North Dakota governor John Hoeven has opened a new 7,500 sq ft petroleum safety and training centre at Willison State College.

The new training centre includes four classrooms, three offices and two high bays, all of which will be used to run the college's varied oil and gas training course options.

Among the modules offered by the institution are Floorhand for Well Servicing, Commercial Driver's Licence, Introduction to Oil and Gas Operations, Safety, Management and Rig Up Training and a number of fire training programmes.

Mr Hoeven said the oil and gas industry is providing a steady supply of jobs in the state through a period of economic difficulty.

"The new Petroleum Safety and Technology Center is on the front lines of this growing industry and by partnering with private-sector companies, it is helping to train a workforce skilled and ready to meet the technical demands of oil and gas operations," he said.

The training facilities were approved by the state department of commerce in March 2006 in order to provide the training necessary to keep pace with technological developments in the oil and gas industry.

Oil and Gas Directory: Training and Development