Offshore staff
DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia – The newly launched Saudi Arabian Drilling Academy (SADA) will become a training hub to serve the drilling and workover industry in the region, according to Saudi Aramco.
Early last year the company’s Drilling and Workover (D&WO) Admin Area initiated the concept and commissioned a countrywide feasibility study for thedrilling industry.
This found that over the next 20 years, around 90,000 Saudis will need to be trained to meet the industry’s growth plans in the Kingdom.
This will mean proactively training younger Saudis to work in thedrilling industry: SADA aims to develop a capability to train more than 4,000 Saudi nationals a year, Aramco added, resulting in a marked increase in Saudization levels in the drilling industry across all technical job ranks.
SADA’s board will meet regularly to discuss and approve all actions related to the establishment and operation of the academy. It is chaired by Dawood M. Al Dawood, acting vice president of Northern Area Oil Operations and initiator of the SADA concept, and vice-chaired by Nabil K. Al Dabal, general manager, Training and Development (T&D).
The industry is providing funds for the project, with 34 stakeholders contributing to the establishment and continuous running of the academy.
Aramco agreed to launch SADA in two phases in order to start training operations by 4Q 2016. While a permanent base is built to accommodate 4,000-plus trainees, others will for the time being undergo tuition at a TVTC training center in Abqaiq.
One of SADA’s goals will be to offer a broad range of training programs that will offer continuous development programs to junior operators and technicians, allowing them to progress to senior roles.
07/19/2016
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