Petronas has launched its new training facility known as Institut Teknologi Petroleum Petronas (Instep) Integrated Oil and Gas Training Centre, an industry-scale facility located within the Instep in Batu Rakit, Terengganu on 27 March 2014. The launch of the facility, which is part of Petronas’ continuous efforts to further develop Malaysia’s human capital, was officiated by Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said at Instep.

He was accompanied by Youth and Sports Minister Encik Khairy Jamaluddin and Petronas’ President & Group CEO Tan Sri Dato’ Shamsul Azhar Abbas. The IIOGTC comprises replicate of the actual upstream and downstream facilities, and was developed at an estimated cost of RM250 million ($76.4 M).

Besides the upstream and downstream training plants, it also includes a drilling rig, a drilling simulator and an engineering workshop.The region’s first-of-its-kind training facility was developed with the objective of equipping Instep’s trainees and Petronas’ workforce with necessary knowledge and skills in the oil and gas industry through industrial training conducted in a realistic and safe plant environment.

The IIOGTC will be used by Instep’s Petroleum Technology Programme trainees where they will undergo their on-the-job training at the facility to expose them to real processes and operations in upstream and downstream sectors of the industry. In addition, the training facility is also open to other industry players, either local or international, who want to upskill their engineers and technicians.

Speaking at the event, Tan Sri Dato’ Shamsul Azhar said: “The launch of IIOGTC is a significant accomplishment for Instep throughout its 33-year endeavour in developing Malaysia’s human capital.”

“The development of IIOGTC is one of Petronas’ significant investments in the area of human capital development which aims at creating highly-skilled and qualified manpower to meet the rapidly-growing oil and gas sector in Malaysia,” he added.

Also present at the ceremony were Petronas’ Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice-President of Downstream Business, Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin; and Petronas’ Executive Vice-President of Exploration and Production Business, Dato’ Wee Yiaw Hin.

The facility is expected to increase Instep’s training capacity by two-fold to 1,700 trainees per year. Apart from Instep, Petronas has also established several educational institutions namely Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP); Akademi Laut Malaysia (ALAM) and Petronas Leadership Centre (PLC).