A New Approach to Skills Training

Abstract

President's column - Comments from 2013 SPE President, Egbert Imomoh. This is a time of great challenge for the oil and gas exploration and production industry. With demand for hydrocarbons increasing and an entire generation of engineers who will retire in the next 5 to 10 years, young professionals (YPs) in our industry are being asked to take on more responsibility sooner in their career. As a result, they have to learn skills faster. SPE is focused on how to assist YPs in developing all the skills they need—both technical and soft—to succeed and advance in the industry. In 2007, SPE developed a Talent Council to share information, stimulate ideas, and coordinate initiatives aimed at improving the quantity and quality of talent available to the industry. The council is focused on improving and enabling tertiary education; collecting and analyzing data to highlight potential capability/expertise gaps and identify possible solutions; and serving as a focal point in the industry for diversity to assess, foster, and publicize issues/ opportunities related to workforce diversity. The Talent Council sponsored best practices workshops in petroleum engineering education in Kazakhstan and Angola. These sessions brought together university academicians/ administrators, ministers of energy, and oil and gas industry professionals to discuss best practices in curriculum development, industry expectations, and how everyone can work together to improve the quality of petroleum engineering graduates.