OREANDA-NEWS. March 12, 2014. With a new batch of students trained and prepared to enter jobs related to the oil industry, the Dammam-based Saudi Petroleum Services Polytechnic (SPSP), inaugurated its new Construction and Drilling Training Center at a graduation ceremony.

The event was attended by HRH Prince Saud Bin Naif, governor of the Eastern Province, HE Ali I. Al-Naimi, the Minster of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, and HE Dr. Ali Al-Ghofais, governor of the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC), and Khalid A. Al-Falih, Saudi Aramco president and CEO.

“Undoubtedly, Saudi Arabia, which owns an abundant natural wealth of oil, gas and minerals, is also rich in its human wealth, mostly young people, that need technical and technological education in various areas, especially those associated with petroleum industries and services,” Al-Naimi said during the ceremony.

“Our presence today on the occasion of the CDTC inauguration and graduation ceremony means that we are taking an important step toward the development of young talent in this area,” he added.

His comments were echoed by HE Abdulrahman Bin Muhammad Abdulkarim, advisor for Company’s Affairs in the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and chairman of the SPSP Board of Trustees. “The CDTC has been established on the initiative of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, as directed by HE Ali I. Al-Naimi, to demonstrate the ministry’s role and belief in the importance of training and its active role in localizing oil services industry professions.” He also noted its role in preparing Saudi youth to join the labor market, providing them with theoretical and professional knowledge in accordance with international standards.

Talking about the most significant pillars of the CDTC’s success, Abdulkarim added, “They exist in CDTC’s adoption of the train-to-hire principle, as well as providing encouragement and motivation to trainees, such as housing and transport, which stimulate trainees’ perseverance and success.”

Al-Ghofais said SPSP comes “within the network of strategic partnerships that have proven to be effective” and have been able to be highly effective in “working within a specialized environment with rewarding income.” Al-Ghofais extended his thanks to Saudi Aramco “for its active role in operating specialized institutes.”

The SPSP is “a good example of what can be achieved in the area of preparing young Saudis under the umbrella of strategic partnerships launched by TVTC for years,” said Khalid A. Al-Falih, Saudi Aramco president and CEO, emphasizing that Saudi Aramco is proud to be one of the entities that contributed to the SPSP, as well as sponsoring and designing its programs in collaboration with a number of national companies and institutions.

Talking about the National Project for Training on Petroleum Industry Jobs, Al-Falih said, “This project strives to achieve the excellence of qualified Saudi human resources in the industry compared to their peers all over the world, so that these resources will be nationally competitive and sustainable human capital not only on the local level, but also in the energy industry worldwide.”

The project is based on three pillars:

To provide state-of-the-art training infrastructure in terms of buildings, training tools and techniques and modern methods.

To provide efficient and highly-qualified trainers.

To attract and motivate aspiring young trainees to take advantage of these advanced training opportunities.

During the ceremony, a group of SPSP first-year students gave a presentation delivered in English relaying their experiences and reflecting the intensive level of education at SPSP with English being the formal language of study. The students talked about the values that SPSP strives to instill, such as time management, team spirit, achievement, good decision-making and work recognition.

The new center is specialized in construction and drilling training, including technical disciplines in the areas of heavy equipment and drilling in partnership with Saudi Aramco — one of the founders of the center.

For its part, Saudi Aramco provides training curricula, a drilling platform, site preparation and development experts. The facility is the third training center under the umbrella of the SPSP, the first being established in Dammam in 2008 specializing in maintenance and operations. This center was established in collaboration with Saudi Arabian Chevron, while the second training center was established in Khafji last year following the success of the first center to cater for specific local market needs in the oil and gas sector.