Honeywell to train refinery technicians in Vietnam

Honeywell Process Solutions announced Thursday that it would train technical personnel at the new 200,000-bpd complex being built in Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam.

Honeywell will be responsible for helping to prepare the workforce for the refinery's 2017 start-up as well as the ongoing operational and business readiness of the facility.

Nghi Son Refinery will be the country's second, and largest, refinery and will meet about 30% of Vietnam's growing demand for refined petroleum products, such as motor fuel and petrochemicals. Vietnam is a net exporter of crude oil, producing more than 350,000 bpd of crude oil. But with limited refining capacity, the country currently imports more than half of its refined products to meet demand.

"This refinery will be an important part of Vietnam's energy picture, enabling us to turn our own vast oil reserves into finished products," said Kazutoshi Shimmura, general director of NSRP.

On projects such as the NSRP refinery, Honeywell is able to implement a standardized training strategy, which includes a targeted, cost-effective program that addresses gaps in experience and competency of the recruited workforce. Honeywell's in-country experience also enables it to identify and empower local educational institutions to provide a large share of training deliverables.

"The training partnership between Honeywell and NSRP will help to enable the refinery workforce to become more productive faster, increasing value and safety to NSRP's operations," said John Rudolph, vice president of Honeywell Process Solutions.

Industrial organizations can leverage Honeywell's training management services to integrate instruction provided by industry experts for advanced-level training. This approach blends classroom instruction, including eLearning, with simulation, hands-on experience and on-the-job components. 

The program also measures each employee's progress and provides remedial intervention for those needing additional help.

In addition, Honeywell's comprehensive project management solution allows execution of training programs on time and on budget. It further increases overall training retention, which will translate to faster, incident-free startups, according to company officials.

The Nghi Son Refinery project is a joint venture of Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN), Kuwait Petroleum Europe BV (KPE), Idemitsu Kosan Co. (IKC) and Mitsui Chemicals (MCI).