The Iraq Energy City operation of the RSK Group and the University of Basrah have agreed to enter into a partnership to help train the next generation of Iraqi engineers and to give them practical experience that will help them to obtain jobs in the Iraqi oil industry.
The partnership will give University of Basrah students access to oil field work experience, internships and for some, hopefully, jobs at RSK’s Iraq Energy City base. It will also enable RSK to recruit Iraqi employees trained as specialist engineers for the oil and gas industries.
RSK is a UK-headquartered environmental, social, health, safety and engineering services company, whose Iraq operation provides ESHS services to clients including Iraq’s South Oil Company (SOC) and Basrah Gas Company in relation to major energy projects in Iraq. RSK currently employs 20-30 Iraqi staff in Iraq Energy City, and is hoping to grow this number by bringing in specialists trained at the University of Basrah.
Working with the University of Basrah’s College of Engineering, RSK will help design specialist vocational training courses targeted at particular employment opportunities in Iraq’s oil fields, for example training students to run and maintain oil processing facilities. Lecturers at the university will deliver the courses.
Under the agreement, RSK will also help graduates of these courses to connect with universities in the UK which have appropriate post graduate opportunities.
Alan Ryder, founder and CEO of RSK, said: "I see working with the university as a great opportunity for us to train engineers and scientists to have the skills we need. I am looking to reduce the number of RSK expatriates in Iraq and to build our business with Iraqi nationals who are local to our offices there. This is not something we can deliver over night, but it is something we are committed to."
