New Arctic Institute to train Shtokman specialists
Universities from Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Sankt Petersburg and Moscow might join efforts with teaching institutions from Norway, France and the USA in a new Institute of Arctic Technologies.
The need for qualified personnel in connection with the development of Arctic offshore hydrocarbon fields like the Shtokman field now spurs new international university cooperation. On an initiative from the partners in the Shtokman Development Company, universities from Russia, Norway, France and the USA look set to join efforts. Involved in the initiative are universities from Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Sankt Petersburg, Moscow, Trondheim, Stavanger, Oslo, Spitsbergen, Paris, Nantes and Anchorage, the Murmansk edition of newspaper Argumenty i Fakty reports. In Murmansk, the Murmansk State Technical University has over the last ten years trained about 150 oil and gas specialists, ready for taking on the challenging Shtokman development process. However, the need for more experts is critical, pro-rector of the Russian State University of Oil and Gas, Mr. Anatoli Zolotukhin admits. He says the establishment of the new institute will make it possible for Murmansk students to study in both Stavanger and Anchorage as part of their degrees.
