OVER 130 local vendors have benefited from Tatweer’s activities since it operations started late 2009, says Hisham Zubari deputy CEO of Tatweer Petroleum.

The total amount awarded for these vendors to date was $1.4 billion, he says in an exclusive interview with OGN.

“It is worth mentioning that over 30 per cent of the $4.5 billion total worth of contracts has been awarded to local companies for local services. The economic value added from these ancillary services, ranging from catering to construction companies, is significant,” he says.

“Our contractors’ services range from suppliers of power generators to large fabrication and construction companies. Tatweer gives preference to local vendors provided they are cost-effective,” he says.

Excerpts from the interview:

How many more professional and skilled jobs will be added in 2014 as result of Tatweer’s operations?
The plan for 2014 is to hire around 100 new employees in various professional and skilled jobs. Tatweer’s operation is now more focused on evaluating pilots and so expertise in this field of reservoir and production engineering are required.

In addition to recruitment of skilled and professional jobs, we also engage the services of reputable consultants to conduct specific studies on specialised projects in the Bahrain Field.

How many hours of training do you plan to impart to the local workforce in 2014?
Training is an essential element in Tatweer Petroleum due to the nature of our projects. We are proud to be a learning organisation, thanks to our affiliation with reputed oil companies, Occidental Petroleum and Mubadala Petroleum, who have international exposure and expertise that we enjoy in Tatweer.

This year we plan to carry out more than 100,000 hours of training across the company. This is an average of five weeks of training for each Bahraini employee in the company. Our training is not limited to technical but also includes management and leadership for those high performing employees who are on the succession plan.

Tatweer Petroleum has a very clear HSE Policy

What are the key features of the deal signed between Tatweer and NIIT?
Due to the increasing level of activities in the Bahrain Field, there is a need for young Bahrainis to work on managing the new facilities.

To helps prepare newcomers to oil and gas industry mentally and professionally by teaching them the basics of the jobs in addition to work ethics and HSE before assigning straight in the field, Tatweer collaborated with Tamkeen to have 60 candidates go through the National Institute for Industrial Training (NIIT) programme before they go through a focused on-job-training (OJT) in Tatweer. This is a new initiative by Tatweer that has never been conducted in the history of the Bahrain field.

How has Tatweer helped to improve the economic prosperity of Bahrain?
Tatweer has increased the black oil production from the field by 70 per cent since inception which generated over $9 billion for the government of Bahrain with $3 billion investments of which 80 per cent was made by the external partners; Occidental Petroleum and Mubadala Petroleum. Also, Tatweer engages the services of over 130 local contractors. Moreover, Tatweer has created over 250 new jobs for Bahrainis who enjoy market rate salaries and benefits. This has added a significant value to the economy of the kingdom.

How does Tatweer’s Vision align with the Kingdom’s Economic Vision 2030?
Tatweer’s Vision was carefully designed to reflect the full support of Bahrain Vision 2030. Our Vision statement reads “to become the Leader of Sustainable Growth and Prosperity for Bahrain.” We plan to achieve this Vision through a successful revitalisation of the mature Bahrain field. We will achieve this Vision with our dedicated employees.

How many local industries have benefited from Tatweer’s operations till the end of 2013? Which are they?
We are an active company so we employed a large number of contractors who have benefited significantly from this investment. Over 130 local vendors have benefited from Tatweer’s activities since our operations started late 2009. The total amount awarded for these vendors to date was $1.4 billion. It is worth mentioning that over 30 per cent of the $4.5 billion total worth of contracts has been awarded to local companies for local services. The economic value added from these ancillary services, ranging from catering to construction companies, is significant.

We are happy to see a good development of the quality of services provided by these local vendors over the past few years as a result of Tatweer’s HSE, Supply Chain and Quality Control procedures. This was reflected by the contractor’s safety statistics.

Who are the local contractors who have benefited from Tatweer?
Our contractors’ services range from suppliers of power generators to large fabrication and construction companies. Tatweer gives preference to local vendors provided they are cost-effective. We enjoy a good relationship with our contractors who we meet with regularly through joint HSE and alignment meetings attended by the Chief Executive of the company, Dr. Edward Hanley.

What are Tatweer’s HSE goals and how they are going to be met?
Tatweer Petroleum has a very clear HSE Policy of zero incidents through no accidents, no harm to people and no damage to the environment. We have established a Health Safety and Environmental Management Systems (HSEMS) aligned with programmes and campaigns to support a standard of care that is protective of personnel and contractors, the environment, the general public and company facilities. The programmes and campaigns in place consist of “Leading safety indicators,” developed to influence and encourage everyone to continually improve and to keep our operations safe. We can achieve our zero-incident target by conducting regular safety campaigns, such as the hand safety and the recent Near-Miss campaign which resulted in over 2,000 reports, eliminating incidents in the last quarter of 2013. We are proud of this achievement and we will continue to support such campaigns.

How many work hours have been achieved at the site? How many man-hours have been clocked without lost time accident (LTA) for contractors?
In 2013, Tatweer Petroleum (TP) employees accumulated a total number of 1,984,037 man-hours worked and at the end of the year were 600,000 man-hours without a lost time incident (LTI). TP contractors accumulated a total number of 12,018,901 man-hours and at the end of the year were 2,800,000 man-hours without LTI. The TP Near Miss campaign, carried out during the fourth quarter of 2013 has assisted in enhancing the TP safety culture.

What are the risk mitigation measures being implemented in the Bahrain Field to protect campers?
One of our main concerns in the Bahrain field is its open access to public. We consider the Bahrain field to be one large, continuous plant and not a suitable place for camping. The safety of field visitors and campers pose a serious concern to Tatweer.

Due to the increasing and expanding activities of the Bahrain field, Tatweer initiated an awareness programme to close high risk areas from camping. It is our duty to spread awareness about the risk of camping near oil and gas facilities.

We are currently working very closely with the Southern Governorate and the South Area Municipality to close these high risk areas and we are getting significant support. Last year we made several presentations on camping hazards to the Committee for Services and Infrastructures, The National Disaster Management Committee and the Health and Safety Society to increase awareness.

Another major challenge is the recent increase in urban encroachment into the Bahrain field. The prevention of increased activities to build permanent installations in the field costs the government billions of dollars in terms of oil potential. Again, we are working closely with Noga and the relevant government authorities in order to ensure giving higher priority for oil and gas production.