KPHL investing K12.5mil in quality training facility

By Lemach Lavari
THE Kumul Petroleum Academy is to become the first institution in the Southern Hemisphere to have a live simulation processing plant.
The Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited invested US$4 million (K12.5m) in the Safe Live Processing Plant at Kanudi in Port Moresby.
It is being constructed by SUN Engineering.
The plant is an exact replicate of a full size gas processing plant with live process systems, emergency protection systems and a centralised control room.
The plant has an electrical distribution centre which will provide real-life training scenarios and an assessment facility.
Thirty-two trainees will be part of the first batch from the academy. They will be trained by SITE, an Australian industrial firm specialising in areas such as electrical, production and control room technicians and other general skills required in the oil and gas industry.
Half of the batch will be sponsored by ExxonMobil and half by KPHL.
Chief Secretary Isaac Lupari, the chairman of KPHL, said it was an exciting achievement and would be a proud moment for PNG come February 2018 when the site was expected to be completed.
Lupari was yesterday at the KPA campus in Kanudi, Port Moresby.
“We are a resource-filled nation but we have lacked a skilled workforce. In the past, developers of our oil and gas industry have recruited workforce from outside,” he said.
“This facility will ensure that we have our own skilled workforce and therefore have more high-paying jobs for our people.
“The trainees that will graduate from this programme will be highly skilled and certified to work in PNG and anywhere in the world.”