 The ribbon was cut last Friday to officially open the site of Aurora College's oil rig floorhand training program. From left are Angus Stewart of Petroleum Industry Training Service, student Robert Bourassa, Rick Clarke and Miki O'Kane of Aurora College, and Rob Hunt of Akita. - Malcolm Gorrill/NNSL photo |
Yellowknife (Aug 17/01) - The ribbon was cut last Friday to officially open the site of the oil rig floorhand training program.
As well, 21 graduates received their certificates. A second group of students will complete the program this week. The program, which is offered by Aurora College, wraps up Aug. 22.
Miki O'Kane, director of the college's Inuvik campus, said it was a special day, signifying the culmination of an enormous effort.
"This was just meant to be," a beaming O'Kane said.
O'Kane said the bills are still coming in, but he expects the program's total cost will surpass $1 million.
She thanked college staff who worked on the project, as well as others who helped out. Various oil and gas firms got involved in the project, as did the town of Inuvik, and the territorial and federal governments.
This marks the first time floorhand training has been offered in the NWT, and mayor Peter Clarkson said it's a good example of what partnerships can accomplish.
"It just shows what we can do when we've got the right attitude and we want to make things work," Clarkson said.
"We're seeing that more and more in the North and in the Beaufort Delta. It's something all of us should be proud of, that we can work together and make things happen."
Marcel Fortier of DIAND echoed Clarkson.
"Partnerships have the ability to somehow operate within a mandate of its own," Fortier said, adding that he is impressed, both with the facility and how quickly it all came together.
The drilling rig for the program was supplied by Akita, and O'Kane explained Akita representative Rob Hunt first suggested the idea of such a program to her earlier this year.
Hunt explained that for a long time he wanted to work with the college to develop a long-term sustainable training centre for oil and gas in the North.
Now that a cased hole has been drilled at the site, Aurora College will be able to offer further training in the future, whether floorhand or a variety of others.
After the floorhand training wraps up, the college is putting on a nine-day rig operators training course.
Hunt noted that the college had to go through the same regulatory procedures as do regular oil and gas producers.
"It was a valuable learning experience for us, Aurora College and for the government to help them better understand what our industry has to go through in order to do projects of this magnitude," Hunt said.
Students caught on
The floorhand training is delivered by Petroleum Industry Training Service, and representative Angus Stewart praised the first batch of graduates, saying they had caught on very quickly.
Souad Arbouche of Schlumberger urged students to pursue their dreams, and said the program is a good example of people working together.
Tom Oliver of Arctic Oil and Gas said the training program is a tremendous project.
"Aurora College is an integral part of the puzzle that's required to do all drilling and exploration in the next little while in the arctic, and they're just doing an excellent job," Oliver said.
