04 August 2006
A major milestone was reached on 4th September 2006, when the last of the current intakes of trainees joined Yemen LNG’s technical training scheme at the company’s training centre in Sana’a. The young men who are now studying at the centre began their journey towards acceptance into the training programme, when they responded to a nationwide advertising campaign in November 2005. Since then, every one of the 16,000 applications received has been reviewed, and the candidates with the best technical qualifications and experience have been tested, interviewed and awarded training contracts. The successful candidates come from every governorate of Yemen and are being trained to become the technicians, process operators and panel operators who will staff the Yemen LNG gas terminal at Balhaf when production begins in late 2008.

“We decided at a very early stage that we could reduce the number of expatriates required for the project, if we could find and train enough talented young Yemenis to fill the Technician and Operator posts” says Joel Fort, General Manager of Yemen LNG Company. “LNG is a very complex technology, and we knew that we would still need many expatriate engineers and supervisors during the early years of production. However, I have every confidence that these young men will take over these positions steadily as their experience grows, and our aspiration is to have 90% Yemenisation by the end of 2015.”

The current technical trainee campaign, launched in late 2005, is now over. However, this is not the end of recruitment by Yemen LNG Company. “We will build a new Training Centre on site” says Abdulla Alwadee, Head of HR Development. “It is expected to be operational by the end of 2008, and we will have regular intakes of technical trainees, to replace the ones hired during 2006. We expect to promote many of these to more senior posts very quickly. I envisage an annual programme of graduate and technical trainee recruitment, and the Training Centre will be fully occupied for many years to come. All young Yemenis who are interested in posts like these should concentrate on improving their knowledge of English, mathematics, chemistry, physics and technical subjects – these are the basic skills we need.”

Other Employment Opportunities

Hundreds of other employment opportunities already exist on the Yemen LNG project, with the contractor companies who are building the Balhaf plant and the 320 kilometre pipeline which links it to the source of its gas supplies in Mareb. “Yemen LNG Company is not directly involved in the construction phase,” says Phil Campbell, HR Manager for Yemen LNG Company. “The main contractor companies which are building the plant and pipeline are Yemgas, Hawk, and Amec Spie. These companies are constantly looking for skilled Yemeni nationals who have experience in operating the advanced construction equipment which this project requires, and 90% of all the personnel working on the site are already Yemenis. All Yemeni citizens who are interested in working on this project should read their national newspapers where vacancies are advertised, and those in Mareb and Shabwa should register their personal details and skills with their local Labour offices, as the contractors try very hard to recruit local people wherever possible”. He adds “The contractors and Yemen LNG have Site Liaison Officers at all of our construction sites. They will advise job seekers where to register, to give them the best possible chance of finding employment.”

Completion of 2005 Technician Trainee Campaign:

The Technician Trainee Campaign launched in 2005 is now over. Due to the huge number of applications, and the difficulty of contacting many applicants, only those who were invited for interview for the present technician trainee posts have been notified of the outcome. If you applied but did not receive an invitation to interview then your application for this campaign on this occasion has not been successful.

There will be additional programmes in the future. In 2007 and 2008, Yemen LNG will be hiring technical graduates for additional technician trainee posts and also technical staff who already have experience in oil and gas maintenance and operations. These personnel will be given training in LNG technology at the Yemen LNG Training Centre, and on site at Balhaf. Additional recruitment campaigns will be launched in 2008 and afterwards, for new intakes of technical trainees. These campaigns will be advertised in the press and on the Yemen LNG website.

All candidates who were not selected for testing in the recent recruitment campaign and who wish to be considered for future positions as trainees, should concentrate on improving their knowledge of English, mathematics, chemistry, physics and technical subjects, and may re-apply during our future campaigns.

Future Employment with Yemen LNG:

Construction work will last until the end of 2008, and the contracting companies will need up to 10,000 employees during this period, at Balhaf or along the pipeline route. Although these jobs will end when construction is over, Yemen LNG Company will employ around 600 staff during the 20 years of operations. Recruitment for these posts is already under way, and will continue for many years.

“We have already hired 120 permanent Yemeni staff, mostly for the Sana’a headquartersoffices and for some of the senior engineering and supervisory posts at Balhaf” says Khine Mar Tun, Head of Recruitment. “All these posts are advertised nationally and on our website, so that we can attract candidates from all over Yemen. We already have employees from 17 of Yemen’s 20 Governorates. Most recruitment over the next 12 months will be by the construction contractors but during 2007, Yemen LNG will begin to recruit the permanent technical and managerial staff for the Balhaf terminal. These are highly skilled jobs, and many will have to be filled by expatriates initially but we will be looking hard for Yemeni nationals,both inside Yemen and abroad, who are ready to fill these posts or who can be trained to fill them.”

“Many of these technical staff will be Yemeni supervisors and engineers who have already worked in the oil and gas industry, and they will be given training in LNG technology in the Sana’a Training Centre” says Christian Augé, Training Manager. “The Centre is not just for young technical trainees –it will also be used for more senior staff and for specialist training for Fire Fighting teams and Safety personnel for example.We are constantly looking for experienced Yemeni instructors with these skills”.

Charles Mendiharat, Operations Manager explains “It is also very important to realize that not all the jobs at Balhaf are for highly skilled candidates. This is an enormous site – 15 square kilometers – and it will have workshops, security staff, catering and administrative teams and many subcontract maintenance and service personnel. Most of these will not be Yemen LNG staff, but they are vital to the success of this project. We will ensure that we – and our contractors - try very hard to find as many as possible of these staff in the Governorates and Districts closest to the pipeline and the terminal.”

Yemenisation and Staff Development

Abdulla Alwadee, Head of Human Resources Development adds “Our role in the HR Development team is to identify Yemeni staff who have the potential to be promoted to senior roles, and then to provide them with the training and career development opportunities they require. Our Yemenisation programme requires a steady stream of technicians, engineers, administration and management candidates and we expect to launch a graduate recruitment programme in the near future.”