A CENTRE for training in construction and drilling has been launched in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, by the Saudi Petroleum Services Polytechnic (SPSP).

The Construction and Drilling Training Centre is the fourth SPSP project to be launched in the country, with the first campus opened in Dammam, and the other two in Al Khafji and Rabigh.

The polytechnics are a joint initiative of the Saudi Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation and Chevron Saudi Arabia, Aramco Gulf Operations Company and Saudi Aramco.

The SPSP colleges have been designed to provide training solutions specific to the oil and gas industries.

The centre will offer two-year courses in crane operations, rigging, scaffolding and drilling.

It has a purpose-built training area complete with vessels, pipe-work and structures all designed for future riggers, scaffolders and heavy machinery operators to practice new skills in a realistic, but safely controlled environment.