ExxonMobil Qatar officials join executives from Qatar Petroleum, RasGas and Qatargas during the launching of the Tamayoz training programme facility at the company’s research centre inside the Qatar Science and Technology Park. PICTURE: Jayan Orma

By Peter Alagos/Business Reporter

Despite the slump in oil prices, ExxonMobil Qatar will continue to focus on training human capital through its Tamayoz programme, an official has said.
ExxonMobil Qatar president and general manager Alistair Routledge described the training programme, which was developed to cater to the needs of Qatar’s oil and industry, as a “long-term investment.”
“The oil and gas industry goes through price cycles…in this price environment, these kinds of investments would be easy to cut. But we believe that is shortsighted. Ours is an industry that makes long-term investments.
“We make long-term investments in facilities, in the fields of redevelopment, and in the relationships that we have. In this industry, we need to make long-term investments in our people because they are our most valuable resource,” Routledge said.
He was speaking during yesterday’s launching of the Tamayoz training programme facility at the ExxonMobil Research Qatar (EMRQ), which is housed inside the Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP).
“The Tamayoz training programme has been so well-received by our industry partners that we felt it important to not only expand it, but house it at a well-recognised location that best suits its overall purpose as a specialised training platform.
“Both ExxonMobil Research Qatar and QSTP offer a framework for advancing key research that is instrumental to Qatar’s economic development. In the same vein, Tamayoz also supports Qatar’s economic growth through knowledge transfer that promotes national workforce development with a particular focus on the energy sector,” he explained.
Routledge said around 1,700 professionals from the country’s energy industry have received “face-to-face training” from ExxonMobil subject-matter experts since the programme was established in 2012.
He added that ExxonMobil Qatar trains around 500 participants through 30 to 40 courses under the programme every year.
“Each year, the courses are tailored to fit the requirements of our joint venture partners. The programme has established itself as the leading training programme for Qatar’s oil and gas industry,” Routledge told Gulf Times.
ExxonMobil Qatar Joint Interest technical manager Anthony Pryde said each course is relevant to areas of special interest, identified through “extensive discussions.”
“ExxonMobil is actively working with Qatar Petroleum (QP) and our joint ventures (Qatargas and RasGas) to plan our 2016 agenda. We have made substantial progress so far and we look forward to completing this work by the end of the month,” he said.
Pryde said the programme covers six critical competency areas: leadership and personal effectiveness, project management, commercial, operations excellence, technical, safety, health and the environment.
He said subject areas covered during recent courses this year included technical, project management, leadership and personal effectiveness.