Flash point

With rampant development all around, it’s becoming harder and more expensive than ever to track down the vital raw material which cannot be mined, or its production ramped up to meet demand.

Wherever you turn in the industry, drilling engineers are in record demand, and are commanding record salary demands to match. The problem stems from a low price environment that dominated during the 1990s.

With oil prices consistently below US $25 for most of the decade, the emphasis for most oil companies was cost reduction, which led to fewer and fewer new recruits joining the industry.

Skip forward ten years and oil prices have maintained a steady rise to new heights and with it the need for manpower has thrust recruitment and training once again to the front of the agenda.

Meeting the needs of oil companies in providing a swift throughput of capable and skilled rig workers is Abu Dhabi’s Gulf Technical and Safety Training Centre (GTSC).

At it’s helm is corporate general manager Mario Nahas, who has overseen its multi-million dollar refurbishment and facility enhancement programme which has helped position the company as the largest stand-alone facility of its type in the region.

Specialising in the core competency fields of drilling, wireline, production testing, and workover, with the added capability to carry out fire fighting and offshore safety and survival courses, the centre has been on hand to help the major oil companies in the region meet their needs.

“GTSC is an independent training centre that focuses on technical and safety training for the upstream and downstream industry, although this is mainly dominated by upstream training at the moment and forms our core strength,” explains Nahas.
 

Training recruits for local oil companies forms a major part of the GTSC work schedule, but with the demand for more staff a fact the world over the company has been able to attract a near full order book with trainees coming from throughout the Middle East and North Africa region.

“We have over 1000 clients in total and we’re supported by a network of offices and agent offices throughout the MENA region. Our other facility in Egypt has almost identical training capabilities as the headquarters in Abu Dhabi, with the exception of the offshore survival pools,” explains Nahas.

To experience the remit of scenarios that we are capable of simulating in our rig floor training area could take several years working on-site. Mario Nahas.

In order to entice the broadest possible spectrum to its facilities, and affirm to its customers that the training is on par with the best the industry can offer, GTSC has sought and received accreditation from the International Well Control Forum (IWCF) and the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC), among a host of other certificates of compliance from independent international bodies.

“The accreditation is vital for us and our clients,” explains Nahas. “It proves without any doubt that the quality and standards of training are identical to those that people receive in Europe or the United States.”

The way in which oil and gas competency training has evolved has also had a major impact on how facilities such as GTSC’s are in such demand.

For many oil companies, on-site training was very much the norm during the 1990s. However, since then, the market has matured to see the benefits of off-site training for both monetary and practical experience reasons.

“On-site training detracts from how productive a supervisor can be during his working day, he is constantly having to explain or demonstrate what’s going on and the reasons why. This is not the most efficient way for companies to run in the current market situation,” says Nahas.

Additionally, by using training simulators rather than on-site training a greater variety of situations can be recreated, providing a broader education, with none of the risk.

“To experience the remit of scenarios that we are capable of simulating in our full-sized rig floor training area could take several years working on-site, here the equipment is the same, the readings are the same, and we can manipulate the outcomes to provide a much more productive tuition environment.”

The GTSC facility is impressive and sits nestled among fellow industry players in the Mussafah Freezone, the heavy industry hub in Abu Dhabi.
 

The centre has recently added a second offshore survival pool, capable of generating strong winds and storm conditions through dual turbines, a rain simulator and a powerful wave machine.

To cover as many potential scenarios as possible, the hall in which it is housed can be blacked out to add scope for night evacuation from a helicopter underwater escape training (HUET) unit, which can be swung out over the water and capsized.

“These training sessions are really important, most people panic in an accident over water so having been through a staged evacuation on water, or capsize situation helps let people see that if they follow procedures they can exit safely.”

Whilst the impressive array of offshore survival pools and evacuation equipment dominates the main building, outside the fire fighting and defensive driving are undertaken almost everyday of the week.

With courses ranging from basic fire fighting through to pressurised gas, command control and even helicopter rescue fire fighting, the centre is able to put new recruits through their paces in a dedicated fire ground.

Controlled walls of fire up to 50 feet tall can be generated, and recruits who may one day face a genuine inferno can gain valuable hands-on experience tackling a real blaze.

“Installing all of the actual equipment that people will work with on site meant undertaking a multi-million dollar investment programme, but it is the best way to train people so this is what we did,” enthuses Nahas.

In the current oil price environment the potential is there for the region to become a global hub for talent nurturing, with centres of excellence and first class training facilities dotted around the Middle East, and GTSC is one of those contributing to the region’s expertise and reputation.

With the industry at full tilt to recruit and nurture talent, having the facilities right here in the Gulf is proving a valuable asset to local and international companies alike.

With health and safety issues at the top of the agenda for every company operating here, the services provided by such facilities are sure to be in strong demand for some years to come.