Saipem opens drilling training centre with full-scale simulator
The IWCF-accredited centre combines classroom work with an immersive simulator using rig-style controls and a 24-monitor display.
- Event
- First published on EPC Feed
- Sources
- 1 listed below
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- 2 min
Saipem has launched a new Drilling Training Centre equipped with a full-scale simulator for immersive instruction. Announced on 19 January 2026, the centre combines theoretical learning with practical exercises and holds International Well Control Forum accreditation. Saipem also notes its 32 years of IWCF membership. That period describes the company's membership history, rather than the age of the newly launched training centre or the length of time its current simulator has been operating.
The simulator uses 24 monitors to create a display more than eight metres long and three metres high. Its cyber chairs reproduce the human-machine interfaces and control systems found on actual drilling rigs. The announced equipment is intended to let participants practise with recognisable controls in an immersive environment. The release does not identify the centre's location, the number of people it can train annually or a fee schedule for individual courses.
A mathematical and fluid-dynamic model supports the simulated drilling environment. Saipem says it can reproduce geological and well conditions, together with offshore and deepwater operating dynamics. This allows practical scenarios to be combined with classroom instruction without exposing trainees to the physical conditions of a live well. The source does not supply comparative learning results or a quantified reduction in operational incidents attributable to use of the new centre.
The programme includes courses and certification for key rig roles, with provision for off-site training and certification activities. EPC Feed's interpretation is that the combination of rig-style controls and variable operating scenarios provides a way to connect procedural understanding with repeated practice. The value of that approach depends on the scenarios, instruction and assessment applied; the dimensions of the display alone do not establish training effectiveness or guarantee an operational outcome.
For drilling contractors and workforce planners, the announcement identifies an additional training capability rather than a new drilling asset or customer project. Its accreditation and simulator configuration are the concrete disclosed features. Further information would be needed to establish course availability, eligibility and the detailed assessment pathway for a particular role. Keeping those practical questions open avoids inventing course commitments, trainer biographies or capacity figures while documenting the equipment and programme that Saipem has actually announced.
Sources
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