TATWEER Petroleum, a joint venture operating company between Noga (National Oil & Gas Authority), Occidental Petroleum Corporation and Mubadala Development Company (Mubadala), is making significant contributions to Bahrain’s economy.

The company is also continuously awarding many of its contracts to Bahraini contractors and suppliers who have recruited many Bahrainis to provide the services, says Hisham Zubari, the deputy CEO of Tatweer Petroleum.

“Moreover, Tatweer is transforming the culture in the oil and gas industry in Bahrain to an effective performance-driven culture, both company and individual. These achievements are aligned directly and indirectly with the kingdom’s Economic Vision 2030,” he tells Oil & Gas News in an exclusive interview.

A good number of local contractors were able to provide Tatweer with required services. Successful local contractors will continue to enjoy significant contracts as Tatweer’s operations grow. “Today we have over 5,000 contractors’ employees working in the Bahrain Field on any given day,” he says.

“The total man working hours we have achieved with our staff and contractors are more than 19 million hours during 2012. During 2012, we went over 3 million hours without a lost time accident for any of our contractors which was a record for Tatweer that we hope to improve upon this year,” he says.

Excerpts from the interview:

How has Tatweer helped to improve the economic prosperity of the Kingdom of Bahrain? How does it align with the kingdom’s Economic Vision 2030?
In its short life of three years, Tatweer has already made significant contributions to the economy of the Kingdom of Bahrain starting with increasing oil production and gas production capacity to meet the kingdom’s increasing gas demand. Tatweer is also continuously awarding many of its contracts to Bahraini contractors and suppliers who recruited many Bahrainis to provide the services.

Moreover, Tatweer is transforming the culture in the oil and gas industry in Bahrain to an effective performance-driven culture, both company and individual. These achievements are aligned directly and indirectly with the kingdom’s Economic Vision 2030.

How many local industries have benefited from Tatweer’s operations till the end of 2012? Which are they?
Tatweer provides the energy required by all local industries and power generation through natural gas. You can imagine the value these industries are adding to the kingdom’s economy.

Who are the local contractors who have benefited from Tatweer?
A good number of local contractors were able to provide Tatweer with required services. Successful local contractors will continue to enjoy significant contracts as Tatweer’s operations grow. Today we have over 5,000 contractors’ employees working in the Bahrain Field on any given day.

Tatweer’s committed workforce

How many more professional and skilled jobs will be added in 2013 as result of Tatweer’s operations?
We consider ourselves young and growing company and in three years we have recruited more than 540 Bahrainis beside other indirect Bahrainis that have been recruited by the contractors, who are constructing Tatweer’s expansion projects.

What is your greatest challenge today with respect to Bahrainisation?
I believe the greatest challenge we have today is to attract young male and female Bahrainis to study petroleum engineering and earth sciences. There are great career opportunities for young bright engineers to go into these rare disciplines to meet Tatweer’s future requirements. The same goes for gender diversity. There is a great challenge attracting females to work in the oil and gas industry.

How many hours of training do you plan to impart to the local workforce in 2013?
Tatweer has provided more than 120,000 hours of training for its staff and we are planning to achieve more this year for the local workforce.

Could you comment on the HSE goals and how they are going to be met?
We have many goals to achieve during 2013, building on the successes accomplished during the last three years. We are expanding our safety educational programmes. In addition to experts from Occidental Petroleum and Mubadala, Tatweer utilised the services of reputable international consultants to help with setting and meeting international standards for all of our operations.

Since its inception, Tatweer’s management has been imposing tight targets to achieve. To engage our staff, we have incorporated HSE targets into our KPIs that will eventually impact the company performance portion of the annual bonus.

How many work hours have been achieved at the site? How many man-hours have been clocked without lost time accident (LTA) for contractors?
The total man working hours we have achieved with our staff and contractors are more than 19 million hours during 2012. During 2012, we went over 3 million hours without a lost time accident for any of our contractors which was a record for Tatweer that we hope to improve upon this year.

What are the risk reduction measures being implemented?
As road accidents are considered to be one of the major problems we are facing in the Field, mainly by the public and especially during camping season, we have started implementing many mitigation measures in cooperation with other governmental agencies to reduce driving hazards and save lives. Internally, we have expanded our safety courses to cover many prevention practices that our staff and contractors need to follow. In addition we are continuing our regular safety meetings with the contractors to make sure that all their workers are following our safety practices. We also distribute public awareness leaflets to residents and campers, to explain to them the type of risks they are exposed to camping or driving within the field.

Other risk reduction measures include securing our sites and installing warning signs and wind socks in them, increasing security patrols in the field, establishing safety exclusion zones and restricting access to the public for their safety. We have also provided personal gas detection monitors to protect our staff.

What is the significance of the LNO you obtained from the General Directorate for the Protection of Environment and Wild Life (GDEWP) for projects in 2012?
In Tatweer, we set high HSE standards for our operations. HSE is the backbone of the sustainability of our business. This is reflected in our Vision and Mission statements as well as our Values. Obtaining permits for our new facilities from the Supreme Council for the Environment is very significant and demonstrates that we are building relationships with our stakeholders in the kingdom and we are working hard to maintain our high standards.