A total of 170 young graduates have benefitted from the NCDMB/PETAN/SPDC JV Graduate Internship programme, in which they were attached to indigenous technical oilfield service companies in the upstream and downstream sectors for hands-on experience.
Some 133 of the interns were said to have been employed by the companies, indicating the success of the programme as a talent pipeline for the oil and gas industry in Nigeria.
In a statement made available to our correspondent, it was disclosed that the latest batch of 49 intake graduated at a ceremony in Port Harcourt early this month after completing their internship, which began in 2022.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Chairman of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria, Wole Ogunsanya, commended the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd Joint Venture for the support for the programme, which is helping to build local manpower for a critical sector of the economy.
“SPDC and PETAN had jointly set up the programme in 2014 whereby young graduates are attached to the over 100 member companies of the organisation with SPDC paying them monthly stipends. From 2022, when the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board joined the collaboration, the programme has run for two years with 100 intakes.
“The NCDMB/PETAN/SPDC JV Graduate Internship programme has been lauded as a key human capital development initiative that is central to the promotion of Nigerian content in the oil and gas industry,” the statement by Shell explained.
“SPDC’s General Manager, Nigerian Content, ‘Lanre Olawuyi, said: ‘The internship is more than a learning opportunity. It provides fresh graduates with technical expertise, equipping them with the practical skills needed to excel in their careers. It aligns with SPDC’s broader educational initiatives, contributing significantly to the actualisation of the UNESCO ‘Education for All’ agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria, particularly in the Niger Delta.
“We owe the success of the programme to the untiring support of our JV partners, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, TotalEnergies, and Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited, for which we are grateful.”
