Getting the global skills mix right
  from: Offshore Engineer
  Monday, April 07, 2008

The oil and gas industry’s ongoing skills shortage and the spread of E&P;activity to previously uncharted territories have combined to put wind in the sails of internationally focused technical training establishments in recent years. Among the beneficiaries has been the UK’s TTE Technical Training Group,whose international student base has grown from just 40 a year in 1996 to an average 500 students per year and rising today.

It is the job of groups like TTE to deliver the qualifications and competencies required to upskill new and existing workforces. Today, around 75% of its work involves personnel from international oil companies with the remaining 25% coming from national oil companies.

‘During the past seven years I have worked with companies in many countries where the race for oil is closely linked with the race for developing a skilled, safe and competent workforce,’ observes TTE’s commercial business director Phil Blewitt. ‘Companies operating within these extremely competitive environments will only succeed if the right mix of skilled people are developed, motivated and maintained within their business.

‘It seems at times that the development of skilled and competent technicians and operators becomes an afterthought at the back end of large scale capital projects – almost as if someone somewhere quietly asks the question: “Who’s going to safely run and operate this facility?”

‘Operators quickly realise that there isn’t a large pool of highly skilled and experienced local people queuing outside the door to help,’ adds Blewitt. ‘That said, we have seen and have been involved in some world class projects where oil and gas companies, in partnership with national governments and agencies, have taken the long-term strategic view that the overseas development of locally and nationally recruited people is essential to ensuring the future prosperity of the industry.’

TTE has developed process, safety and engineering programmes for companies operating in Libya, Azerbaijan, the UAE, Equatorial Guinea and elsewhere over the years but one of the biggest feathers in its cap remains the relationship it established with three Nigerian operations back in 2000 to provide ongoing technical training and evaluation.Working closely with Nigeria LNG, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) and the Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPco), TTE has put several hundred Nigerian technicians through comprehensive technical training programmes over the past seven years.

The Nigerians undergo a residential 26-week course based at TTE’s training centre in Middlesbrough which integrates its established programme focused on process operations, safety, engineering and first-line management to NVQ Level 2 standard with customer-specific training. For example, the SNEPco offshore technician training programme included one week offshore followed by three weeks at the TTE facility using training modules tailor made to specifically address the skills and knowledge gaps identified while the technicians were working offshore.

‘During their time with us in the northeast of England, Nigerian technicians also take part in a number of personal development activities, which include experiencing British culture,’ says Blewitt. ‘This is a key attraction for international companies sourcing training. Bespoke training programmes are delivered to not only create competent and skilled technicians, but also to broaden their knowledge of the world and its different cultures in industrial and social arenas.

‘A full-time welfare team deliver continuous support throughout the programme from the settling in process to the final graduation ceremony. The welfare team also aid with team building opportunities arranging outward bound activities in the Lake District and visits to places like London, Edinburgh and York.

‘Working alongside these organisations has proven that the effective planning of workforce skills progression can co-exist with equipment and asset development, ultimately delivering a more competent and productive operation,’ says Blewitt. ‘These relationships can work towards eradicating projects where skills requirements have been treated as the poor relation to engineering design, construction and commissioning phases or become an “add on” at the back end of a project.’ OE

Regional link in training/studies chain

A new alliance targeting the provision of upstream oil and gas industry training services for the Middle East, Asian and Australasian markets was established recently by Houston-based Subsurface Consultants & Associates (SCA) and Malaysia’s Uzma Engineering. The Kuala Lumpur headquartered Uzma Group, which has offices in Perth, Bangkok, Jakarta and Doha and provides geoscience, reservoir engineering and drilling services, will market and represent SCA in these territories.

SCA boss Daniel Tearpock said his staff had found and/or developed over 5.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent in over 40 countries, while at the same time training over 19,000 industry professionals in geology, geophysics, engineering and other industry disciplines. His company’s success, he added, ‘stems from the unique link between our consulting, training and projects & studies divisions, and a strong scientific foundation based on the use of sound geoscience and engineering principles’.

Uzma’s founder and CEO Dato’ Kamarul Muhamed stated: ‘This agreement provides a vehicle for Uzma Group to provide our established clients throughout our areas of operations with highly specialized training to compliment our established technical services, emulating the link between training and studies which has been so successful for SCA.’ He added that the two companies were already exploring ways to jointly develop training courses in Malaysia, leveraging the knowledge and experience of Uzma’s geoscientists and engineers. OE

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