.

  • Conduct effective customer due diligence using relevant customer, ownership and transaction information.

  • Recognise circumstances requiring enhanced due diligence and deeper investigation.

  • Identify and assess beneficial ownership across complex corporate structures.

  • Understand the compliance considerations associated with politically exposed persons.

  • Assess source of funds information against the customer's known business profile and transaction purpose.

  • Apply sanctions screening principles to customers, counterparties and petroleum-related transactions.

  • Recognise transaction patterns and behavioural indicators requiring further investigation.

  • Understand the purpose and structure of a suspicious activity report.

  • Apply the risk-based approach reflected in the FATF Recommendations.

  • Strengthen AML documentation, escalation and recordkeeping practices.

  • Connect AML controls with procurement, finance, treasury, legal, commercial and risk management processes.

  • Improve cross-functional communication when financial crime concerns arise.

  • Support consistent and defensible AML decision-making across petroleum business operations.

Training methodology

Institute For Oil & Gas Training delivers the course through a practical corporate methodology designed around petroleum-sector situations and financial crime risk scenarios. The delivery combines focused technical briefings with case studies, structured discussions, transaction reviews, compliance simulations and group exercises.

Real-world scenarios form an important part of the learning process. Participants examine situations involving petroleum suppliers, trading counterparties, contractors, agents, joint venture participants and other commercial relationships. These scenarios demonstrate how AML risk can develop through apparently legitimate business activity and how compliance teams identify inconsistencies requiring further review.

Case studies focus on the progression from customer onboarding to ongoing monitoring. Participants assess customer profiles, ownership structures, business activities, payment information and transaction behaviour. They then determine which issues require standard customer due diligence and which circumstances justify enhanced due diligence.

Group exercises allow participants to analyse beneficial ownership structures and identify the individuals who ultimately own or control a corporate entity. This supports stronger understanding of ownership transparency and the practical challenges presented by layered corporate arrangements.

Transaction-monitoring exercises help participants recognise unusual payment behaviour, inconsistent transaction values, unexpected jurisdictions and activity that does not align with a customer's established profile. Participants consider how information should be documented and escalated for further investigation.

Sanctions screening scenarios address customers, suppliers, intermediaries and transactions that generate potential screening alerts. Participants work through the distinction between an initial alert and a confirmed compliance issue while considering appropriate escalation and recordkeeping processes.

Suspicious activity report exercises focus on the information required to document concerns clearly and consistently. Participants learn how to separate factual observations from assumptions and how structured reporting supports internal investigations and appropriate regulatory processes.

The methodology also uses facilitated discussion to connect AML controls with commercial realities. Finance professionals consider payment and source of funds issues, procurement teams assess supplier and intermediary risks, legal teams examine contractual and ownership considerations, and compliance professionals connect these issues within an overall risk-based framework.

This approach works effectively for petroleum-sector professionals because AML decisions often require collaboration between departments. The course therefore develops not only individual technical knowledge but also the ability to communicate risk, challenge incomplete information and escalate concerns through appropriate corporate channels.

Organisational impact

The course strengthens the organisation's ability to identify and manage financial crime exposure throughout the petroleum value chain. A consistent AML framework improves the quality of customer and counterparty onboarding by establishing clearer expectations for identity verification, ownership assessment and risk classification.

Stronger Know Your Customer processes help organisations establish a reliable understanding of customers and commercial counterparties before significant financial relationships develop. This supports better control over third-party exposure and provides a stronger information base for ongoing monitoring.

Improved customer due diligence also strengthens consistency between compliance policy and operational practice. Employees gain clearer processes for gathering relevant information, identifying gaps and escalating relationships that require additional scrutiny.

Enhanced due diligence capability provides greater control over higher-risk relationships. Organisations benefit from more structured investigations into ownership, business activity, source of funds, geographic exposure and other relevant risk indicators.

Beneficial ownership analysis strengthens transparency around corporate counterparties. This is particularly relevant to petroleum organisations working with complex corporate groups, special-purpose entities, intermediaries and joint venture structures.

Better controls for politically exposed persons support more disciplined risk assessment where relevant relationships require additional attention. Participants learn to treat PEP identification as part of a broader risk assessment process rather than as an isolated screening activity.

Source of funds controls strengthen financial oversight by helping teams evaluate whether payment activity is consistent with the customer's stated profile and commercial purpose. This contributes to stronger transaction review and escalation processes.

Sanctions screening capability also improves the organisation's ability to identify potential sanctions-related concerns before transactions or relationships progress. Integrating screening with customer onboarding, transaction review and ongoing monitoring creates a more coherent compliance environment.

The course supports stronger suspicious activity escalation by improving employees' understanding of what constitutes a meaningful concern, what information should be documented and when matters should be referred to appropriate internal functions.

At organisational level, these capabilities support improved compliance consistency, stronger audit readiness, clearer accountability and more effective risk communication. They also reinforce the relationship between AML controls and wider governance disciplines including fraud prevention, anti-bribery compliance, procurement controls, financial controls and enterprise risk management.

Personal impact

Participants develop a practical understanding of how AML principles apply to their responsibilities within petroleum organisations. The course strengthens their ability to evaluate customers, suppliers, agents, contractors, trading partners and other counterparties through a structured risk-based perspective.

Professionals responsible for onboarding gain stronger capability in Know Your Customer and customer due diligence processes. They become better equipped to identify missing information, assess customer profiles and recognise situations that require enhanced due diligence.

Finance and treasury professionals gain greater awareness of source of funds considerations, transaction monitoring and unusual payment behaviour. This supports more effective communication with compliance and risk functions when transactions require additional review.

Procurement and commercial professionals develop stronger awareness of third-party and intermediary risks. They gain practical insight into how ownership structures, business purpose and payment arrangements influence the risk profile of a commercial relationship.

Compliance professionals strengthen their ability to connect customer information, transaction activity, sanctions screening and suspicious activity reporting within a coherent AML framework.

Legal and governance professionals gain a clearer understanding of how beneficial ownership, politically exposed persons and risk-based due diligence influence commercial relationships.

Managers and senior professionals develop stronger oversight capability by learning how AML controls operate across departments and how weaknesses in one process can create exposure elsewhere in the organisation.

The course also improves professional communication. Participants learn to document concerns using clear factual information, explain the basis for escalation and engage effectively with colleagues across finance, legal, procurement, commercial and compliance functions.

These capabilities support career development in compliance, financial crime prevention, risk management, petroleum finance, procurement, governance, internal controls and commercial operations.

Who should attend

Compliance and AML Professionals

Designed for professionals responsible for AML frameworks, customer screening, transaction monitoring, investigations and financial crime controls.

Finance and Treasury Teams

Relevant for professionals managing payments, financial controls, source of funds reviews, transaction approvals and treasury activities.

Procurement and Supply Chain Professionals

Useful for personnel responsible for supplier onboarding, contractor relationships, third-party risk and procurement governance.

Commercial and Contracts Teams

Supports professionals assessing agents, counterparties, joint venture relationships and commercial structures involving significant financial exposure.

Legal and Governance Professionals

Relevant to professionals reviewing ownership structures, contractual relationships, corporate governance and regulatory obligations.

Risk Management Professionals

Designed for specialists integrating AML exposure into enterprise risk assessments, control frameworks and risk reporting.

Internal Audit Professionals

Supports auditors reviewing AML controls, due diligence processes, transaction monitoring, documentation and governance arrangements.

Senior Managers and Department Heads

Provides management-level understanding of AML exposure, escalation responsibilities and the organisational controls required to support effective financial crime risk management.

Petroleum Trading Professionals

Relevant for professionals handling trading counterparties, brokers, agents, payment structures and cross-border commercial activity.

Joint Venture and Finance Professionals

Supports personnel working with joint venture partners, cost allocations, counterparties and complex petroleum-sector ownership structures.

Course outline

This module establishes the foundations of Anti-Money Laundering AML within the petroleum industry. It examines how financial crime risks arise across upstream, midstream and downstream operations and how organisations establish a risk-based compliance structure.

  1. FATF Recommendations

    • Provides an internationally recognised framework for AML and counter-financial-crime measures.

    • Promotes a risk-based approach to identifying and managing financial crime exposure.

    • Addresses customer due diligence, beneficial ownership and suspicious transaction reporting.

    • Supports cooperation between competent authorities and financial and non-financial sectors.

    • Provides a global reference point for national AML frameworks and corporate compliance programmes.

    Learning Outcomes

    • Explain the principal AML risks relevant to petroleum organisations.

    • Apply a risk-based approach to AML controls.

    • Identify financial crime exposure across different petroleum business activities.

    • Distinguish AML responsibilities across compliance, finance, procurement, legal and commercial functions.

    • Recognise how third-party and cross-border relationships affect AML exposure.

This module focuses on customer identification and due diligence processes that establish a reliable understanding of petroleum customers and counterparties. It examines how organisations collect, verify and assess information throughout the business relationship.

  1. UK Money Laundering Regulations 2017

    • Establishes statutory AML requirements for relevant businesses operating within the United Kingdom.

    • Includes customer due diligence and risk assessment requirements.

    • Provides requirements concerning enhanced due diligence in higher-risk situations.

    • Supports the identification and assessment of customers and beneficial owners.

    • Provides a recognised regulatory reference for UK-focused AML compliance activities.

    Learning Outcomes

    • Apply structured Know Your Customer procedures.

    • Conduct effective customer due diligence.

    • Identify incomplete or inconsistent customer information.

    • Establish appropriate customer risk considerations.

    • Recognise when customer information requires further investigation or review.

    • Connect onboarding information with ongoing monitoring requirements.

This module examines higher-risk relationships and the information required to understand ownership and control. Participants explore beneficial ownership structures, enhanced due diligence and politically exposed persons within petroleum-sector relationships.

  1. Wolfsberg Principles

    • Provides recognised private-sector guidance for managing financial crime risks.

    • Promotes risk-based controls across correspondent banking and broader financial crime management.

    • Supports enhanced understanding of customer and counterparty risk.

    • Emphasises transparency, risk assessment and appropriate controls.

    • Provides useful industry guidance for organisations developing practical financial crime frameworks.

    Learning Outcomes

    • Identify beneficial owners within complex corporate structures.

    • Determine when enhanced due diligence is appropriate.

    • Assess politically exposed person risks within a broader customer risk profile.

    • Evaluate source of funds information.

    • Document enhanced review findings clearly.

    • Escalate higher-risk relationships through appropriate internal channels.

This module addresses the monitoring of customers, transactions and commercial relationships for potential sanctions and financial crime concerns. It focuses on integrating sanctions screening with broader AML controls and transaction review processes.

  1. United Nations Sanctions Regimes

    • Establishes international sanctions measures adopted through the United Nations framework.

    • Covers designated individuals, entities and other targeted measures under relevant regimes.

    • Provides an important reference point for organisations operating across international markets.

    • Supports sanctions compliance processes involving screening and transaction assessment.

    • Requires organisations to consider applicable national implementation when establishing operational controls.

    Learning Outcomes

    • Understand the role of sanctions screening within AML controls.

    • Assess sanctions alerts using relevant customer and transaction information.

    • Recognise unusual petroleum-sector transaction patterns.

    • Identify circumstances requiring escalation.

    • Strengthen coordination between sanctions screening and customer due diligence.

    • Improve documentation of transaction-monitoring decisions.

This module brings the course together through practical application of monitoring, investigation and reporting principles. Participants examine how AML concerns are documented, escalated and incorporated into continuous control improvement.

  1. Financial Action Task Force Guidance

    • Provides practical guidance supporting the implementation of risk-based financial crime controls.

    • Reinforces principles covering customer due diligence and suspicious transaction reporting.

    • Supports effective identification and management of financial crime risks.

    • Provides internationally recognised guidance for strengthening AML control effectiveness.

    • Helps organisations align operational practices with broader risk-based AML principles.

    Learning Outcomes

    • Recognise indicators requiring further investigation.

    • Prepare clear and factual suspicious activity documentation.

    • Apply appropriate internal escalation procedures.

    • Connect transaction findings with customer due diligence information.

    • Evaluate the effectiveness of AML controls.

    • Identify opportunities to strengthen monitoring, reporting and governance processes.

Certificate

Attendees receive a Certificate of Completion from Institute For Oil & Gas Training upon successfully finishing the course. Participants are required to attend the course in full to meet the attendance requirement for receiving the Certificate of Completion.

Course dates

  • Europe

    Middle East

    Asia

    Africa

    North America

    Online

    Fee: £3,700

  • Europe

    Middle East

    Asia

    Africa

    North America

    Online

    Fee: £3,700

  • Europe

    Middle East

    Asia

    Africa

    North America

    Online

    Fee: £3,700

  • Europe

    Middle East

    Asia

    Africa

    North America

    Online

    Fee: £3,700

Fees include tuition, course materials and refreshments. Need different dates or a different city? Ask about your preferred date.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Anti-Money Laundering AML for the Petroleum Sector course cover?

The course covers petroleum-sector AML risks, Know Your Customer, customer due diligence, enhanced due diligence, beneficial ownership, politically exposed persons, source of funds, sanctions screening, transaction monitoring and suspicious activity reporting.

Who is this petroleum AML training designed for?

The course is designed for compliance, finance, treasury, procurement, legal, commercial, risk, internal audit and management professionals working with petroleum-sector customers, suppliers, contractors, counterparties and transactions.

How is the course delivered?

Institute For Oil & Gas Training uses corporate-focused delivery including case studies, practical scenarios, group exercises, transaction reviews, screening exercises and structured discussions based on petroleum-sector compliance situations.

What will participants learn about beneficial ownership?

Participants learn how to identify ownership and control within corporate structures, assess beneficial ownership information, recognise complex ownership arrangements and determine when additional due diligence is required.

What certificate do attendees receive?

Attendees receive a Certificate of Completion from Institute For Oil & Gas Training after finishing the course, subject to the required attendance for the full course.

Next: 05 Oct 2026

4 dates available

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