LUKOIL Mid-East Ltd. (LUKOIL’s operating company for the West Qurna-2 project) opened a new training center in Iraq’s Basra Province today.

It is intended for the theoretical and practical training of the local personnel who work at West Qurna-2 field in the following areas: “surface-borehole mining”, “oil and gas treatment”, EC&I, and “electrical and mechanical engineering”.

The training program was developed by the company SPIE Oil & Gas Services, one of the leaders in the area of personnel technical training for major oil and gas projects. The modular program is based on the competence-oriented approach and covers required applied engineering disciplines, courses in such areas as industrial safety, environmental protection, occupational safety and promotion of leadership skills, and also a program of on-site training.

Apart from classrooms, the center includes specialized computer labs to learn the English language and vocational subjects, a library, a technical-support office, training workshops, an administrative building, premises for coaches, a cafeteria, a first aid station and a recreation area. The center has a training capacity of 350 persons.

The first two hundred students will complete their studies in July 2013 to be seconded to various industrial facilities of West Qurna-2 field. One hundred and fifty students of the second stream will start training on January 14, 2013.