Fort Smith (Aug 21/06) - Northerners interested in oil and gas jobs could find work in the industry even before the potential Mackenzie gas pipeline is built.

Two programs are being offered through Aurora College and the Pipeline Operations Training Committee (POTC). The main thrust is to train Northerners interested in oil and gas employment, said Kerry Robinson, the college's manager of program development.

Rig crew worker, Dempster Collins does work on EnCana's Umiak N-05 well. Aurora College and the Pipeline Operations Training Committee is offering programs for candidates interested in the oil and gas industry. Apprentices and students could potentially be trained before any new pipe is put down. - NNSL file photo

"By the time pipeline jobs come around, those students will be ready," said Robinson.

The pipeline and production operations apprenticeship program will allow candidates to begin a four year apprenticeship in the oil and gas sector, said Robinson. Candidates will have the opportunity to become heavy-duty mechanics, electricians or millwrights.

The POTC is a group developed to provide opportunities in the oil and gas field.

Companies which are part of POTC and take on apprentices include Imperial Oil, ConocoPhillips, Shell Canada and TransCanada Pipelines Limited, said Robinson.

"It's a four-year internship process, then you go on to become a journeyman," said Robinson.

The apprentices will take eight weeks schooling per year as they progress through their training. Last year, seven went through the program and Robinson expects five more to begin an apprenticeship program this year.

Robinson said another option for potential students is the pipeline and production operations technical training program. A one-year pre-technology course focusing on technical applications is taken at Aurora's Thebacha College in Fort Smith.

Students then have a choice to take a two-year course in electrical engineering technology, instrumentation engineering technology or electronics engineering technology, said Robinson. Those courses are offered at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton or the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in Calgary.

The classes can hold up to 20 students, although just eight people have taken the pre-technology course during the program's first two years, said Robinson.

Once candidates are trained, they will be mobile and their skills will be transferable to work on the pipeline in the NWT or other parts of Canada and around the world, said Lillian Hvatum-Brewster, co-chair with the Pipeline Operations Training Committee.

"There will be long-term jobs to fit in people's back yards," said Hvatum-Brewster.