Creating careers on and offshore
The end of drilling the Cullinan-1X well in August 2023 marked an important milestone for the joint venture.
Since drilling the first well in the PEL0039 license, Graff 1-X in December 2021, there has been a 66% increase in direct jobs for Namibians working on the venture’s drilling campaign, with over 180 people supporting operations on and offshore.
Delivering a deep-water drilling campaign 250kms from shore requires the talents of many and its success is reliant on the welders, electricians, lab technicians, crane operators, drivers, pilots, chefs and cleaners from more than 60 Namibian companies.
Shell Namibia’s Country Chair, Adeleye Falade, said;
"At Shell we recognise the long-term potential an oil and gas industry could have to unlock Namibia’s energy needs, provide training and employment and contribute to economic development. A 66% increase in jobs on the venture’s drilling campaign, is of course positive and we and our contractors are committed to keeping this trend moving upwards at every stage of our operations."
The number of engineering graduates employed offshore is increasing too with venture contractors, SLB and Halliburton providing internships and further technical training at the SLB technical school in Abu Dhabi. And Shell looks forward to welcoming more graduates from Namibia into the industry having finalised a sponsorship agreement with the University of Witwatersrand at South Africa, to offer bursaries to Namibian students studying towards Geophysics degrees from 2024.
As a relatively recent graduate herself, University of Namibia (UNAM) in 2018, Shell geo-scientist Keron Domingos has enjoyed a rich and varied career on and offshore supporting the venture; “I never imagined that when I graduated five years ago, I would be on a rig, looking through the microscope at hydrocarbons that we had just discovered on our first exploration well. The variety of work I do and on a scale like this means I’m always learning.”
