Exprodat Consulting has announced that its geographic information systems (GIS) division has now trained more than 500 workers in the upstream oil and gas industry.

The company, which is best known for its software and consulting services, is aiming to build on the success enjoyed by its training division in the months to come, and expects to train an additional 100 workers by the end of the year.

"As specialists in applying GIS technology to [exploration and production], our unique experience allowed us to develop ArcGIS training courses that addressed the specific needs of the oil and gas sector," said Chris Jepps, technical director for Exprodat Consulting.

The company has also developed condensed courses which minimise time spent away from normal upstream duties, recognising that worker downtime is particularly expensive for the offshore industry.

And with its ArcGIS training modules based on international oil and gas industry standards, the company also aims to ensure that new trainees will be able to "hit the ground running" once their course is completed.

Oil and Gas Directory: Training and Development