BP opens offshore training center in Louisiana

BP, Fletcher Technical Community College (Fletcher) along with Gov. Bobby Jindal and other elected officials celebrated the grand opening of the college’s BP Integrated Production Technologies (IPT) Building Friday, March 21.

The new home of Fletcher’s IPT program, which the Louisiana Board of Regents recently designated a Deepwater Center for Workforce Excellence, features a 4,000 square-foot lab with $500,000 in state-of-the-art equipment. BP invested $4 million into the project and the state of Louisiana provided a $4 million match.

Gov. Bobby Jindal, BP executives, Olympian Lolo Jones, nationally-recognized Chef John Folse, Congressman Bill Cassidy, State Rep. Gordy Dove, State Sen. Norby Chabert, newly appointed Louisiana Community and Technical College System President Monty Sullivan and community representatives were on-site to celebrate the grand opening.

“As America’s largest energy investor, BP is committed to supporting workforce development and education to prepare the next generation of oil and gas industry employees,” said John Mingé, Chairman and President of BP America, Inc. “Fletcher Technical Community College has long been our partner in this vital work, which is crucial to the future of the energy industry and the nation’s continued energy security.”

“Fletcher Technical Community College’s mission is to ensure our programs are responsive to the needs of the businesses and industries that keep Louisiana economically viable,” said FTCC Chancellor F. Travis Lavigne, Jr. “This partnership with BP and the grand opening of the BP IPT Building will help us to do just that – to complete the workforce development and training critical to keep Louisiana at the heart of the growing energy industry.”

Located near BP’s Houma Operations Learning Center (HOLC), The BP IPT Building will include space for essential offshore specialty training for mobile drilling systems, marine operations, production systems and safety training. The building also includes a math and science center for advanced coursework to prepare the next generation of engineers and classrooms for general studies courses to support Fletcher’s student population.