Aberdeen-based Norwell Engineering, an international well engineering and drilling project management firm, has launched a new global training platform to provide an affordable and accessible alternative to exclusive upstream training on 22 March 2018
The e-learning platform, called Norwell EDGE, has kept the cost of individual training low ensuring it is open to everyone, regardless of where they are in the world or financial status.
EDGE has taken five years to develop and aims to offer 50 in-depth upstream awareness training modules, with a comprehensive exam and a second advanced course for specialist personnel.
The solution comes in line with the company’s initiative to invest US$566612 to create its own solution and make training as widely available as possible.
Co-founder Mike Adams said, “We have seen first-hand the challenges operators and NOCs around the globe are facing a lack of competent and well-trained workforces. In the current situation, there are a lot of specialists, all of whom have completed their own specialist courses and health and safety training but very few understand what the other is doing that can have dangerous consequences as we saw with Deepwater Horizon.”
“While the industry has spent a lot of time discussing what needs to be done and introducing new guidelines, we have seen very little change on the ground. Upstream training is still too expensive and only open to a lucky few. We felt it was time to step up and deliver something that will make a real difference.”
The platform has recently undergone a six-week beta testing phase which saw more than 1,100 testers from 45 countries that took part and provided feedback.
Norwell EDGE aims to enable individuals to learn in their own country at their own pace and build a training history that follows them throughout their career.
For companies, it makes wide-scale training feasible and enables them to audit contractors’ training histories. For national oil companies, it also provides a way of affordably upskilling large numbers of national personnel.
Rossini Silveira, SPE Uganda Treasurer and lecturer in petroleum studies at Makerere University and Petroleum Engineer, in Kampala said, “As a petroleum engineer myself, with near 30 years’ experience across the globe, I am exasperated by the disparity in the level of training available to oil and gas professionals, especially in under-developed countries where both local training and travel opportunities are limited.”
“I am extremely excited by Norwell EDGE’s potential. Suddenly we have fully accessible training for individuals in any corner of the globe connected online. Training that is not limited to employer directives and training that is always up to date. I see great potential for young professionals and students here to make leaps in their understanding of Upstream Oil & Gas at a pace that allows them to absorb in-depth, concepts in a modern and flexible way, beyond what can be taught here.”
