Robert Gordon University (RGU) will help Mexico close the skills gap in its oil and gas industry after the UK Government awarded it funding for the project.
Despite its reputation for being one of the world’s top oil and gas producers, Mexico is estimated to need more than 135,000 skilled people to enter the sector over the next 15 years.
RGU will advise the Mexican Energy Ministry on the training and development of workers at both graduate and vocational level to help the country meet its ambitious production targets.
The university secured the funding, which will be delivered by the British Embassy in Mexico, from the British Government’s Prosperity Fund.
The project builds on the relationship RGU has been developing with the country, following President Enrique Peña Nieto’s visit to the university in March 2015.
Mexico’s 2014 energy reform programme amended the constitution to permit private investment in the oil sector for the first time since 1938.
Professor Paul de Leeuw, director of RGU’s Oil and Gas Institute, said: “The energy reform in Mexico presents huge opportunities for the Mexican oil and gas sector.
“RGU is delighted to undertake this important review on behalf of the FCO and to advise the Mexican Government on skills development options for Mexico.”
The British Ambassador to Mexico, Duncan Taylor, 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.”
Leonardo Beltran, the Mexican Energy Ministry’s undersecretary for planning and energy transition, said: “As part of the energy reform, we have developed a coordinated strategic human resource programme for the energy sector, seeking to rapidly build capacity to respond to the needs of the transformed energy sector.”
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