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An Industry-Driven Program || Barnett Shale Means Jobs, Jobs Jobs The Barnett Shale — it's the energy boom of our generation—and it means opportunity for North Texans for decades to come. That translates to JOBS, JOBS and more JOBS, especially for those who have the right kind of education and training to take advantage of the best opportunities. And that’s exactly what the new Oil & Gas Production Technology Program at NCTC is all about. It was developed in direct partnership with the oil and gas industry; therefore, it provides training that meets this industry’s expectations. In addition to developing technical knowledge of gas operations, the industry expects students to develop their communication and team-building skills through this program.
It is here that our industry partners wished the program to be based in the begining and for which they have provided financial support to expand facilities, adding a vocational training area as well as a large multi-purpose classroom designed expressly for the Oil & Gas technical courses. Safety training as designed and mandated by OSHA will be a major component. Other courses will address work teams, communication and leadership as well as the experiential training for the oil and gas industries. These courses prepare students for entry-level careers as part of a production team charged with safe and efficient extraction and flow of product. Those currently in the field who combine education with experience will be able to seek progression into managerial jobs with higher wages. At its foundation, the program will introduce students to the industry, its rich history, and purposes/procedures in varied petroleum technologies: exploration, drilling, production, transportation, marketing, and refining. Introductory and advanced oil and gas specialty topics as recommended by industry partners are heavily entrenched in the curriculum content. The program will be highly experiential, allowing students to gain knowledge from lecture and hands-on application of concepts both in the lab setting and in the field. Students will gain knowledge related to basic oil field equipment maintenance and repair and environmental and regulatory mandates. Computer literacy will be a program mainstay as the industry adapts to new technology field needs to expediently translate well data. Industry has also demonstrated its support for this program by providing financial support for facilities, equipment, scholarships and even paid internships for selected students in the summer. For additional information:
The Barnett Shale — Jobs, Jobs Jobs for Northern Texas Business activities associated with the North Central Texas oil and gas industry have accelerated dramatically with development of the Barnett Shale natural gas field—one of the largest natural gas fields in North America and the largest in the state of Texas. Improved recovery techniques and high gasoline prices this decade facilitated increased drilling activity in the region, and that has substantially increased job opportunities for those with the right kind of training.
From a regional perspective, despite state and national numbers that indicate a downturn in oil and gas employment, there will be a positive change in employment rates for Cooke and Montague counties and the entire North Central Texas College service area. For Cooke and Montague counties, there will be a +6.61% change in the number of jobs in the oil and gas industry by 2017. The NCTC service area will see a +8.05% change in jobs in the oil and gas industry (CC Benefits, Inc.). Barnett Shale has resulted for Cooke and Montague counties in real gross product gains totaling $435 million and $136 million respectively. Further, 4,794 Cooke County jobs are linked to Barnett Shale, while an additional 1,657 jobs will impact Montague County. (Perryman Impact Study). North Central Texas College is aligned with three Workforce Development Boards (WBD) – Texoma, North Texas and North Central – all who have identified Oil and Gas Technology as a targeted industry for North Texas in 2007. This trend is expected to continue well into the next decade. Further, the Energy Industry is cited by the Texas Workforce Commission as a cluster with demand growth. A consortium of energy industry organizations, in an effort to increase labor pool capacity for the North Texas oil and gas industry, requested an alliance with North Central Texas College to provide educational programs. Representatives of 14 organizations—including industry partners Complete Production Services (CPS); EnCana U.S.A., Inc.; and Energy Service Company of Bowie—have worked closely together with North Central Texas College and advistory board members to identify critical needs. Employers expressed a substantial need to increase the existing labor pool for oil and gas industry technicians, as well as providing advanced cross-training topics for incumbent workers. Respondents to need assessment surveys stated that new employees are consistently required, while 1,177 additional workers would be needed by 2013. In addition, these organizations are in dire need of commercial drivers, with a need to fill 200 anticipated vacancies in the next five years. This group of employers alone support a substantial labor pool in Montague, Cooke, Wise, Denton, Tarrant, Parker, Hood, Jack and Grayson counties—with a prominent payroll. CPS is the largest single employer in Cooke County with 2,200. Energy Service Company of Bowie is one of the top employers in Montague County with more than 250 employees. EnCana employs 1,600 workers within the USA, with 300 of those located in Texas and specifically 45 in the North Texas Area. Program graduates with no prior field experience in the oil and gas industry experience would enter core jobs such as Floor Hands with anticipated annual salaries of $40,000. Those already in the field who have moved progressively up job tiers have the wage capacity for $95,000 as Tool Pushers. Additional education at the university level will allow movement into roles including upper level management.
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Starting with the Fall 2008 semester, the NCTC Oil & Gas Production Technology Program will offer the industry-prescribed courses leading to either a two-year Associate Degree or a one-year Certificate of Completion. The Oil & Gas coursework will be a combination of core academic courses and highly specialized technical classes. The academic support courses for this program can be completed at any of our campuses—Gainesville, Corinth or Bowie. However, the technical courses will, initially, be taught at our Bowie Campus. 