Shell begins local training of engineers with PETAN

50% of first interns already engaged

Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has kicked off grooming of fresh engineering graduates in Nigeria’s oilfields manned by members of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN). The new scheme is different from running foreign scholarships to masters and doctorate degree levels in the United Kingdom.

PETAN companies have employed half of those so far trained in the first batch, while another 20 percent is said to be on standby.

The first set in the one-year training programme passed out on weekend, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, while the second batch was inaugurated.

Giving details at the passing out ceremony at the Shell Industrial Area (Shell IA), the managing director, Osagie Okunbor, said the SPDC JV/PETAN Internship programme was one of the many interventions of the SPDC JV in support of Nigerian content development in oil and gas operations.

He said the ground-breaking ceremony later in the day for the company’s Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) domestication programme was another giant step in the effort to hand a substantial part of the hydrocarbon processes to Nigerians. The CEO made it clear that these series of interventions and initiatives were aimed at domesticating critical services and parts within Nigeria to enhance service-delivery and create long-term economic benefits, including employment opportunities for Nigerians.

He said the SPDC JV/PETAN internship programme was launched to bridge the manpower gap in the oil and gas industry in some critical disciplines especially geology and engineering.

He said: “The programme provides work experience to 40 graduates every year, equipping them with vital industry experience for employment after the internship programme”.

The scheme so far involved 12 PETAN companies who serve as masters to the 40 interns for 12 months. “I’m even more pleased that, as envisaged, a number of them have been employed by the partner companies and others.”

To the second batch of interns, Okunbor declared: “I want to encourage you them to make the best of this opportunity. The successful completion of the internship programme is a stepping stone to gainful employment and other accomplishments”.

He expressed appreciation to senior partners represented by the NAPIMS, the other JV partners, and participating PETAN companies for making the experiment a success. “We also want to thank the NCDMB (Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board), other industry regulators and our stakeholders for their continued support and for honouring our invitation.”

In her overview, Michele Aiyegbusi, the programme coordinator, said the interns could get jobs outside Nigeria due to the world-class training and skills they had acquired, but noted that character was key in career success in the oil industry. She revealed that six more PETAN companies had signed up as partners and urged Shell to increase the intake.

PETAN vice chairman, George Onuoha, said training was not cheap but should be regarded as the most critical input in the sector. He warned that nobody would deploy a fresh engineer from the university to the oil fields without adequate training and revealed that his firm had taken four of the trainees.

NCDMB represented by Edith Akwaekwe said the board was excited by the collaboration involved in the scheme and the skill areas to be filled.

A Shell manager, Guy Kent, said the company felt like using the local field environment to groom Nigerian engineers instead of the usual foreign environments, saying this was better to the industry in the push to domesticate the processes. He called it ‘win-win’ deal to all concerned.

Some of the beneficiaries displayed huge excitements. Tochukwu Uche, who served in Atlantic fields, said the opportunity came at a time when he had lost hope of what to do and said deep skills had been impacted.

Happiness Imotia, on his part, urged the next batch of interns to grab the opportunity with both hands, saying the secret was to stick to instructions and details.