BP to Build Offshore Drilling Training Center in Houston
The facility will feature highly interactive simulators replicating nearly every critical job on an offshore drilling rig, including simulators for cyber drilling, vessel bridge, cranes, an engine room, and an emergency response room. Maersk Training also will equip the facility for ship-handling operations to serve the maritime training market.
BP recently announced that it will open a state-of-the-art training facility in Houston next year to provide advanced training for its offshore drilling teams, both employees and contractors. The center is part of a new global agreement with Maersk Training, which is already working with BP on training at a facility in Svendborg, Denmark, that opened three years ago. The Houston facility will feature highly interactive simulators replicating nearly every critical job on an offshore drilling rig, including simulators for cyber drilling, vessel bridge, cranes, an engine room, and an emergency response room. Maersk Training also will equip the facility for ship-handling operations to serve the maritime training market, according to BP's announcement.
The goal is to place these workers in an "immersive simulation environment" that allows teams to practice events and joint procedures together as an integrated unit, rather than individually.
"These programs are a step forward in the training and development of BP's offshore personnel and of the many contractors who support our global offshore oil and gas operations," said Gary Jones, who heads BP's Global Wells Organization. "We hope the entire offshore industry benefits from this important collaboration."
"BP is taking a holistic and integrated approach to training that will help enhance capabilities across the offshore oil and gas industry. Thanks to this agreement, many more offshore workers will benefit from valuable instruction and work together to deliver safety as their highest priority, regardless of their company or individual role," said Claus Bihl, Maersk Training's global chief executive officer. The new facility will be located in north Houston.