From graduate trainees to master’s degree

The National Weekender

By PATRICK WUNDAI
THIS is a story of how two young Papua New Guineans attained master’s degrees after seven months of study in Madrid, Spain.
The two returned to the country three weeks ago following postgraduate training that was made possible through the sponsorship of Spanish oil and gas giant Repsol and Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited (KPHL).
Elliona Maso earned herself a Master in Geology and Zechariah Yakap got a Master in Petroleum Engineering, both from Centro Superior de Formacion Repsol (CSFR) in Madrid.
The advanced training is a dream come true for both who joined KPHL straight after graduating with bachelor’s degrees from university. Without any practical experience and equipped only with classroom theory, they had joined KPHL under its graduate development programme.
Now more confident than ever of their employment with KPHL, the two graduates have vowed to make the most of their training and give their best to add value to the company and the industry.
For Zechariah, “training aboard was a dream come true”.
“We were taught about almost all different aspects of oil and gas exploration and production,” he said.
“I look forward to use the knowledge and skills attained to further the good work of the company in my capacity as an engineer.”
Zechariah said he specialises in reservoir evaluation and management, which mainly deals with oil and gas reservoirs and finding out how much oil or gas is underground and how to recover as much of it as possible.
“We had a general block where I learnt about everything from geology to drilling although in my specialisation block, I had to learn reservoir-specific things and finally had to do a project where I was the group’s reservoir engineer.
His colleague, Maso,  was happy with the new hands-on knowledge that she has acquired during her time in Spain.
The programme engaged employees from across the globe in countries where Repsol has operations.
“In the current low-market environment for oil and gas price, Repsol still maintains the capacity to train young professionals from both its Repsol offices and other participating national oil companies including us from Kumul Petroleum Holdings,” Maso said.
Their trip was not all hard work and study, as Maso said: “My travels have brought me across famous landmarks, strange cultural norms, people of different ethnicity, beliefs and lifestyle which was an eye-opener and a thrill and blessing.
“I enjoyed networking and speaking Spanish (by that I mean ordering coffee and other common greetings) and am sure I will miss the shopping malls, food and fine Spanish wine.”

  •  Patrick Wundai is the media/public relations officer for Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited.