{{East African countries are grappling with the challenge of how to fast-track training of oil and gas engineers after unexpected and continuing discoveries have positioned the region as a future global oil hot spot.}}
Tanzania may have 40-billion cubic metres of gas, expected to double by 2015, while Uganda has an estimated 3.5-billion barrels of oil. Kenya’s deposits may be up to 10-billion barrels, according to Tullow Oil’s chief operating officer Paul McDade.
Authorities in the region have been putting pressure on exploration companies to start pumping oil and gas.
The lure for money and agitation for equity in distribution of oil and gas wealth by local communities have reduced focus on the priority issue of training local oil and gas human resources, industry players said.
The dearth in local experts has paved the way for skilled labour from the Middle East and West Africa where oil and gas extraction is already established.
In the meantime, locals could watch from the sidelines as expatriates take dominant positions when oil and gas pumping starts by 2016, a rough date set by Tullow Oil.
“Our universities rarely teach oil and gas courses.
We need international partnerships to start such training here,” said Petroleum Institute of East Africa CE Wanjiku Manyara.
The exact number of qualified oil and gas engineers in three East Africa countries — Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania — is not known but engineering associations say it is less than 20.
NMG
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