Aberdeen university to provide oil and gas training for Mexico’s Energy Ministry

A Scottish university has been awarded £118,000 in funding to create a skills development framework for the oil and gas sector in Mexico. 

Aberdeen-based Robert Gordon University secured the funding, which will be delivered by the British Embassy in Mexico, from the British Government’s Prosperity Fund. 

The framework will provide recommendations on how to address the potential skills gap in the Mexican oil and gas industry over the next 15 years, both at graduate and vocational level.

RGU will advise Mexico’s Energy Ministry on appropriate delivery models to train and further develop the Mexican workforce, and to secure a pipeline of future talent.

Although Mexico has a long-standing track record as one of the leading hydrocarbon producing countries in the world, it is estimated that it will require more than 135,000 additional skilled people in the oil and gas industry over the next 15 years in order to meet the ambitious production targets set by the government. 

Professor Paul de Leeuw, Director of RGU’s Oil & Gas Institute, said: “The Energy Reform in Mexico presents huge opportunities for the Mexican oil and gas sector.”

The project builds on the relationship RGU has been developing following the visit from the President of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto to the university in March last year.

This project is funded by the British Embassy in Mexico as part of its Prosperity Fund energy programme.

Duncan Taylor, British Ambassador to Mexico, said: “We aim to build a strong partnership that promotes an open, robustly-regulated Mexican energy sector with significant British collaboration. The UK is a global centre of energy excellence and we hope our experience can contribute to the successful implementation of Mexico’s new energy markets.”