The Azerbaijan State News Agency

WORLD-CLASS TECHNICAL TRAINING FACILITY FOR THE CASPIAN UNVEILED

Today BP on behalf of its partners in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG), Shah Deniz, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) and South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) projects announced the opening of a $12 million world-class technical training centre in the Sangachal Terminal Expansion Project (STEP) area. The facility has been developed as part of BP’s and its partners plans for technical and professional development of the national staff working for these projects.

The ACG partners are: BP (operator - 34.1%), Unocal (10.3%), SOCAR (10%), INPEX (10.,0%), Statoil (8,6%), ExxonMobil (8%), TPAO (6.8%), Devon (5.6%), Itochu (3.9%), Amerada Hess (2.7%).

The BTC Co. shareholders are: BP (30.1%); SOCAR (25.00%); Unocal (8.90%); Statoil (8.71%); TPAO (6.53%); ENI (5.00%); Total (5.00%), Itochu (3.40%); INPEX (2.50%), ConocoPhillips (2.50%) and Amerada Hess (2.36%).

The parties to the Shah Deniz Production Sharing Agreement are: BP (operator - 25.5%), Statoil (25.5%), the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (Socar - 10%), LUKAgip(10%), NICO (10%), Total (10%), and TPAO (9%).

The SCP Co. funding shareholders are: BP (technical operator - 25.5%), Statoil (commercial operator - 25.5%), the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (Socar - 10%), LUKAgip(10%), NICO (10%), Total (10%), and TPAO (9%).

The opening of the Caspian Technical Training Centre (CTTC) took place at the Sangachal Terminal today in a ceremony, which was attended by heads of foreign diplomatic missions and senior executives of SOCAR and all other partner companies.

The CTTC has been designed to satisfy the technician training requirements of all the Production Sharing Agreements operated by BP in the Caspian region including the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli, Shah Deniz and the BTC oil export and the SCP gas export pipeline.

Both BP operations technicians as well as BP’s drilling contractor KCA Deutag’s drilling technicians working on BP’s platforms will utilise the training facilities.

The centre has the capacity to train 400 operations and drilling technicians a year in its main facilities. These include:

an experiential learning simulator, which is a multi-million dollar Drilling Control room facility installed to train KCA Deutag drillers to safely and efficiently operate the modern drilling equipment existing on the new platforms in the Caspian Sea

a unique Operations Training Plant (OTP), which was designed and manufactured in the UK, assembled and commissioned at the CTTC to offer technicians a complete experience of starting up and operating the plant in a safe environment

a large and fully equipped workshop with specific equipment extensively used within the oil and gas industry, which will provide the foundations for underpinning knowledge and practical experience. The workshop facility is complimented by approximately 24 classrooms and offices and both physical and virtual equipment for production and drilling training.

The facility is located adjacent to purpose built living accommodation, which ensures that the students are both housed and trained at the CTTC.

The facility will be operated and managed by TTE - Petrofac Ltd, a specialist leading Global technical training provider that delivers safe and cost effective high quality competency based training solutions in the Caspian region.

David Woodward, BP’s Associate President in Azerbaijan, said: “This new training facility is another indication of BP’s commitment to operating in the region with highly skilled national employees. We believe that the significant investments in the oil and gas industry in Azerbaijan and the entire Caspian region must be matched by a skilled and motivated workforce that will ensure safe and efficient operation of our onshore and offshore facilities. We are confident that the ability of the national workforce combined with training using the modern facilities available at the CTTC will deliver a pool of highly skilled personnel who will be a significant asset to Azerbaijan and the region for many years to come ”

Stan Bennion, BP Organisational Capability Lead, said: ” In 2002 BP commissioned a consultancy report on the training needs of our business in the Caspian for the next 10 years, which concluded that a technical training facility designed to complement the Universities and Academies of Azerbaijan and to deliver specific ‘Experiential’ learning on modern day technical equipment was required. Now this facility is operational and we believe the training programmes it offers will accelerate learning via concentration on skill-based training. We also believe the facility will provide a firm basis for cooperation in training skilled industry personnel for this developing energy producing region. Close collaboration with KCA Deutag, our drilling contractor, has already enabled to capture synergies of investment in equipment and training programmes as well as ensuring a consistent safety culture across BP-led operations. ”

Andy Buckworth, Operations Director of TTE - Petrofac, said ‘As a World Leading Technical Training specialist in the Oil & Gas industry, TTE - Petrofac are working and will continue to work in partnership with BP to manage and deliver the CTTC and training needs of BP-operated projects in the Caspian region. The skills of the people we train will act as a magnet to the region for future investment in the Oil & Gas industry. TTE - Petrofac will train over 1000 technicians over the next three years to meet BP’s targets for a competent workforce.”

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