Schlumberger, the world's largest oilfield services company, is putting the finishing touches to a new base of operations in Basra to support development in the Iraqi oil and gas industry.

The company will use the new base to train domestic and expat staff and it expects to house 300 permanent workers at the site by July and 600 by the end of the year.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Schlumberger chief executive Andrew Gould explained that the company has experienced problems training Iraqi workers outside of the country as many countries in the region impose strict visa requirements.

However, with the new base of operations, the company will be able to limit the cost and time complications of the training process, he claimed.

In other company training news, Schlumberger has also this week awarded two new scholarships to the Association of Petroleum Geologists' Outstanding Student Chapter programme, with the awards going to the University of Oklahoma and the University of Diponegoro in Semarang, Indonesia.

Oil and Gas Directory: Training and Development