Like many university students, Yasi Koriam struggled to find a passion that would also secure his future.

But an opportunity to take a year-long training course in Canada sponsored by ExxonMobil gave Yasi a new direction, and now he’s part of the fast-growing natural gas industry in his home country of Papua New Guinea.

“I was part of the first group from Papua New Guinea to complete the program,” he says. “That experience gave me and my colleagues a great foundation to grow from.”

Koriam has worked since 2010 as an electrical technician at the Hides Gas Conditioning Plant, one of several facilities within the ExxonMobil-operated Papua New Guinea liquefied natural gas (PNG LNG) project. The Hides plant, located in PNG’s Hela Province, processes gas that will go on to provide reliable energy to homes and businesses around Asia.

Every day brings a new challenge for Koriam and his colleagues. One day they may be performing routine maintenance at the wellpad sites, and the next they’re traveling to a remote location to install new electrical equipment.

ExxonMobil employs 3,200 workers, and 86 percent of them are Papua New Guineans. That high local employment rate is thanks to the company’s focus on training programs. But training doesn’t stop once employees are hired. Koriam has been able to further hone his skills on the job, even becoming a nationally licensed electrician.

“The best advice I could give is to take up a career in something that you have an interest in doing, something that gives you satisfaction,” Koriam says. “I’m fortunate to have found that in the work I do every day.”

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