Oman’s state-owned Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has announced that a total of 195 Omani jobseekers graduated from its training programme yesterday to work as welders on PDO’s Rabab Harweel oil and gas project.
The recruits completed 20 months of training and are taking up positions with two of PDO’s main contractors, CCC and Al Turki Enterprises.
The graduation ceremony at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Muscat was attended by Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhy, Oman’s Minister of Oil and Gas and Sheikh Abdullah Al Bakri, the country’s Minister of Manpower.
The PDO-funded vocational training scheme combines theory and practice and qualifies trainees up to 6G level – the most advanced – which is recognised by international accreditation bodies such as The Welding Institute (TWI) and The American Welding Society.
“We are immensely proud that we have been able to help these young men progress into fulfilling careers as welders, starting with our mega project at Rabab Harweel, which is of vital strategic importance to the nation,” PDO managing director Raoul Restucci said.
“This is another success story for our National Objectives programme which is all about creating meaningful and rewarding training and employment opportunities for Omanis. So far, we have been able to generate around 20,000 of these opportunities since 2011 and we are determined to do even more,” Restucci added.
The 6G programme offers an enhanced financial and retention package for participants and is the first in the region to have a TWI-accredited centre outside the UK.
The aim is for the programme to serve as a benchmark for the entire oil and gas sector and other industries in the Sultanate.
The 195 men underwent their training at the RAY Skills Development’s Halban workshop in Muscat.
Another 200 trainees are scheduled to begin the next 6G course soon and interviews and assessments are currently taking place, PDO said in a press release.
