Upskilling should be the key focus

Skills shortages remain one of the biggest challenges in the oil and gas sector, according to Rob Gardner, general manager Sturrock Grindrod Offshore, (SGO). “The number of people who will be needed to build and develop the industry in countries like Mozambique and Namibia alone is huge,” he said. “For example, if you look at Soya in Angola, they required 7500 people to be brought into the area and they built a small town – and that was for only one LNG train. Barrow Island in Australia has experienced a massive inf lux of skilled people, equipment and infrastructure thanks to their oil and gas finds. Northern Mozambique has three or four times as much gas as Barrow Island and talk is they could end up with as many as ten trains.” It’s a massive project, said Gardner, not just the construction, but also the logistics of it all. “Housing, food supply, water, fuel and waste removal are all challenges that will have to be carefully considered and resolved around these projects. At the same time skilled logistics companies are going to have to be there on the ground to make it all work.” He said having the right people, with not only a good knowledge of the country they're operating in but also of the oil and gas industry, would be crucial as the oil and gas sector continued to develop in Africa. “It’s about having people on the ground with the ability to come up with workable solutions,” he said. “Developing the skills base is going to be crucial as we move forward and education will be vital.” He said Sturrock Grindrod Offshore had taken up the challenge of encouraging students into this field. “We are sponsoring the prize for the Southern African top student in the ICS Offshore Support Industry exam,” said Gardner, who is also a tutor of the exam. CAPTION It’s about having people on the ground with the ability to come up with workable solutions.