UK oil and gas skills body Opito said it has won a contract from Shell to support the development of training for its workers on the Majnoon project and to improve the vocational training centres in Basra.

The Shell deal comes after Opito's landmark agreement with the Iraqi Ministry for Oil in 2011. The oil and gas industry body which sets training standards that improve safety will ensure that these centres train Iraqis to industry expectations and Opito standards.

In addition, Opito is working with all the international oil companies in Iraq to design a framework for delivering suitably qualified Iraqi oil and gas workers to help the country fully exploit its emerging oil industry and transform the economy of the war torn country.

This contract is one of a series of workforce development initiatives Opito is undertaking in several oil and gas provinces around the world.

To bolster its new role as the trusted adviser to Governments, international and national oil companies in their quest to develop indigenous oil and gas workforces, Opito has created the new role of director of international workforce development.

Former director of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), John McDonald, has been appointed to lead the work with Shell and build future agreements with governments and industry, which are currently in the pipeline, in places as far-ranging as Oman and East Timor.

Before joining Opito, McDonald was a director of Actvet, the government body charged with creating a vocational education and training system in Abu Dhabi.

McDonald said, "Being invited by Governments and NOCs to design frameworks that will ensure indigenous workforces are suitably trained and qualified to work in the oil and gas industry is an honour and underlines the esteem in which Opito is held globally."

“As a not for profit organisation, funded by the industry, it will reinvest the revenues generated by these contracts in the continuous development of educational products and services for the benefit of the industry,” he added.

A similar agreement with Petronas in Malaysia will see the UK skills body make Opito standards a part of the national oil company’s mandatory safety training programme.-TradeArabia News Service