TPDC officials optimistic after Italy training on gas

Dar es Salaam. Three Tanzanian engineers have completed a specialised training in oil and gas and recommended more training to curb the shortage of experts in the sector.

The four-month training at the GE Oil & Gas University in Florence, Italy was sponsored by General Electric (GE), the global operator in the digital manufacturing industry.

Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) officials Mr Fabian Mwose (Petroleum engineer), Ms Lilian Zambi (Chemical and Process engineer) and Ms Limi Lagu (Chemical and Process engineer), were the beneficiaries of the training along many others from different countries.

The three officials said they had received relevant courses which will not only improve their work performance but also careers in general.

They joined other international participants in the training programme that provided a complete approach to developing knowledge with courses that deliver in-depth training in four different disciplines:  Leadership, Energy, Oil & Gas Processes, and Oil & Gas Equipment, which were comprised of over 40 courses.

The GE Oil & Gas University opened its doors in 2005 to help top employees from selected customers worldwide with fundamental management and technical skills to consolidate their overall understanding of the industry.

It has so far hosted 87 companies since 2005 and recorded 507 graduates from 30 countries.

“The training will ultimately help TPDC and the nation at large to build a more capable and skilled staff,” the Tanzanian graduates commented in a joint statement.

“The most impactful segment in the training was the process and equipment module where I had to learn about acquiring technical understanding of technology in equipment under every segment of Oil and Gas value chain, from exploration to utilization,” said Ms Lagu.

She singled out the issue of human skills in the industry and called upon the government and various stakeholders to make sure that more Tanzanians are trained so as to have more experts who will curb challenges facing the Oil and Gas industry in the country.

Mr Mwose said for him the training covered almost every segment in the Oil and Gas value chain which helped him get the general overview of the industry at large.

Tanzania has discovered about 55 trillion cubic feet of natural gas both on the Mainland and in the Indian Ocean.

On the other hand, GE Oil and Gas said it will continue contributing to build up the required human skills for its customers and partners, to cope with the challenges that the industry is having in Tanzania.

 “We look forward to having an even greater partnership with Tanzania, main goal being to train more people so as to have skilled staff in the industry,” reads part of the company’s statement to the media.

GE Oil and Gas started its operations in the country in 2013 and through its power and water projects, it has been providing key power generation equipment i.e. (turbines) to key projects such as Kinyerezi 1, Songas 1, 2 and 3, Symbion Ubungo and Tanesco Ubungo, contributing to approximately 60 per cent of the power supply in Tanzania.