Training the future

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

zoom

Training at the Schlumberger centre in Abu Dhabi involves plenty of hands-on work.

With fears that the ‘big crew change' may be nearer than expected, and the popularity of other career paths, such as IT and telecommunications, the global oil and gas industry is at risk of encountering a severe shortfall in the amount of fully trained, skilled members of staff.

"There is a learning curve for both graduates and experienced staff, with as much as seven to ten years training to get to the same proficiency level as the people in the industry now. If we don't do something now we will have an extreme difficulty in the future," said Donald Strathdee, a specialist headhunter for senior level management in the oil and gas industry.

Now, companies working within the oil, gas and petrochemicals sector worldwide, are aiming to develop, and enhance staff knowledge and skills, as well as attract more people to work within petroleum-engineering.

In order for the oil and gas sector to progress it is important that staff are trained upon entering any corporation. Today, an increasing number of companies have introduced training academies where employees have the opportunity to gain expertise, needed to make them proficient workers.

According to Ivan Lawson, Middle East and Asia Pacific region manager for global learning and development of Baker Hughes, set to open a new training facility in Jebel Ali in the near future, "education to develop employee skills is a wise investment in a company's future."

"Effective training supports new technology introduction and the understanding of business processes and customer needs, while also helping employees advance their career," he added.

Academies

Many companies seek to offer management, development and training solutions to their staff. Schlumberger, an oil field service provider, has training centres located all over the world, offering both theory and practical learning; external courses and classroom based programmes, as well as hands on exercises.

A training centre, located in Abu Dhabi was built on land donated by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) when the two entered a joint initiative in 2003. The centre is used to train a mixture of both new starters/graduates and experienced staff.

To begin with, new starters are given a five-day introductory course covering the basics of the oilfield services, before beginning an intensive 89-day course introducing the company and how it operates.

Designed to accommodate all segments of the oil and gas industry, Schlumberger also purchased a dummy, tailor-made rig used to replicate the real-life working atmosphere. Minus the noise and hazardous environment, trainees are given the opportunity to gain experience by working on the dummy rig.

"Everybody who visits the centre sees the rig as the most important part. If you send people off shore you need training permits and there is the issue of bed space. Having a rig on land, where no permits are needed and which is close to Abu Dhabi makes it easier for people to come to this rig and see what is happening, than going on a live rig," said Ali Hariki, Schlumberger, training centre manager, who was first assigned to the project in 2004.

"On top of the rig, we have drilled two wells for phase one, plus we'll finish another five wells that are 500m in depth. This allows people to learn to use the tools and run equipment inside the hole. In a live situation, this can be dangerous for someone who may not know what they are doing. These wells are cased and cemented, so there is no problem if you drop a tool or make a mistake, the controlled environment means they can make mistakes here that they cannot make in real life," he added.

Print | Email | Discuss this article |

READERS' COMMENTS

View all comments (0)

Have your say

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Security Code *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM