Kumul Petroleum Holdings staff, Zachariah Yakap and Elliona Maso, have expressed mixed emotions about their acceptance to a prestigious campus in Spain.
Both candidates were accepted into the Centro de Formacion de Repsol campus, out of thousands of applications from around the world, to undertake the Masters in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production program.
Yakap, from Laiagap in Enga Province, says he is excited about the opportunity to learn in Spain and that it was too good to be true.
Graduating from the University of Technology as a mechanical engineer, his program will focus on Master in Petroleum Engineering, Reservoir Management.
“I would also like to say it’s God’s blessing.
“You know it was the world who applied for a limited number of space and we were fortunate and we feel that it is God’s blessing in our life and so since we belong to the country and to the national oil company, our knowledge and whatever we gain or experience in our studies, we will use it to work for the company through which the 7 million people are the shareholders,” Yakap said.
Maso will be studying in the Master of Geo Science program, given her background in geology from which she earned a degree at the University of Papua New Guinea.
The Aitape and Tufi lass says she is getting anxious as the travelling date approaches.
“My parents are really excited about it, mostly more than me,” she said.
“I’m anxious, not really scared as I ought to be.”
Both individuals will undergo an intense seven-month program which begins on January 9th and concludes on July 21st.
Their programs are sponsored by Repsol SA, Spain’s largest oil company.
Repsol has been present in PNG since May 2015, following its acquisition of Talisman Energy.