Noble Energy to establish NIS 12 million energy training center at Ruppin College
02/24/2014 17:10
The center will offer vocational training programs, workshops and seminars on natural gas.
Mock-up of Noble Energy Center for Energy Studies at Rupin College. Photo: Courtesy
Noble Energy, a major player in Israel’s offshore gas industry, will
be establishing a NIS 12 million center for training programs at the
Ruppin Technological College, the company announced on Monday.
As
part of a strategic cooperation agreement with the Emek Hefer-based
college, Noble is set to fund the center, which will offer courses on
natural gas and energy beginning in October. The center will provide
vocational training programs, workshops and seminars for the Israeli
market, as well as specialized courses for practical engineers, the
company said.
“The
new center is the outcome of a long and complex process to identify the
appropriate platform for Noble Energy to continue to contribute in the
best possible way to development of Israel’s gas industry,” said Patrick
Cook, director of operations at Noble.
Cook will serve as the company’s professional consultant to the center.
“We
are excited and proud to come together with Ruppin Technological
College to fulfill our shared vision of creating a center that will
train the generation of the future, and provide an overall, professional
and practical answer to the increasing needs of the industry, onshore
and offshore,” he said.
Houston-based Noble Energy is one of the
primary stakeholders in the largest of Israel’s eastern Mediterranean
natural gas reservoirs, the 282 billion cubic meter Tamar and the
neighboring 535b. cu. m.
Leviathan. Noble currently owns a 39.66
percent chunk of Leviathan, which will likely decrease to 30% if an
expected deal with the Australian firm Woodside goes through at the end
of March.
At Tamar Noble holds a 36% share.
Ever since Noble
and its partners discovered the sizable amounts of gas off Israel’s
shores, the company’s executives have spoken of strengthening
opportunities in the local market.
“The gas reservoirs off the
coast of Israel are an enormous opportunity for Israeli industry,” said
Bini Zomer, director of corporate affairs and joint ventures at Noble
Energy. “Over and above the saving of billions in energy costs, the tax
revenues received by the state and cleaner air for the country’s
residences, the natural gas industry brings additional workplaces to the
economy.”
These workplaces, Zomer said, would be “directly in the
gas industry itself, and indirectly [through] the increase in
supporting service industries.”
He added that the changes would “also reduce production costs in high-energy plants.”
According
to Zomer, the beginning of the gas flow from the Tamar reservoir in the
spring of 2013 prompted “a spurt in demand for qualified workers” in
the gas and oil industries.
“The professional training courses
offered by the new center are intended to meet the increasing demand
accompanying continuation of the conversion process, the development of
the Leviathan reservoir and so on,” he said.
The center at Ruppin
will be designed to train employees at different levels in the natural
gas sector, with the country’s industry expected to employ thousands of
medium- and long-term workers as infrastructure continues to develop.
Operators,
installers, inspectors and welders will be critical to the gas
distribution system, as well as to factories and at-sea drilling
platforms, Noble said.
In its first stage, the center will train
professionals through programs developed by the Natural Gas Authority
and the Economy Ministry’s vocational training department.
In the
second stage it will train professionals on marine drilling
infrastructure and pipeline networks extending from sea to land.
Subject
to final Economy Ministry approval, one track, set to begin in October,
will target practical engineers, who will receive diplomas in
mechanical engineering and certification to operate and install natural
gas facilities.
The program will also offer professional training for facility installers, operators and welders.
Tammy
Zuckerman, executive director of the Ruppin Technological College,
expressed appreciation for the collaboration with Noble Energy,
stressing the importance of building qualified manpower to equip a
growing natural gas industry.
“For some time we have been looking
for a strategic partner to help us develop the next technology branch –
natural gas energy – so this collaboration with a leading player like
Noble is the fulfillment of a dream,” Zuckerman said. “We are in the
final stages of submitting documents to the supervisory authorities in
order to open the different training tracks at Ruppin already this
coming October.”
Link to article:
http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Noble-Energy-to-establish-NIS-12-million-energy-training-center-at-Ruppin-College-342393
