Enchanting Oman: Wadi Shab

A magazine exploring the oil and gas industry
A fount of knowledge
Issue two 2014
Enchanting Oman:
Wadi Shab
02
Solar renewable
energy: past,
present and future
10
Omani jobs
for skilled Omani
workers
12
A day in the
life of...
“In a time of increasing importance of the role of media in contemporary
life of communities and peoples, it is necessary to work on the development
of Omani media, to lead message in the development of the capacity citizen
and awareness in turn in the building and his country, and also it contributes
to the consolidation of the relations of friendship and cooperation with the
international community”
His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said
Dear Readers,
Welcome to issue two of al manhal for 2014. As ever, we have
a range of features which we hope will enrich your knowledge
about Oman’s oil and gas industry and the important role PDO
plays within it.
Turn to the centre pages and you’ll also find the first of
a brand new feature series – My Oman – that celebrates the
incomparable beauty of our country. This colourful addition to al
manhal is produced in association with PDO employee and keen
photographer Mohammed al Mahrazy, with Wadi Shab the first
natural wonder to be captured by his lens.
Our main industry topic this issue looks at the potential for solar
renewable energy to power the oil and gas sector, spotlighting the
successful launch of PDO’s solar steam generation pilot at Amal
and revealing plans for an exciting new solar power project.
Our next topic concerns business ethics – an issue that
has been high on Oman’s agenda. We look at a few of the ways
PDO is helping to ensure its staff ‘do the right thing’ as well as
pinpointing some of the wrong turns that can lead down the path
to corruption.
Our ever-popular Day in the Life feature is a little different this
time around. We’ve put Well and Reservoir Management Planner,
Hussain al Noumani in the hotseat, but instead of focusing on
his daily work routine we’ve taken key milestones in his PDO
career, to underline the possibilities for personal and professional
growth that the Company offers its high fliers.
Last, but certainly not least, we turn our attention to the
important work PDO is doing – in partnership with the government
and the contractor community – to provide thousands of good job
opportunities for young Omanis within the oil and gas industry.
We hope you enjoy reading this issue as much as we enjoyed
preparing it. Also, have you noticed our new look and feel? We
always welcome your comments and feedback so feel free to
contact us using the details on the right side of the page!
Regards,
Team al manhal
© 2014 Petroleum Development Oman
Articles from al manhal may be reprinted without specific
permission on condition that: the text be neither edited nor
abridged; the magazine and Petroleum Development Oman
be credited; and a copy of the reprinted article be provided
to al manhal’s managing editor.
Production Manager
Karima al Shahaibi
Graphic Design
Mohammed al Mahrazi
Design Consultants
United Media Services LLC
Translation & Editing
Saleh al Alawi, Yaqoub al-Mufargi,
Ikhlas al Waili & Mohammed al Arymi
Printer
Loay International LLC
Advisory Board
Suleiman al Manthari,
External Affairs and Communications
Manager, PDO
Abla al Riyami,
In-Country Value Director, PDO
Intisaar al Kindy,
Exploration Director, PDO
Dr. Saleh al Anbouri,
Ministry of Oil and Gas
Dr. Rashid al Maamari,
Sultan Qaboos University
Prof. Sobhi Nasir,
Sultan Qaboos University
Address editorial correspondence to:
Corporate Communications
PDO, P.O. Box 81
Muscat 100, Oman
[email protected]
Distributed every quarter to Sultan
Qaboos University, local private and
government colleges, and schools.
Contents
Solar renewable energy:
past, present and future
Ethics: why it’s everybody’s
business
With governments and wider society
demanding the highest standards of
ethics from the business world, PDO is
stepping up its efforts to ensure staff
‘do the right thing’.
12
Omani jobs for
skilled Omani
workers
16
Enchanting
Oman:
Wadi Shab
02
08
14
A day in the
life of...
With PDO’s first major solar
energy pilot now successfully up
and running, al manhal looks at
the future for solar power in the
oil and gas industry.
02
Solar
renewable
energy: past,
present and
future
With PDO’s first major solar energy pilot now successfully up and
running, al manhal looks at the future for solar power in the oil and gas
industry.
When PDO’s Head of New Technology
Implementation, Dr Syham Bentouati, received the
call on her mobile phone she couldn’t help but flash a
smile of satisfaction: the Amal solar steam pilot was
up and running – on time and on budget!
The plant, which was featured in al manhal’s
first issue of 2013, started producing steam on
12 December 2012 – or 12/12/12 to give its more
auspicious shorthand. From there,
the plant was quickly brought up to
full speed and by 1 February 2013 the
clock could start on its first complete
year of operation.
construction of the outer glasshouse that protected
the sunlight collecting mirrors. This glasshouse came
from Holland, and featured a ceiling system that
was sealed to the metal frame using plastic. That
might be OK in a more temperate European country,
but in the baking Middle Eastern sun the plastic
deformed, breaking the seal. The defect didn’t come
to light until the glasshouse sprang a leak during the
major storm of April 2013, but once
discovered it was quickly rectified
without the need to turn off the
steam generation.
Amal works,
what next?
By the time that year was over, the
plant’s use of sunshine to generate
steam was estimated to have saved
almost a million cubic metres of natural gas, at the
same time reducing PDO’s carbon footprint by some
1,800 tonnes of CO2.
From a technical perspective, the plant worked
even better than anticipated, with the average
volume of steam generated around 4% to 5% in
excess of the contractual obligation. There were a few
learnings along the way; most notably relating to the
In fact, during that same storm
the overall integrity of the solar
steam process was underlined when
it was the only operation in the
neighbouring area that didn’t need to be shut down
due to the effects of the bad weather.
Amal works – what next?
So the concept of solar steam generation is
proven. What next? The simple answer might be to
simply scale things up; to have solar power contribute
significantly to the steam at Amal or one of PDO’s
03
04
other thermal enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects.
However, there’s a major challenge in terms of the
footprint such a plant would occupy. At the moment, with
its relatively limited, 50 tonnes per day contribution to
the overall steam needs at Amal, the pilot
solar facility forms a reasonably compact
site equivalent to a couple of football
pitches. To cover all of Amal’s daily needs
of around 5,000-6,000 tonnes, the solar
plant would have to grow to cover more
than 200 football pitches. And this is not
even a particularly substantial project by
thermal EOR standards: the equivalent project at Qarn
Alam gets through 20,000 tonnes of steam a day!
There are two significant challenges involved, though.
First the size of the solar plant would have to at least be
doubled, to create sufficient capacity to cover both daily
and nightly steam requirements while the sun shines.
Second, an appropriate storage medium
would have to be chosen. There are
a few options out there, but one has
been reasonably proven in real world
conditions, namely molten salt. As its
name suggests, this is a form of salt that
becomes liquid when subjected to very
high temperatures, with this latent heat
able to be extracted later as required. On a simpler level,
the heat can also be stored in blocks of concrete, although
this is much less efficient. Even pools of water have been
proposed for heat storage, although again, efficiency is
questionable.
Solar energy
in Oman
And then, of course, there’s the question of what
happens at night. Steam injection is a 24/7 process in
most applications and even though the Omani day is a
consistently long one due to the country’s equatorial
location, there are numerous hours of darkness when
the solar energy collecting mirrors fall idle. The straightforward solution is to run a gas-powered boiler to fill in the
gaps – the more challenging, but more sustainable, option is
to introduce some form of heat storage that can be fed by
the sun during the day then tapped during the night.
Solar energy in Oman
Given its mid-year publication date, you are no doubt
reading this issue of al manhal while sheltering from the
searing Middle Eastern sun in an air-conditioned room
somewhere. As such a sunny country, Oman must be
among the premier places for solar energy to take hold,
right?
The simple answer is ‘yes’. As already mentioned,
Oman’s equatorial location means it gets a better quality
of sunshine than many other parts of the world. The sun
shines for a fairly consistent amount of time each day
throughout the year, particularly when compared with
parts of northern Europe where the sun completely
disappears for large stretches of winter time.
However, there are a few nuances that also need to
be considered by any organisation planning a large-scale
solar project. And one of these is dust. If you look at a
satellite image of the Gulf region you’ll usually see a cloud
of dust in the atmosphere, mostly sand that’s whipped
up by the desert winds. The dust layer acts as a screen,
preventing a proportion (anything up to 5%) of the
radiation emitted by the sun from reaching the earth’s
surface. This radiation is vital for solar heat/energy
generation, so any drop-off reduces a plant’s overall
effectiveness.
The dust creates another, more practical problem:
whenever there’s a heavy dew or rainfall it mixes with the
water and is deposited as mud on any solar panels facing
upwards to catch the sun. This mud dries like cement,
giving a major headache to the operational staff required
to keep the panels clean. Remember where we talked
about a solar field the size of 200 football pitches? Imagine
trying to keep that clean.
While they represent important technical and
operational challenges to be factored in, none of these
05
issues around solar energy should be thought of as show
stoppers. Indeed, PDO is now pressing ahead with its
next major solar power pilot (see panel). The Company
is also investigating the potential for solar desalination
plants, whereby the sun’s energy would heat salty water
sufficiently to boil it, with the vapour then condensed back
to clean water.
Finally, solar energy is also being considered to power
an unconventional water disposal project that would
extract salt from the hyper-saline produced water typical
of northern oilfields such as Fahud and Yibal. This salt has
a number of uses – for example, in drilling – but the trick
is to flow it into pools that are the optimal size and depth
to maximise evaporation.
The message to be drawn from all these initiatives
is that solar power is something PDO is taking very
seriously as it looks to meet future energy challenges as
well as to reduce its environmental footprint. Oman as
a country needs every cubic metre of gas it can get hold
of. Diversifying the economy into new areas such as
manufacturing and petrochemicals depends on a ready
supply of gas, while closer to home, PDO’s EOR activities
– so essential to maintaining production from maturing
fields – must also be fed by copious amounts of gas.
Thus solar, as a clean, renewable gas substitute, makes
all sorts of sense provided it can be tamed effectively.
Expect to see plenty more about cutting-edge solar
technologies in future issues of al manhal.
06
Technology
Corner
As al manhal went to press, PDO
had begun a study to assess the
options for building a solar power
plant that would have a generating
capacity of 5MW. PDO is calling this
a pilot project, but that is a serious
amount of power in its own right, in
keeping with the Company’s ethos to
make such initiatives large enough
to be meaningful in terms of impact,
learning experience and capacity to
scale up.
The key to making such a plant
most effective is location: it needs
to be in the best sun trap available,
somewhere that is
protected as much as
possible from heavy
dews and windborne dust, as well
as being where the
maximum amount of
‘good’ solar radiation
touches down on
earth.
07
an electrical circuit, the electrons can
be captured in the form of an electric
current – that is, electricity.
The
amount
of
electricity
produced is directly dependent on
how much light strikes the panel,
hence the need for it to be located in
as sunny a spot as possible and for it
to be kept spotlessly clean.
While PDO’s pilot PV plant is a
significant size, it is dwarfed by some
of the world’s largest plants of this
type. Many of these are located in the
United States, although China is fast
becoming a major solar power, with its
320MW Longyangxia
Hydro-solar PV Station
in Qinghai Province
said to be the world’s
largest commissioned
plant to date.
PDO prepares
to build
Oman’s
largest solar
power plant
Although nothing
has been decided yet,
there is a good chance
that the generating
technology that will be deployed is
photovoltaic panels, also known as
PVs.
PVs contain groups of cells,
which are made from thin layers
of semiconductor material, usually
silicon. This semiconductor wafer is
specially treated to form an electric
field, positive on one side and negative
on the other. When light energy
strikes the solar cell, electrons are
knocked loose from the atoms in the
semiconductor material. If electrical
conductors are attached to the
positive and negative sides, forming
Meanwhile, earlier
this year India pledged
to build the world’s
most powerful solar
plant. Located in the
state of Rajasthan,
this proposed behemoth
would be spread over 77 square
kilometres, an expanse of land that’s
bigger than Manhattan Island in the
US. It is planned to have a nominal
capacity of 4,000 MW, equivalent to
four full-size nuclear reactors, and
should generate around 6.4 billion
kilowatt-hours of electricity a year.
Such moves demonstrate that
the global solar race is well and
truly on, and the earth’s precious
natural resources, not to mention its
environment, look set to be the clear
winners.
08
Ethics: why it’s
everybody’s
business
Committed to the
With governments and wider society
demanding the highest standards of
ethics from the business world, PDO is
stepping up its efforts to ensure staff
‘do the right thing’.
Relationships keep the corporate world turning. People
tend to do business with people they like, so developing
and sustaining strong bonds at an individual level can
bring years of rewards at a company level.
In the past, and in many places in of the
world, maintaining that relationship with a gift
here, a nice meal there, or trip to a major
sporting event as a special treat, was seen
as part and parcel of the job. But where is
the line before such indulgence crosses into
darker territory, where the ‘treat’ becomes
an expectation, even one that stretches as far
as hard cash?
PDO CODE
OF CONDUCT
Committed to People & Safety
Committed to Fight Corrupt Practices
Committed to Safeguard Information & Assets
Committed to Prudent Communication
Committed to Fair National & International Trade
Poster valid till 31 August, 2011
In Oman, the government has significantly enhanced
its anti-corruption efforts in recent years, tightening
legislation, giving more powers to the State Audit
Institution and tripling the numbers of civil
servants tasked with investigating bribery
and corruption matters. The judiciary has
also been separated from the rest of the
machinery of government, giving it more
independence.
DO
THE RIGHT
THING
It’s an issue that has vexed the business
world for years, but recently it has become a
matter for governments, notably in the Middle
East region, where a good proportion of the public
discontent that prompted civil unrest in 2011 was
concerned with a perception of high levels of corruption.
our commitment...
ow Make
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PDO proud.
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At PDO, formal business ethics principles
have been in place since the early 1980s. In
2010, a new Ethics and Compliance team was
created; a dedicated resource that represented
something of a rarity in Omani corporate circles
at that time. The ethics and compliance function,
which sits within PDO’s Legal Department, was
tasked with things like managing business ethics systems
and processes, handling investigations and reporting.
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Since then, many improvements were
introduced in PDO by the Compliance
team. This started with the introduction
of an enhanced code of conduct, with
increased focus on conflict of interest, bribery
and corruption. Staff were reminded of the key
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behavioural principles the Company
wanted them to comply with. At the same
time, a new ‘Blow The Whistle’ process was
launched, offering a confidential reporting
mechanism for anyone witnessing or hearing
about suspect behaviour.
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of investigating incidents, with a new committee
It's your chance to stand up against corruption.
established to decide the consequences of investigated
matters, all of which are also reported to the State Audit
Adherence to the conduct is pivotal and a sure way to uphold our integrity and ethical values in everything we do.
Institution, Public Prosecutor or Royal Oman Police,
depending on the seriousness of the case. Training
Commitment to People and Safety
and communication campaigns were also launched
• Health, Safety & Environment (HSE)
• Equal Opportunity
throughout PDO and the automatic/online reporting of
• Harassment
• Substance Abuse
potential conflicts was introduced, to comply with the
new legislation on conflict of interest.
THE PDO CODE OF CONDUCT
Commitment to Fight Corrupt Practices
• Anti-Bribery & Corruption
• Conflict of Interest
• Gifts & Hospitality
• Money Laundering
Commitment to Safeguard Information and Assets
•
•
•
•
Intellectual Property
Data Privacy & Protection
Records Management
Protection of Corporate Assets
Commitment to Prudent Communication
• Business Communication & the Email Code
• Personal Use of IT & Communications
• Public Disclosure
• Financial Reporting
Commitment to Fair National &
International Trade
• Free & Fair Competition
• Import-Export Control & Sanctions
Let’s show our commitment. Make PDO proud.
Raoul Restucci
Managing Director
Link to PDO-COC: http://sww.pdo.shell.om/sites/fd/FLG/default.aspx
The goal driving all of these parallel efforts is to use
the enhanced governance regime as a stepping stone
to changing employee behaviours, so that even also the
slightest unethical behaviour becomes as unacceptable
as unsafe behaviours are within the Company in its Goal
Zero and zero tolerance drive on safety. That’s a tough,
long-term process, but PDO is pursuing it with vigour
as it aims to retain its his role as the leading company
driving best practices in the Oman oil and gas business..
Bringing business ethics to life for
PDO staff
The primary mechanism being used to change
attitudes is training. Each year, hundreds of employees
undergo face-to-face fraud awareness training, a
programme that peaked last year with no fewer than
1,300 individuals attending courses. This year, a new
online training module will also be made available,
while bespoke programmes catering for particular
departments’ needs can also be arranged.
Business ethics also features strongly on internal
communications collateral, including screensaver
messages and a rotating series of campaign messages
that appear on the public TV screens dotted around the
Company’s offices. The launch slogan for this programme
10
was ‘Say No To Bribery’,
with the follow-up ‘Do The
right Thing’ in circulation
at the time of going to
press.
Looking ahead, PDO’s
corruption-busters
know they have more
to do before the risks
of ethical breaches can
be minimised. However,
nobody is under any
illusions that there won’t
still be the odd bad apple
in the barrel – nothing is
ever 100% certain when
people are involved. Such
miscreants will simply be
an ever-smaller, and ever
more-scorned, minority.
And that’s the way it
should be.
The slippery slope to corruption
Gifts Hospitality and Travel
• Gifts or hospitality should never influence imminent
business decision-making processes or cause others to
perceive an influence
PDO’s Head of Ethics and Compliance is Tertius Stapelberg. A former police officer
and a man vastly experienced in dealing with these matters, he gave al manhal an
insight into how seemingly harmless gifts and hospitality can overstep the line into
something more dangerous to all concerned.
“Gifts and hospitality given too freely and regularly are a major driver of
bribery and corruption, because once people get used to these small gifts it
becomes the norm, and that opens the door to any unscrupulous supplier
wishing to misuse the situation.
“When it comes to money being offered, the answer should always be ‘no’.
But that can be a difficult thing to say when the offer is on the table and there
are only two people in the room. You might say no once, twice, maybe more
times; but then there might be a situation where you need the money – say
for an illness in the family. However, once you’ve taken it you’ve crossed a line
that is very, very difficult to pull back from. And that’s the start of a corrupt
relationship.
“Worse still, the logic is that once you’ve accepted a bribe you are open to
blackmail in future, so you are really at the mercy of the other party. They can
exploit that weakness in a single meeting to have you under their control for
the rest of your business life.”
11
Global anti-corruption
initiatives
As part of the global fight against corruption, a number
of international compliance organisations have been formed
that encourage public and private sector institutions to adopt
more ethical and sustainable practices.
Say NO
Probably the best known is the United Nations Global
Compact. It was founded in 2000 with nine principles centred
around human rights, labour standards and environmental
protection; withand a 10th, directly relating to anti-corruption,
subsequently added in 2004. This tenth principle states that
‘businesses should work against corruption in all its forms,
including extortion and bribery’.
to Bribery
Another well-known corruption-fighting organisation is
Transparency International, which publishes an annual
Corruption Perceptions Index that provides a comparative listing
of corruption worldwide. It is credited with putting corruption
on the agenda at global institutions such as the World Bank and
International Monetary Fund, both of which now see corruption
as one of the main obstacles to international development.
The third major anti-corruption organisation is the Partnering
Against Corruption Initiative (PACI). This body was founded by a
group of company CEOs in 2004 and today it falls under the auspices
of the World Economic Forum. Originally focused on improving
compliance practices, PACI has been devoting increasing efforts
to foster a high-level dialogue between business and governments
on key corruption challenges. It counts Royal Dutch Shell, PDO’s
major corporate shareholder, among its members.
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Stand up against corruption.
MAKE PDO PROUD.
Say NO to
Corruption
Don’t get hooked
Say NO to bribes.
Make PDO proud.
Poster valid till 31 August, 2011
12
Omani jobs for skilled
Omani workers
PDO’s yearly operating budget runs into billions of dollars,
but until recently just 18% of that money stayed inside Oman,
with the rest being paid out for imported goods, services and
manpower.
Now the Company is aiming to increase that ‘Made in Oman’ element to 32%, as part of its
commitment to the national In-Country Value initiative (see almanhal issue 1, 2014 for more
details).
A key component of this new ambition will be made up by human capital, replacing expat
workers with Omanis as part of the process known nationally as ‘Omanisation’. However, the
vast proportion of oil and gas roles are skilled ones, and this threw up a problem: how to
get contractors to employ Omanis when too few were available who possessed the required
knowledge and skills?
The answer is a ground-breaking initiative that has brought together government, PDO and
key contractors into a unique, mutually beneficial partnership. Here’s how it works…
Matching Omanis with opportunities
Ask a contractor to employ a greater proportion of skilled Omanis in technical jobs and in the
past the answer would often be “I can’t find any”. That won’t be the case in future, because PDO is
now taking responsibility for training Omanis to take on technical roles, provided the contractor
commits to employing that person for a period of at least two years after qualification. The
prospective recruits are all young men registered as unemployed at the Ministry of Manpower,
and for jobs such as pipe fitters, electrical engineers and instrument technicians, school leavers
are targeted. It’s a win/win for PDO and the contractors, helping the former to fulfil its pledge
to create more opportunities for Omanis, while the latter only have to cover the trainee’s PASI
social insurance, since the training costs are underwritten by PDO. Better still, while undergoing
training the individual still counts towards the contractor’s Omanisation target.
Training the new recruits
Once PDO has reviewed the list of potential recruits forwarded by the Ministry of
Manpower, the likely candidates’ details are sent to one of the external training providers who
have been tasked with running the programme. There are four such companies now involved,
with a new supplier added recently to cope with the burgeoning success of the initiative. Each
candidate undergoes a placement test and face-to-face session with the contractor, after which
the successful ones will sign a ‘training for employment’ contract. The training itself begins
with a foundation course that covers subjects such as English and maths, behaviour and work
ethics, which is followed by the technical elements. This year health, safety and environment
(HSE) training will also be factored in. When the training is successfully completed, the
candidate goes straight to his or her job with the contractor.
Upskilling, reskilling, dual skilling…
In the past, one of the biggest issues with Omanisation at contractor level has been a
tendency to meet the benchmarks through giving Omanis low- and unskilled roles, such as
drivers or helpers. PDO feels these employees should have a chance to better themselves, so
as part of this initiative it is looking to upskill, reskill or dual skill them so they can take on
better paid, more senior positions as technicians. New classrooms and training centres are
currently being built in the Interior, allowing unskilled workers to fit their training around
their ‘day jobs’. Already, contractors have indicated that they’ll put some 1,800 Omani
employees forward for this programme, a stunning success that will not just provide a new
wave of skilled Omani workers but will also create space for further unskilled recruits as
people move up and out of their current jobs.
Graduates can also get involved
Graduates seeking work (and therefore registered with the Ministry of Manpower)
are also able to join this initiative. Calling upon the knowledge of its own subject matter
experts, PDO has devised a special, two-year accelerated experience programme in
areas such as health and safety and quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) which
contractors have previously cited as lacking in suitable Omani candidates. Unlike the
technical programme for school leavers, here the graduates sit with their employer from
day one, acquiring on-the-job experience alongside an intensive training programme that
provides successful participants with an internationally recognised accreditation, for
example, the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH)
qualification for health and safety.
6G welding – a new level of ambition
Perhaps the most ambitious of all the elements to this programme is the plan to train
Omanis in the extremely complex and prestigious job of 6G welder. This particular skill is
the toughest to learn in the welding trade, covering every difficult position a welder might
encounter. PDO has some massive projects on the horizon, including the next phase of
its Harweel enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project and a ground-breaking new initiative at
Yibal Khuff (to be featured in a future issue). These projects require large numbers of 6G
welders, so during the next two years some 400 Omanis are going to be trained to meet
this manpower need, the first time a top-level vocational training programme of this scale
has been attempted in the Middle East region. The first batch of 200 trainees are already
learning the trade, and training is said to be going well.
Looking to the future; and how to get involved
So far this broad-based programme has created more than 10,000 opportunities for
Omanis since it got underway in 2011. Last year alone there were more than 3,500 jobs
or opportunities to train and upskill provided. For the future, a new initiative focused on
drilling is currently being created, to help more Omanis get into this booming discipline
within the oil and gas industry. The Super Local Community Contractors (SLCCs) are also
getting more involved, putting their candidates forward to join the training programmes. If
you are an unemployed school leaver or graduate and want to get involved yourself, make
sure you are registered with the Ministry of Manpower and then contact the programme
team at: [email protected]
13
14
A day in the life of...
Hussain al Noumani,
Well and Reservoir Management Planner
In a break from the normal routine, we’re changing this feature to reflect
the ‘career in the life’ of Hussain al Noumani, to help underline the breadth
of career options available to those joining PDO. Hussain has chosen his own
path, with suitable guidance from managers and mentors along the way, and
has most recently taken on the job of Well and Reservoir Management Planner
for the Company’s fields in the north of Oman. You can find out more about this
specific role by referring back to al manhal’s first issue of 2010.
13 years ago…
Cutting my teeth in the drilling
discipline
Two years ago…
15
Supporting PDO’s commitment to excellence
PDO began supporting my personal
development as soon as I joined the Company
back in 2001. I received a scholarship to finish off
my degree in chemical engineering, which I did
at the University of Manchester in the UK. When
I returned to Oman I started work in production
chemistry, a job that took me out into the field to
work at the rig-site. I really enjoyed the drilling
part of the process and I took it upon myself to
gain the ‘Round One’ drilling qualification, again
with PDO’s support. In the end I moved full time
into the drilling department, took and passed
my ‘Round Two’ qualification and that qualified
me to be the chief PDO representative on the rig,
with sole responsibility for monitoring drilling
activities on behalf of the Company.
Aside from my ‘day job’, for the past two years I’ve also
had the role of Scheme Manager for the Chairman’s Awards
for Excellence (CAE), which is PDO’s way of honouring the
Company’s best and most innovative teams. I also have
responsibility for DALTA, which is short for the Dr Abdulla al
Lamki Award for Developing Talent and is given each year to the
person who has done most to foster staff development within
the Company. Both these initiatives are very rewarding to be
part of and have done great things for my internal profile within
PDO, particularly among the Company’s management. I am
grateful to my boss for supporting me in taking them on. I will
probably look to work through one more awards cycle, then pass
the role on to someone else who can make it their own and use it
as part of their career progression. In my spare time I do voiceovers for PDO communication videos and radio commercials on
Oman FM. I have previously worked as a news anchor for Oman
TV from 2007 till 2012. I also continue to provide voice-overs for
Oman TV documentaries.
Five years ago…
Today…
Always keen to better myself, I applied for a
Fulbright Scholarship to take my Masters degree
in the United States. In 2007, I was notified
that I’d been accepted for the scholarship, so in
August that year I left for Texas A&M University,
where I spent the next two years undertaking a
Masters in Petroleum Engineering. PDO agreed to
let me have a paid sabbatical during this period,
provided I committed to coming back and working
for the Company for a further three years. That
suited me fine! When I came back to Oman with
the Masters in my pocket I continued working in
drilling for a while, then in 2011 I switched to the
Petroleum Engineering department, working as
a Production Technologist focused on a group of
fields located in the south of Oman.
Now I can bring the story right up to date, because I’ve just
taken on my latest role within PDO, that of Well & Reservoir
Management Planner covering the north of the Company’s
concession area. This is still quite a new position in PDO – I’m
just the second person to fill these shoes – and the prospect
fills me with equal measures of excitement and apprehension!
In a nutshell, the Well & Reservoir Management Planner role is
to look at all the Oil North Directorate’s activities from a bird’s
eye view, deciding where best to allocate resources so we can
maximise production. It’s a move away from a pure technical
role into one more about management, but at this stage of my
career I was ready for a new challenge. I have a mentor within
the Company, someone I picked myself because we have such
a good relationship, and he has been very supportive to me in
making my mind up about my next career move. My message to
any students considering a career at PDO is to come in with your
eyes open to the huge possibilities you’ll find in front of you, and
not to get fixated on one career path at the expense of others.
There’s always room to try something new, provided you show
your enthusiasm and aptitude!
A masters scholarship and then a
move into petroleum engineering
Getting my feet under the table in my new
job!
16
Enchanting
Oman:
Wadi Shab
Oman is not just a jewel of the Gulf region; it’s
also one of the most beautiful countries in the
world. For our next few issues, we’ve teamed
up with PDO employee and keen photographer
Mohammed al Mahrazy to bring that beauty to life
on our centre pages.
Some of the natural wonders we profile will be
very familiar to you; others less so. All should be
seen in person, but please respect these national
treasures and ensure that others can enjoy them
by taking nothing away and leaving no trace of
your visit.
Our first spotlight falls on Wadi Shab: one
of Oman’s genuine, must-see beauty spots. It is
located some 40 kilometres southeast of Dibab,
just off the main highway close to Tiwi village.
From Muscat the drive is around an hour and
a half. After parking, you take a small ferryboat
across the big water pool at the entrance, which
costs 1 rial per person (kids go free).
Once at the wadi, you will find gorgeous blue
pools, soaring cliff faces and lush greenery belying
its desert location. Visitors of all ages will love to
have a swim in the refreshing water, while it’s also
possible to dive from the cliffs, although only if you
know where the deeper pools are!
Those who’ve been say the further into Wadi
Shab you venture, the more amazing it becomes.
And perhaps the highlight is a ‘secret’ cave – only
accessible from the water and with a near-invisible
entrance – that once inside opens up to reveal a
waterfall lit by beams of sunlight flooding through
gaps in the cave ceiling.
A truly magical place.