That National Oil Companies (NOCs) in the region are the biggest revenue earners for their respective countries is a fact that has been well-established since decades.
However, what truly is the distinguishing factor among NOCs is the ability to lead socio-economic reform and prepare the next generation of the workforce to assume charge of the oil and gas industry – a role that NOCs in the region are being increasingly called upon to play by the governments.
Emirati oil giant ADNOC is one such NOC that has ardently taken upon itself the mantle of national human resource development, for the cause of enhancing the standard of operational skills, and to attract fresh talent towards Abu Dhabi’s/UAE’s oil and gas industry – not to mean that the company wasn’t displaying such commitments earlier.
From consistently endeavouring to elevate the level of technical skills of its existing workforce to ensure they are at par with the global standard, to training and encouraging young graduates to assume positions within the organisation, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) is fervently pursuing the ambitious objectives it has laid out in its 2030 growth strategy.
While announcing its strategic growth agenda in July, ADNOC made public its landmark decision to consider the part-privatisation of select businesses within the group structure, through a potential stock listing, in order to drive efficiency and optimise value from assets in its organisational portfolio. Also, as part of the plan, ADNOC said it has developed a clear set of criteria by which it will select new partners, including ‘the ability of partners to secure better access to the world’s fastest growing target markets for ADNOC’s products; the willingness to contribute technical expertise and co-develop new technologies alongside ADNOC’s own capabilities; and, the potential to co-invest strategically across different parts of a more integrated organisational value chain’.
ADNOC will also look to ‘broaden both the range and type of partners it works with, to include, for example, specialist infrastructure and energy investors, long-term global investment institutions and other energy, services and petrochemical players, while also deepening its engagement with existing partners’.
Most importantly, ADNOC hopes the new initiative will create new, high-skilled jobs and attractive career opportunities across all parts of the ADNOC value chain. It is also expected to boost foreign direct investment, technology and knowledge transfer into the UAE.
Commenting on the pragmatic approach adopted by ADNOC, the state-owned oil giant’s CEO and UAE Minister of State Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, said: “Shifting global trends are creating a new energy landscape where new rules of engagement are required. In this new energy era, we need more creative strategies and more flexible business models to capture growth. Expanding our partnership model across the whole of our value chain and more actively managing our portfolio will allow us to both unlock value and reinvest capital into new, high growth opportunities. It will enable us to accelerate our growth, increase revenue and improve integration across the ADNOC value chain. It will also spur domestic economic growth as well as bring new jobs and benefits to the UAE and its citizens.”
A major example of ADNOC’s commitment towards Emiratisation and local skill development are the several technical training institutes it runs in Abu Dhabi, and many more such units and training programmes that it sponsors. This fact was manifested in the passing out of 350 Emirati graduates from the National Drilling Training Centre, run by ADNOC Group company National Drilling Company (NDC) in March this year.
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NDC’s Drilling Training Centre is one-of-a-kind in the region, with its advanced facilities, proficient instructors and training staff. The centre offers tailor-made training programmes and customised courses to develop a highly competent, confident, and professional workforce capable of operating ADNOC’s technologically-advanced rigs, while maintaining the highest levels of HSE and asset integrity. The centre is equipped with a drilling rig simulation system. The centerpiece of the system is a simulator with virtual-reality screens, with numerous gauges, joysticks, control valves, levers and buttons. The simulator helps familiarise trainees with the well control operations of a rig, and introduces them to the work environment in the drilling locations.
The 350 graduates were trained to take up positions within ADNOC, ranging from rig managers to drillers, mechanics and other functions essential for efficient and safe onshore and offshore well-drilling operations. They are meant to join the 95 UAE nationals who completed their training last year and took up jobs at ADNOC’s onshore and offshore rigs and other operational locations. A further 500 Emirati trainees are enrolled in the various training programmes offered by NDC’s Drilling Training Centre.
ADNOC’s 2030 growth strategy also includes a revitalised approach to personal development and training, which has resulted in a more robust youth development programme designed to provide greater on-the-job training and mobility opportunities for new talent within ADNOC. These programmes, supported by life-long learning, provide a mix of hands-on experience and coaching. A key part of the new approach is the ADNOC ‘Future Leaders program’, that will provide ADNOC’s ‘most talented staff the opportunity to succeed at the highest levels, giving them the skills, knowledge and experience necessary to drive the next wave of smart growth’.
As part of this individual development initiative, ADNOC hosted the latest in its series of ADNOC Youth Circles, in Ruwais last month, to discuss how young Emiratis can thrive professionally, while working at remote oil and gas sites, and develop the leadership skills that will allow them to contribute to ADNOC’s future growth.
Held in partnership with the Emirates Youth Council, the ADNOC Youth Circles empower the organisation’s young Emirati talent to voice constructive opinion on a broad range of challenges and to mobilise fresh and innovative thinking in line with the UAE leadership’s ambition to give them opportunities to fulfil their potential.
Around 45 ADNOC Group employees attended the forum, which included presentations on, and discussions about, ADNOC’s evolution into a more commercially-minded and performance-driven company, and the critical contribution of all employees in the growth of the company. At the event, ADNOC group chief executive Dr Al Jaber expressed pleasure that the Youth Circle had been held in Ruwais, for the first time, stressing the importance of working on sites for young Emiratis to gain the practical experience that helps to build successful careers. He stressed ADNOC’s keenness to communicate with young people and to listen to their ideas and suggestions to enable them to build a bright future and to contribute effectively to realising the UAE’s ambitious socio-economic goals.
“The future will be shaped by our youth and if we want to create the leaders of tomorrow, they need to be valuable contributors today. These Youth Circles provide a platform for constructive dialogue on how each individual can contribute to the continued development and prosperity of the nation,” Dr Al Jaber commented at the event.
(Next up: The Technology Focus article…)
