Building a national industry from the ground up in Azerbaijan
In 2002, contracted in partnership with BP, TTE JV established a technical training centre in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, to train national employees to replace expat managers and employees in one of the world’s most important oil & gas producing regions.
A bespoke solution was required with its own flexible curriculum to deliver international training and technical accreditations. The centre, which includes a pilot plant simulating the off-shore operations of a BP platform, delivers international training and technical accreditations, in line with both BP’s own Competency Management Accreditation System (CMAS) and ISO quality systems. It covers the fields of HSE, instrumentation, electrical, production and mechanical engineering and includes internationally accredited courses such as CompEx, HVAC and OPITO, as well as control room operations training and management of major emergencies.
TTE provided the technical and support staff and identified the equipment and resources needed to create and manage the facility. This included a large scale Operations Training Plant (OTP) that could accurately simulate the off-shore operations of a BP platform & equipment, mimicking the real-life working scenarios. The OTP offers technicians the complete experience of starting up an operating plant in a safe environment and includes control room operations training.
TTE are responsible for managing the skills development of the BP local workforce. This includes managing third party training, where required, and on-going in-the-field support of graduates from the Baku centre. Regular reviews of the programme are carried out in conjunction with BP management to develop the curricula and ensure a cross match with BP’s own Competency Management Accreditation System (CMAS).
Over the past 12 years the TTE-Petrofac-BP partnership in Baku has been responsible for the successful training of thousands of local staff. With the majority of operation maintenance technicians and key management positions now being held by Azerbaijani nationals, government nationalisation targets have been met and a firm foundation has been laid for a highly efficient native oil & gas industry operating with a proven safety record and exemplary behavioural safety culture.