CGGVeritas has opened a new technology training centre in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia as part of a joint venture with TAQA.

The new facilities have been designed to support Saudi Arabia's oil and gas industry, helping to train new workers for a career in the sector.

Its equipment will also be open for use for students of the earth sciences department of the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals.

Speaking at the opening, company chairman and chief executive Robert Brunck said that the inauguration of the training institute marks another significant milestone in a 40-year partnership with TAQA.

"Our ambition is to locally apply and advance the sophisticated processing algorithms we develop globally in order to unmask the embedded value of the seismic data we have been acquiring here for so many years," he added.

Last month, CGGVeritas announced resilient corporate earnings for the second quarter of the year, with Middle Eastern contracts holding up particularly well.

Oil and Gas Directory: Training and Development