World Bank offers to sponsor Oil & Gas studies at Kigumba Institute

The Government of Uganda in partnership with the World Bank is transforming Uganda Petroleum Institute Kigumba (UPIK)into a Centre of Excellence for Oil and Gas Training. Through a twinning arrangement with IFP-Training in France, UPIK has developed five new, demand driven internationally accredited Oil and Gas courses for professionals to support the development of the Petroleum Industry as well as compete for regional and international jobs.

The office of the Academic Registrar of UPIK now invites interested Ugandans to enrol for specialised International Vocational Qualifications in Upstream Petroleum Operations, Downstream Petroleum Operations, Mechanical Maintenance, Electrical Maintenance and Instrumentation. Government will offer an 80% fees subsidy for the first cohort of trainees.

Applications can be done online at www.upik.ac.ug/apply. Hard copy application forms can be downloaded from the Institute’s website or obtained from the Academic Registrar’s Office at the Institute Campus and returned after payment of a non-refundable application fee of UGX. 55,000. Online applications will only be accepted upon confirmation of payment of the application fee.

Study courses in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths) can be useful as a recruitment tool, to help you get your foot in the door. Qualifications in mathematics, physics, geology and engineering (chemical, petroleum, mechanical, electrical and environmental) are common in the industry.

Oil and gas professionals working on offshore platforms draw good wages as their work not only demands long time spent away from the coast, but is also physically and mentally challenging. Offshore-technology.com lists the most lucrative offshore platform-related jobs in the oil and gas industry, based on currently available salary data.

Petroleum engineering is a degree that’s highly sought by oil companies, as these grads typically have solid backgrounds in both math and science. The oil industry is also hiring chemical engineers, geologists, and mechanical engineers. If you are looking for a secured future, here it lies.