Why the hydrocarbon sector remains a lucrative career option for graduates in Oman

Energy Saturday 07/October/2017 21:23 PM
By: Times News Service
Why the hydrocarbon sector remains a lucrative career option for graduates in Oman

Muscat: An ageing oil and gas industry is expected to suffer from a dearth of talent around the world as fewer graduates are opting for technical oilfield operations, experts predict.
The sector has registered less activity over the past two years due to a drop in oil prices leaving the once highest paid sector a second choice for graduates. However, as veteran oil and gas professionals retire over the next decade, competent graduates in Oman are expected to fill these positions.
“The oil and gas sector in the future will see a lack of talented professionals as most technically sound professionals have been working in it for decades. In the next five years, we will see a lot of them retiring and this will create space for young graduates, but there are less graduates taking up oil and gas careers. This will create a void in the oil and gas industry around the world in the future,” Dr. Hatem Nasr, senior advisor for the oil and gas industry in Huawei said while discussing the future of the energy sector.
Commenting on the lack of professionals in the future in the oil and gas sector in Oman, Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) Managing Director, Raoul Restucci, said the company currently holds a good talent base and such an issue may arise but not in the near future.
“We have a strong supply chain. The natural retirement of experts is an industry challenge, but we are working to establish a strong plan for it. We have strong capabilities. It is not an area of immediate concern. It may come later but at this stage the funnel of talent in the company is very strong,” he added.
A lot of Omani graduates have rerouted their career paths towards other industries in the wake of dwindling oil prices and fewer vacancies. However, the sector still remains the most desired for, recruitment experts say.
“After prices of oil dropped and fewer jobs remaining available to graduates, they have started to move away from oil and gas industry. Currently, there is a strong supply but as we go forward, less graduates are opting for these careers. Moreover, for technical oil field operations where a high degree of expertise and experience is required, we often recruit people from outside.
“But now most of them are beyond the age of 60, which means we cannot recruit them anymore. Over the next five to 10 years, we will see a dearth of talent in this sector,” Prabhu Shankar, assistant general manager at MENA HR Solutions explained.