In a cavernous workshop in Musaffah at the oil services company Weatherford, 19 Emirati teenagers from Khalifa bin Zayed Secondary School are competing in teams to build a model oil rig.
Dressed in kanduras and red and yellow hard hats, they work intently to complete the project.
The have already listened to a health and safety briefing and watched a film explaining the process of searching for oil and how it is extracted from the ground. Before they return to their regular classes they will also try out the drill simulator. (During a demo, the instructor shows what happens when flow is not controlled and a spark ignites the gas: the entire platform is engulfed in terrifying flames.) “The future of the UAE is in oil and gas,” says Abdul Rahman Aljeedi, 17, one of the pupils attending the event. He says he was already considering a career in the petroleum industry and the trip has confirmed the decision for him.
“The country needs this sector and it needs more engineers. For my own future, I like to enrol in something that is really needed,” he adds.
Mr Aljeedi is exactly the type of student Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (Adipec) created its Young Adipec outreach programme for. The programme, now in its second year, is attempting to persuade young Emiratis that a career in oil and gas is an appealing option.
Over the course of two weeks in late October, 240 kids from 12 schools around Abu Dhabi and the Western Region visited firms operating in various sectors of the oil and gas industry. From technology centres to production plants, oil wells and refineries, the pupils received a taste of what such a career might hold. Companies included Adnoc, Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (Adco), Total and Schlumberger.
In the second part of the programme, their field trip experiences – recorded in the form of video diaries – are being displayed at the Young Adipec stand during the exhibition this week. “We want to create an early awareness and teach them in a fun and entertaining way about oil and gas,” says Hanadi Aliwat, who manages special projects at Adipec. “This, hopefully, will persuade more school leavers to apply to study engineering, whether it be mechanical, chemical, petrol or electrical engineering.”
Only 22 per cent of Emirati men and 11 per cent of Emirati women were enrolled in engineering programmes during the 2011-12 academic year, according to Ministry of Education figures. That compares with 33 per cent of men who were enrolled in business programmes.
While many companies recruit expatriates to work in the oil and gas sector, the government is keen to reduce reliance on foreign workers in favour of Emirati employees.
“Nurturing home-grown talent is crucial for two important reasons,” says Ibrahim Al Alawi, deputy chief executive of Al Mansoori Specialised Engineering, a company also participating in the scheme. “First, this talent pool has a strong network of contacts and also an understanding of the cultural context that expatriates may not always offer,” he explains.
“Second, tapping into the local workforce is sustainable – the professional environment in this region is very transient and expatriates may often leave the country to go home or seek other opportunities, whereas Emiratis are more likely to stay in their home country.”
Weatherford has been in the UAE since the 1970s and country manager Walid Nossier, from Egypt, was on hand to greet the students.
He explains that Weatherford agreed to participate in the programme as he feels those already working in the field have a responsibility to create a pipeline of future workers.
“We need to create succession plans for the team, for the management, for everybody in the oilfield, for the company and for the country,” he says. “We are trying to [draw] their attention to the industry and what we are doing exactly, so in the future this will make them think how important this is to the economy of the UAE and the global economy.”
Only two Weatherford employees out of a total of 600 in the UAE are Emiratis, Mr Nossier adds. This is because Emiratis prefer to work for government-owned companies which can offer higher salaries than those in the private sector.
“We cannot compete,” he says.
While the students engaged enthusiastically in the exercises, the day trip wasn’t enough to convince all participants that a career oil and gas was for them.
Abdalla bin Omaira, 18, says while he would now consider working in oil and gas, his real ambition is still to be a pilot or to study accountancy.
“My dad is a pilot in the air force,” Mr bin Omaira says. “I have the same dream.”
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