RusEnergy

March 25, 2008 - Oilvoice.com - Schlumberger officially inaugurated the Schlumberger Siberian Training Center, in Tyumen, West Siberia, in the Russian Federation on March 21. Vladimir Yakushev, governor of the Tyumen Region, and Andrew Gould, chairman and chief executive officer of Schlumberger, officiated at the opening ceremony in front of more than 170 guests drawn from regional government, oil company and Schlumberger representatives. The new state-of-the-art center has been designed to provide basic and advanced training in the Russian language for Schlumberger field engineers and specialists as well as to offer specialized courses for the Russian oil and gas community. The site covers 150 hectares and is entirely self-sufficient with accommodation for 160 students in custom-designed study-bedroom cottages. Total investment will exceed $100 million. The center is the latest and largest of such centers that Schlumberger is opening around the world. Opening the facility, Governor Yakushev remarked, "On behalf of the government of the Tyumen Region, I would like to thank Schlumberger for selecting the Region for making the investment and building this Training Center. I am sure that the Center will contribute considerably to the training of oilfield service workers not only in the Tyumen Region but also in Russia as a whole." The center includes classrooms, workshops, fully equipped laboratories and field technical equipment to provide Schlumberger geoscientists, field engineers, field technicians and maintenance engineers from the Russian Federation and Russian-language countries with new technology skills. Training courses will be held in artificial lift, directional drilling, well cementing and stimulation, data services and information solutions as well as in integrated project management. A strong focus will be placed on technologies applicable worldwide, as well as on fit-for-purpose applications for the Russian market. "The Siberian Training Center is the very latest of only three new-generation training centers that we are opening around the world. These new centers are designed to respond to the challenge of training the future generations of engineers and technicians that the industry will need. They are remarkable not only by their size, but also by the training opportunities that they provide," commented Gould, Schlumberger chairman and CEO. Construction of the center started in February 2006. The first phase, which included completion of the specialist driver-training facility, opened in January 2007 and the main facility and accommodation blocks opened in February 2008. The training capacity is expected to double over the next year to reach 350 students.