NCDMB to train 10,000 Nigerians in high-demand oil skills

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has unveiled a special Human Capital Development (HCD) Program that would train over 10,000 young graduates and technicians in top 10 high-demand skills in the Nigerian oil and gas sector.

Termed NCDMB Oil and Gas Field Readiness Training Program, the intent is to prepare and equip the next generation of Nigerians with practical skills for top careers in the oil and gas industry and position them to take part actively in the oil and gas projects recently launched by some international and indigenous operating oil and gas companies.

Announcing the Oil and Gas Field Readiness Training Program last Friday, NCDMB’s Executive Secretary, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe confirmed that the Program will close skill gaps extracted from the review of applications for Expatriate Quotas by industry operators. The top career paths were equally identified from engagements with key industry stakeholders, including Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS), and Petroleum Contractors Trade Section (PCTS). NCDMB also relied on its knowledge of the portfolios of major upcoming projects and considered reports of previous skill gaps studies conducted by sister agencies like the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF).

The top-10 skills for the Field Readiness Program are: Sub-sea Engineers (wellheads, flowlines, umbilicals, sub-sea trees, etc.); Underwater Welders; Control and Automation Engineers (including cementing, well controls, and rig operations); Helicopter Pilots; Seamen/Sailors (including vessel mechanics/electricians); Production and Maintenance Engineers (Control Room Operators, Maintenance Crew); QA/QC Engineers (including NDT Levels 1,2, and 3); Geoscience Engineers (including Seismic, Geophysics, Wellsite Geology, etc.) and Digitization and Digitalization (AI, ML, IoT, Big Data, Cloud Computing, Drones, etc.)

NCDMB efforts, Ogbe explained, is informed by Section 10(1b) of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, 2010, which stipulates that “Nigerians shall be given first consideration for training and employment in the work programme for which the Nigerian Content Plan was submitted by an industry operator.”

This program is only open to participants aged below 35 years, who possess OND/HND/BSC in Petroleum, Mechanical, Chemical, Electrical, Civil, Gas, Welding and Metallurgy. Other applicable fields are Geology, Geophysics, Computer Sciences/ Engineering and other science related disciplines.