Abu Dhabi: Adnoc Drilling, an Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) subsidiary, has celebrated the graduation of 333 Emiratis from its Drilling Training Centre.
The graduates are the latest batch to have completed their training at the centre. They will play a key role in ensuring efficient, reliable and safe onshore and offshore well-drilling operations, Adnoc said.
The graduation ceremony, held at Adnoc Drilling’s Bida’a Al Oshaneh Base in Al Dhafra Region, was attended by Dr Sultan Ahmad Al Jaber, Minister of State and Adnoc Group CEO. He said this graduation, which takes the total number of graduates from the Drilling Training Centre to 1,000 UAE nationals, was a landmark that underscored ADNOC’s commitment to invest in the development of young people.
“Adnoc’s training programmes aim to provide ADNOC with the technologically skilled workforce we will require to effectively deliver our 2030 smart growth strategy and to ensure we will continue to lead, thrive, and compete in the future,” Al Jaber added.
“Efficient and safe drilling operations are critical in delivering Adnoc’s target to reduce well duration by 30 per cent, by the end of 2019, and will help ensure we remain resilient in a changing energy environment as we optimise production costs and create greater returns from our upstream assets and resources.”
Using high-tech equipment, and advanced training techniques and methods, the centre prepares Adnoc’s Emirati employees to operate state-of-the-art rigs, while maintaining the highest levels of safety and asset integrity, Adnoc said.
The centre’s drilling rig simulation system helps familiarise trainees with the well-control operations of a rig, and introduces them to the work environment in the drilling locations.
In the last 12 months, the centre has received a number of endorsements from prominent organisations in the US, providing graduates with internationally accredited qualifications.
Established in 1972 as the National Drilling Company, Adnoc Drilling is one of the largest drilling contractors in the Middle East. Since 2010, when it had 28 rigs, it has expanded its operations three-fold, in response to customer demand, with 94 rigs in its fleet. Since Rig ND-1 began work in 1973, NDC’s drilling fleet has drilled over 7,700 wells.
