Caspian Technical Training Centre Marks 10th Anniversary

The Caspian Technical Training Centre (CTTC) in Sangachal celebrated the 10th anniversary of its successful operation. The centre was opened in May 2004 by BP and its partners in Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG), Shah Deniz, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) and South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) projects.

CTTC is a world class technical training facility which was established to meet the technician training requirements of all the projects operated by BP in the Caspian region. For ten years, it has been providing high-quality competency based training to a very high international standard..The centre has been internationally accredited by City and Guilds, OPITO and JTL.

On a daily basis, the facility provides professional training for over 300 technicians in Azerbaijan. This is in line with BP-operated projects’ targets for a competent national workforce in onshore and offshore operations. To date CTTC has trained over 900 technicians deployed across BP-operated regional facilities.

Speaking at the celebration event hosted by BP in Baku today, Gordon Birrell, BP’s Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, said: “For ten years, CTTC has served as a valuable asset supplying our day-to-day operations with a pool of highly-qualified national technicians who have been running our facilities safely and efficiently. It has also significantly contributed to our plans for the nationalization of the workforce involved in our operations in Azerbaijan. Today I am delighted to say that the ability of the national workforce in the industry combined with the international programme, which uses the modern training technology available at CTTC, has delivered a very successful outcome – hundreds of highly-skilled technicians who are a significant driving force in our operations in the region. They are trained to international standards in the key technical disciplines required in the modern oil and gas industry. I am confident that this training centre will continue as we expand our operations and projects in Azerbaijan.”

CTTC is operated by BP on behalf of its co-venturers. The training programme is run by a specialist leading global technical provider – TTE-Petrofac.

The centre has unique training facilities such as:

– An experiential learning simulator with a drilling control room. It is used to train drillers to safely and efficiently operate the modern drilling equipment on the new platforms in the Caspian

– A unique operations training plant. It offers technicians a complete experience in starting up and operating plants in a safe environment

– A large and fully equipped workshop with specific equipment extensively used within the oil and gas industry.

Press Release, May 29, 2014; Image: BP