The global oil industry risks facing a severe shortage of highly skilled technicians and engineers as easily accessible reserves are depleted.

Such is the claim of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, which has insisted that the sector has not kept pace with other industries in the training and development of highly skilled workers.

Addressing delegates at an energy conference in Abu Dhabi, Abdulla al Suweidi, deputy chief executive of the firm, warned that the world is approaching the peak of easy oil.

Furthermore, implementing necessary extraction techniques may become difficult as the current workforce of engineers and technicians move toward retirement.

As such, he called upon the industry to invest in robust oil training programmes to ensure that extraction remains profitable.

Currently, Adnoc is responsible for extracting more than 2.7 million barrels of oil a day.

Oil and Gas Directory: Training and Development