PTI, Oida Energy seal pact to bridge industry skills gap
CHIGOZIE AMADI
The Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) and Oida Energy Nigeria are in the final stages of a strategic partnership aimed at addressing critical skills gaps in the nation’s oil and gas sector, with a particular focus on well intervention training.
The collaboration, which has been under discussion for some time, moved a step closer to realisation on Tuesday as executives from the Port Harcourt-based energy firm toured PTI’s facilities in what marked their third visit to the institute.
Welcoming the delegation, the Principal and Chief Executive of PTI, Engr Dr Samuel Onoji, represented by the Director of Engineering, Dr Ahmed Adamu, described the partnership as a welcome development, adding that the visit was a follow-up to the initial signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU), which would precede the development of a new curriculum.
“The coming of the Oida team is a welcome development,” Dr Adamu said. “We have begun the development of the MoU, and I am confident that the available facilities will serve the students and other trainees effectively.”
Speaking on the rationale behind the partnership, Engr Chuks Echem, Strategic Business Unit Manager at Oida Energy Nigeria, explained that the company had identified well intervention as a critical gap in the local industry that needed urgent attention.
“We are currently partnering with PTI on a well intervention programme, which we identified as a gap that we need to fill,” Mr Echem stated.
“This is our third visit to PTI. We have been discussing this for about three months, and today wea are at the stage of touring and assessing the facilities. So far, so good—we are impressed with what we are seeing.”
He added: “We are nearing the final stages of the discussion, and we believe that once everything is formalised, it will boost the oil and gas industry.”
When asked to assess the institute’s infrastructure, Mr Echem gave PTI a rating of eight out of 10, noting that his team was thoroughly impressed by the facilities on the ground.
He further revealed that a committee would be established to fine-tune the details before final approval, expressing optimism that things would begin to take shape within a month.
“We are discussing curriculum formation, which is actually the foundation.
Once this is done and agreed upon, that will determine how we can come in and what we can bring to the table.
We will come up with a committee with the mandate to dot the I’s and cross the T’s before the final presentation and approval.
We hope that in a month’s time, things will begin to take shape.”
Meanwhile, Dr Mrs Sarah Nwinee, Head of the Linkages, Exchange and Partnership Unit at PTI, accompanied by other top management team on the tour, underscored the importance of the collaboration in bridging the gap between theory and practice.
She described the partnership as a triple helix model that brings together government, industry and academia to foster innovation.
“It is very important that we bridge the gap between theory and practice,” Dr Nwinee said.
“We are dealing with core industry specialists in the area of well intervention and anything else.
We have the theoretical background, and we have the facilities. When you bring government, industry and academia together, innovations happen.
That is why we are coming together to float this programme, to deepen capacity in-country for the Nigerian oil and gas industry.”
She noted that Oida Energy was accepted for its proven capacity, describing the firm as one of the best in the industry in the country.
“In the area of well intervention, Oida has capacity—one of the best in the industry in the country, and that is the reason we signed the MoU with them. They came for a proper facility inspection, and they are satisfied.
We are also satisfied. We can now take the next step of curriculum development, blending the curriculum and producing something that is a mixture of different minds coming together to advance the industry.”
Dr Nwinee also called on Nigerians to have faith in the institute, highlighting its historical significance in the country’s journey to joining the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
“Nigeria should have faith in PTI; it is the true story of local content. There is no way Nigeria would have been part of OPEC without PTI.
Nigeria needed to have a petroleum training institute before it could join OPEC, so that is why PTI was established.
Over 50 years on, PTI has been living up to expectations in terms of building requisite capacity for the Nigerian oil and gas industry.”
The partnership is expected to advance swiftly, with both parties expressing satisfaction following the facility inspection and committing to the next phase of curriculum development.
