A group of Emirati employees, from the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), have become the first group of trainees to start a two-year professional development program with Schlumberger, ADNOC said.

The group, which is mainly female, will undergo professional development at the Schlumberger Middle East and Asia Learning Center, a joint initiative between ADNOC and Schlumberger. This is the start of a program that each year will see up to 20 UAE nationals sent to the center, by ADNOC, to be trained in Upstream engineering disciplines.

The Schlumberger Middle East and Asia Learning Center provides advanced training for oil and energy industry professionals and is complete with state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, including a custom-built training rig.

All ADNOC trainees will be subject to the same rigorous selection and performance evaluation criteria as the international Schlumberger employees they will learn and develop alongside. As well as receiving training at the center, ADNOC’s Emirati employees will also receive in-field experience at Schlumberger’s operations across the world.

The Schlumberger Middle East and Asia Learning Center is one of the largest oilfield services training centers in the world. Equipped with classrooms, workshops, state-of-the-art laboratories, the latest Learning Technologies such as Virtual Reality and field technical equipment, including a custom-built training rig, the Middle East and Asia Learning Center provides geoscientists, field engineers, field technicians and maintenance engineers from all over the world with basic and advanced skills related to the oilfield upstream sectors.

Under the terms of the agreement, between ADNOC and Schlumberger, the center will also be utilized, by ADNOC, to upskill and develop its workforce through specially designed training courses, seminars and workshops.