BP Oman formally handed over its state-of-the-art technicians training facilities to the Oman Society for Petroleum Services (OPAL). OPAL will now take responsibility for expanding these to benefit Oman’s wider oil and gas industry. The facilities, based in Muscat, were handed over in a formal ceremony under the patronage of HE Eng Salim Bin Nasser Al Aufi, Undersecretary, Ministry of Oil & Gas and attended by senior dignitaries from Ministry of Manpower, BP Oman and OPAL.

With its own use of the facilities now complete, BP Oman has donated them to OPAL in order to support the wider development of Omanis, in the sector. They will henceforth be known as the OPAL STAR (Standards for Training, Assurance & Recognition) Centre, which is the first in the country to be awarded STAR status. Open and accepting applications from today, it will be at the heart of the OPAL STAR Learning Hub, providing specialized oil and gas training to build the skills of Diploma graduates and meet the requirements of the major employers in the sector. It will also set the standard for training excellence and provide assistance to other training providers, both private and state owned, to improve delivery quality and achieve standardization in course content across the sector.

In its former guise, graduate BP technicians underwent training at the facilities, which included actual size, world-class equipment, to gain hands-on experience in a safe environment under the supervision and guidance of trained instructors. Having completed their 15month training at the center and  a 2-year on job training, these 86 technicians are now qualified instrumentation, mechanical, electrical and production technicians, many of whom have now joined the team at the Khazzan gas development.

The OPAL STAR Centre will build upon this success to focus on the main operational skills of maintenance engineering technicians (electrical, instrumentation and mechanical), as well as process operators and control room technicians. All of the programmes are designed to global industry standards and where applicable will deliver qualifications from UK-regulated EAL and City and Guilds.

Eng Yousuf Al Ojaili, BP Oman President, comments: “BP Oman is proud and delighted to be able to hand these facilities over to OPAL for the broader good of Oman’s oil and gas sector. This dedicated training facility has proved to be the ideal learning environment for our technicians and, under OPAL’s stewardship, will provide a promising future for Omani graduates who wish to pursue a career in oil and gas. This is great news for the students and great news for the sector as a whole in Oman.”

Musallam Al Mandhry, OPAL CEO, adds: “OPAL is truly honoured to receive this donation and for the faith BP has shown in our ability to continue the amazing work which they started in providing world class training and development to future employees in the oil and gas sector.”