SE Dallas News

Future energy professionals gained skills for success through San Jacinto College and American Petroleum Institute’s SkillsReady by API job readiness program.

The partnership celebrated its first graduates Jan. 5.

“API member companies challenged us to develop a program to address workforce development and from that SkillsReady by API was created,” said Sean Thomas, API training and development senior manager. “They were looking for alternative talent pipelines for their organizations, especially from underserved populations. It has been an honor to see this idea come to life and watch the first cohort graduate with a 100% success rate.”

Qualified candidates attend a free five-month SkillsReady by API course that lays the foundation to join any segment of the natural gas and oil industry — upstream, offshore, midstream, and downstream. These hands-on courses take place at San Jac’s LyondellBasell Center for Petroleum, Energy, & Technology, or CPET.

Graduates receive certificates endorsing their industry knowledge and eligibility for entry-level energy sector jobs.

The curriculum includes …

• Overview of natural gas and oil supply chain, including hydrocarbon basics, segment operations, and basic facility operations
• Safety procedures and concepts
• Critical equipment
• General operations applicable to all industry segments

“San Jac has had a long-running partnership with API, and when they reached out about this program we were thrilled,” said Tom Stang, CPET petrochemical technology director. “It took many months of development, but I’m so proud of the result. I look forward to how this program will grow in the future.”

All members of the first cohort completed the program, which totaled more than 100 hours of instruction equal to 10 continuing education credits. Throughout the program, they also toured plant facilities and networked with industry speakers.

“We’ve worked with San Jac in other capacities for years, so it was obvious for us to bring the program here,” Thomas said. “We knew CPET had the expertise, resources, and facility to accomplish our goals. The talented group of faculty and staff here spent months writing the content and developing the curriculum.”

API increases industry-wide focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion by providing continuous learning, focusing on innovation, and leveraging scale to drive greater impact. Through this SkillsReady by API partnership with San Jac, API develops and offers training programs for the industry’s workforce.

SkillsReady by API is gaining momentum. Register this spring for the summer 2023 cohort. Learn more about the program at www.api.org/products-and-services/training/skillsready.

Original source can be found here.