Esso invests N3bn to bridge skill gap in oil, gas industry

Worried by the skill gap in the oil and gas industry, Esso Exploration and Production Company has invested N3 billion into Nigerian universities.

Part of the investment is also targeted at equipping some Nigerian universities with the necessary infrastructure to ensure that skilled, well equipped and employable university graduates are produced by Nigerian universities in geosciences.

Andrew Ejayeriese, general manager, operations technical geosciences (OTG), Mobil Producing Nigeria, who represented Esso Exploration and Production Company, disclosed this at a one-day course on geosciences for 70 Nigerian university lecturers across the country and some master’s degree students in Lagos.

According to Ejayeriese, “This is part of our 2014 activities for University Assistance Programme and is in line with inthe company’s contribution to bridging the knowledge/capacity gap in the study of geosciences in Nigeria.”

The one-day course was meant to expose participants to the latest technology in seismic acquisition through the use of 4D, a high end technology in seismic acquisition.

The 4D, he explained, is a very high end technology used in the oil and gas sector, which he said was imperative to making participants understand what it is all about.

He said it is not just enough to introduce students to the course of geosciences but how can modern technology of geosciences be incorporated into the schools’ curriculum in order to churn out employable graduates.

According to him, Esso had to contract a lecturer based in USA who is in the employ of ExxonMobil and versed in 4D seismic acquisition.

He said the programme is part of the contribution of his company to the Nigerian content development, add ing that most often when people talk about Nigeria content, they think it is just in terms of projects built, noting that the companies need human capital to continue to grow.

He said if there are no people knowledgeable in the job it would not be executed.

“We have been on this journey for a long time. It is very fruitful as some of the universities are really picking up, we are really intervening, some directly with the students but we are with the lecturers who are really the people on ground”, he noted.

He said the equipment given to the universities are what the company use in the office with some even higher in terms of capacity than the ones the company uses.

Ejayeriese said that since 2006, ExxonMobil has spent an average of $250,000 per year on university programmes.

Describing what led to the intervention, he said, “In 2006, when we looked at our recruitment process, we found out that a lot of graduates from some of these universities in geosciences were deficient. We also observed a trend. For example, graduates spend four years in Nigerian universities, go to the UK, spend 18 months doing master’s, all of a sudden there is sharp turnaround in their lives and perception. While those that do master’s here would be struggling.”

“So we went on a three-pronged approach, first, we intervened in terms of infrastructure, we went to all the universities in Nigeria that are offering geosciences and gave our support in terms of infrastructure. They are now about fifteen that we have worked with and we are progressing.”

Also speaking, Adedoja Ojelabi, president, Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), said there is need to upgrade the facilities in the universities that are offering geosciences so that the much desired skills in the industry can be achieved and universities must be abreast with what is going on in the industry.