With the opening of a major new training facility in Bangkok recently, M-I Swaco has demonstrated its belief in the future growth in the Asia-Pacific area.
The new facility will offer training in both fluids and environmental solutions. It includes three classrooms, a fluids laboratory, and equipment training for the company’s environmental solution offerings. The center will conduct courses in solids control, cuttings re-injection, cuttings drying, and the company’s automated pneumatic cuttings collection and transport system.
“This facility reinforces the commitment of M-I Swaco to Thailand and the entire Asia/Pacific market,” says Alan McLean, vice president of Training and Career Development. “This region offers one of the most fertile talent bases in the world, and this facility is a reflection of our commitment to provide a more technical and valuable workforce in the region.”
Last year, M-I trained 492 drilling fluid specialists and 122 environmental solutions technicians worldwide. With the opening of the center, the company hopes this year to train more than 600 drilling fluid engineers and more than 200 environmental solutions technicians. The company expects the center to carry slightly more than 15% of its worldwide training load during its first year of operation.
“Of the 3,000 new employees we hired in the last 18 months worldwide, 700 came from the southern eastern hemisphere, which encompasses Asia Pacific,” says Charlie Hudson, director of career development training. “Thirty-four of the new engineers we hired during that period are from Thailand.”
M-I Swaco earlier signed a memorandum of understanding with the Technical Petroleum Training Institute, an arm of the Thailand Department of Minerals and Fuels, that recognizes the new facility as a valid training institution. As part of the MoU, M-I will offer personnel from the national energy regulatory agency full access to courses open to non-company students and will provide regular training reports and schedules. In addition to recognizing the new facility as a valid training institution, the MoU assures the students’ diplomas hold merit within the Thailand oil and gas industry.
