73 leave for LNG training in Canada

By ANCILLA WRAKUALE
SEVENTY-three young aspiring Papua New Guineans left Papua New Guinea yesterday to take up a one-year training programme in Canada in preparation for the major multi-billion LNG project.
This is the largest group of nationals sponsored by Esso Highlands for studies overseas.
This constituted the second phase of training following a 12-month foundation skills training programme at Dream Inn in Port Moresby, which included mathematics, computing, physics and chemistry, plus a six-month basic skills training programme designed to introduce the fundamentals of the oil and gas industry.
The students will spend a year in Canada, undertaking advanced skills training as part of the PNG LNG project’s production operations and maintenance training programme.
Esso Highlands Ltd’s operations manager Tom Hooper encouraged the students to study hard and make use of the opportunity.
“It is going to be exciting times ahead with great opportunity, study hard, come back at the end of the year and move onto final phase,” he said.
“This begins the next phase of their training where they start to learn vocation, a craft specifically aligned to the requirements of operating and maintaining our PNG LNG facilities.
“The training facilities in Canada have been used in the past by   ExxonMobil for new operations in Russia, Angola and Italy,” Hooper said.
Indi Sorom, 25, from Southern Highlands who will be studying instrumentation, said she was excited about the opportunity and was looking forward to it.
She said she was also excited to learn new cultures and lifestyle.
Her job would involve the operations and maintenance of the gas plant.
Hooper could not disclose the actual training cost but put it in millions of US dollars.