1Opal Newsletter February 2017

be held in Crowne Plaza Hotel on March 29th from 6:30pm in the evening. Mark this date for your diaries please.February brought us few MoU signing ceremonies. OPAL has agreed to partner with INSEAD, the world’s leading graduate busi-ness school, to develop and sup-port leadership program of mid & senior-management Omani oil and gas executives on leader-ship skills. The partnership deal with INSEAD and in collabora-tion with the TANFEEDH team, complements parallel initiatives, most notably the National CEO Training Programme, designed to prepare Omani professionals for leadership positions in the private sector. Please contact me should you need more information on the proposed leadership program.Our Training for Employ-ment program is gaining trac-tion whereby OPAL has signed agreements with two leading training services providers for the training of young Oman-is as Maintenance Mechanics, Machine Operators and Com-mercial Promoters. In all, 100 Omani jobseekers selected by OPAL in coordination with the Ministry of Manpower and the National Objective Programme funded by Petroleum Develop-ment Oman (PDO) will benefit from these training initiatives. The agreements were penned with well-known training ser-vices providers, MHD Training Institute LLC has undertaken to train and qualify 45 Omanis as Maintenance Mechanics and Machine Operators and Poly-glot Institute to train 55 young

Omani females as Commercial Promoters.On the local workforce program, that we are spearheading in con-junction with the MOG HR ICV Team, we are pressing ahead with the planned program to upgrade the Seeb Vocational Training Centre to deliver programs to international standards in col-laboration with the Ministry of Manpower. Various VTC per-sonnel and trainers attended sev-eral training programs as part of the gap closing program to bring them in line with international norms, an HSE training program to upskill and enhance the HSE awareness and culture, in addi-tion to Train the Trainer courses and Assessor and Verifier courses To expand OPAL’s awareness on what to expect for the future, we organized a workshop with the MOG Team tasked to put to-gether New Regulations which will impact the Oil and Gas in-dustry for the foreseeable future. I am sure several interesting proj-ects will come out of this initiative that we in OPAL will be grap-pling with soon.And finally, OPAL has joined forces with IOSH to raise aware-ness on Occupational Cancer. A “No Time to Lose campaign” on occupational cancer will be launched soon to build awareness on work-related carcinogens. I encourage you to check our web-site (https://opaloman.org) and find more about the details of this campaign.As you can see it was a very busy February and I expect nothing less for next month. Until then…” Musallam Al Mandhari

February 2017 www.opaloman.org Issue 20

N e w s l e t t e rA productioN of commuNicAtioN depArtmeNt ■ editor: Azza Al Hilali (azza.alhilali@opaloman.org) ■ supervisor: Abdullah Al Harthy (abdullah.alharthy@opaloman.org)

EdItorIal tEam rEsErvEs thE rIght to adapt thE tExts to spEcIFy thE coordInatE Format and ImprovE thE qualIty oF nEwslEttEr

“The year has really started with a bang and we are getting busier with each month. Preparations for the AGM are steaming up and this year we will have a lot of good things to share. This event is spe-cial for us since we’ll have Board elections and here is an oppor-tunity for members to influence what’s happening in our patch.

We have sent out an invitation for your nominations and are looking forward to another period of dy-namism with a dynamic Board to help us realise your expectations. Also, the much-awaited Road Safety Standards, Camp Stan-dards and Heat Stress Manage-ment standards will finally be in-augurated at the AGM which will

mEssagE From thE ceoSigning Ceremony between InSeAd and OpAl.

2Opal Newsletter February 2017

on the 23rd of January 2017, oman oil company Exploration & produc-tion (oocEp), occidental of oman Inc. (oxy) and mitsui E&p middle East (mEpmE) signed an Exploration and production sharing agreement (Epsa) for Block 9 (suneinah) with the government of oman.oocEp was introduced into the Block 9 contractor group through a gov-ernment back-in right with 45% participating Interest (pI). the other partici-pants are occidental (50% pI, operator) and mitsui (mEpmE, 5% pI).the Block 9 (suneinah) contract area is located in the northwest of oman and contains over 50 proven fields, many of which have been successfully developed. the largest field, safah, was brought on-stream in 1984 and continues to produce the majority of oil and gas in the block. current pro-duction averages ~ 90 kboepd with 90% of the production being oil & condensate. this asset will increase oocEp’s entitlement by 9% over the next 15 years.the Block 9 Joint operating agreement (Joa) and secondment agreement were also signed with oxy and mEpmE. Key provisions in these agree-ments give oocEp the ability to influence key issues through its voting rights in the operating committee and the secondment of oocEp staff to the Joint venture. these secondments will cover a cross-section of disciplines including engineering, finance, planning and exploration.

OOCEP ACQUIRES 45% PARTICIPATING INTEREST iN tHe New BlocK 9

mEmBEr nEws

al madina logistics services (amls) is an oman-based saoc company established to spearhead the task of leading the logistics and supply chain sector in the sultan-ate to the highest level of profes-sionalism. the company have been awarded by the directorate gener-al of customs, royal oman police & oman global logistics group

s.a.o.c and received the certificate by minister of commerce mr. ali al suna-idi. this certificate stands for authorized Economic operator for warehouse & transportation in sultanate of oman.

CALL FOR SPONSORSHIPCALL FOR SPONSORSHIPOPAL on behalf of it’s members is donating

the Bus Library to the children of Oman.

What is library without books? An empty shelves. Therefore we are encouraging our members for sponsorship to �ll this Bus with new books so that our children can learn, enjoy and have fun in this unique mobile facility.

For details on how to support please contact:azza.alhilali@opaloman.org

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Al mAdiNA logistics services receives New certificAte

Hse trAiNiNg progrAm delivered By orpic teAm to miNistry of mANpower

hsE training program was held at orpIc mina al Fahal (maF) premises from the 5th to 9th Febru-ary 2017 for momp-vtc’s hsE representatives. the training program enhanced hsE awareness and culture among workplaces. It, also, em-phasizes behaviors through ob-

servation, feedback and positive intervention. as planned part of the program is to conduct plant and workshops site visit, this opportunity pro-vides a better exposure and understanding of oil and gas hsE practices. participants were fully engaged and showed a great interest in the whole program topics and activities. Instructors played a major role in the suc-cess of this program, their collaboration, knowledge and experience are beyond expectation. this training program is part of the mog hr Icv local workforce initia-tive driven by opal, intended to upskill and enhance the hsE awareness and culture among vtc’s workplaces.

oxy omAN opeNs leArNiNg ceNters At muKHAizNA fieldIn a ceremony attended by se-nior management staff earlier this month, steve Kelly, president and general manager of oxy oman, opened a new oxy Zone learning center at mukhaiz-na field (Block 53). oxy Zone learning center provides an enhanced learning environment aligned with oxy’s learning and development strategy for employees. the center can accommodate around 50-60 employees at a given time. oxy oman has also successfully established a virtual reality center at mukhaizna. the virtual reality center is well equipped with the latest technology to accelerate the learning process of fresh graduates and expand the knowledge of the experienced employees under operations and maintenance. simulating critical equipment will assist in creating a dynamic approach to learning, provide a troubleshooting environment for several scenar-ios and accelerate the time taken to complete training programs by up to 20%.

Annual General Meeting 2017 crowne plaza hotel, muscat29th March 2017 at 6.30pm

upcomIng EvEnts

3Opal Newsletter February 2017

ideas exchange is crucial part of our businesses. therefore, we in opal are quite convinced that you have something to say. and be sure we want to listen to you.

starting from February 2017 we would like to introduce new segment in our newsletter where you can ask, comment and give proposals to us as well amongst yourselves. you can send us an email or tweet to our tweeter account. Just keep it short and precize. your comments and suggestions on business matter will be published in next issue.

DEAR MEMbERS,

@opal_omanopal@opaloman.org

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mEmBEr nEws

glasspoint solar, the leading sup-plier of solar to the oil and gas industry, presented at the 2nd mid-dle East oilfield produced water conference in muscat. glasspoint water expert, siddiqa al lawati, will discuss the environmental and economic advantages of using glasspoint’s solar technology in the

produced water treatment process. the 2017 bi-annual event, held under the patronage of h.E salim bin nasser al aufi, under secretary, ministry of oil and gas, brings together water and oil and gas industry experts throughout the gulf region to share best practices. “For every barrel of oil produced in oman, roughly 9 barrels of water are produced along with it. Every day more than one million cubic meters of produced water are generated in the sultanate’s oilfields,” explained siddiqa al lawati. “there is a clear imperative to put this precious resource to good use. however, before it can be utilized in applications from industry to agriculture, the water has to be treated. treatment of produced water is energy intensive, consuming vast quantities of steam and electricity, typi-cally produced by burning natural gas. this process emits significant greenhouse emissions and causes considerable environmental damage.”

glasspoInt solar prEsEntEd At middle eAst oilfield producEd watEr conFErEncE

gloBcom AcHieves iNterNAtioNAl recogNitioN

vanguard reservoir surveillance services llc, (vrss) an omani company was presented a “Business Excellence award” by the dubai chamber of commerce at a glitter-ing ceremony at madinat Jumeirah arena dubai uaE on the 21st Feb-ruary 2017. this is the 9th cycle of shaikh mohammed Bin rashid al maktoum Business award.

the award was collected jointly by mr Faris mohammed thabit al Bat-tashi and mr. waleed al minji, contract manager. In attendance was mohammed al sulaimi the human resources manager and gareth machado the managing director.vrss was put through rigorous selection criteria, and due to its team efforts & performance and innovative technology including state of the art tools, came out as a winner!vrss is a contractor forpdo and its expertise is in cased hole logging ac-tivity for thermal 600F and corrosion (Emds) services that falls under the umbrella of well integrity. the company has invested heavily in logging trucks and high tech measuring tools and has qualified and dedicated staff to manage these activities. In addition to this, vrss also by and large provides gravel pack services to the opcos in oman.

al-ramooz national l.l.c held its cel-ebration titled, “year of achievements 2016” under the pdo-Bgp of oil and gas field on 12th February 2017 at Bgp-camp-haima. the event was held in the presence of senior officials from petroleum development oman & Bgp company.Bgp – party chief at Bgp-camp opened up the grant event with a pdo-csr, and attendees were briefed on al- ramooz’s key achievements, including distribution of certificates with hand watches, to obtained the al-ramooz target for year 2017. It was a good chance for the attendees to know about the company’s concepts, In country value (Icv) data of al-ramooz to develop and implement of safe working practices in gov-ernment/private sectors.

Let’sTalk

Vanguard reserVoir surVeillance serVices llc, (Vrss) receiVed “bUSINESS ExCEllENCE AwARD” IN DUbAI

al-ramooz held celebration“Year of achieVements 2016”

Aces muscAt completed ThE SITE INvESTIGATION fOR OGCacEs muscat has recently completed the site investigation for natural gas liquid (ngl) and gas pipelines to be constructed along a route from Fahud to sohar. the proposed project includes the construction of 14’’ ngl under-ground pipeline and 32’’ treated dry hydrocarbon gas underground pipe-line with approximate length of 300 Km starting from Fahud (launcher area) to sohar (receiver area). In addition, there will be a total of 21 numbers of block valve stations (Bvs) along the proposed two pipelines. Both pipelines will be installed parallel to the existing 32” gas pipeline in the same row but in separate trenches. the scope of the investigation consisted of drilling 279 boreholes to 10.0 m depth below the ground surface, excavating 280 test pits down to 2.0m depth, conducting extensive in-situ testing including standard penetration test and field density tests. Ivestigation was for oman gas company (ogc) and the contractor is punj lloyd ltd.

global computer services llc (gloB-com) is oman’s no.1 managed service provider with 18 years of dedication in supporting private and government sec-tors within oman. services include sales, provision of infrastructure, project man-agement and consulting services in It & telecommunication sectors.to serve our customers better and ensure our processes are consistent & effec-tive, gloBcom has been certified by tuv rheinland to Iso 9001:2015 (for quality management), Iso 14001:2015 (for Environmental management) and Bs ohsas 18001:2007 (for occupational health & safety) in the year 2016.Implementing these standards has helped the company to continually monitor, manage and improve quality & efficiency, enhanced health & safety protocols and environmental awareness across all operations. the streamlined processes motivate our employees through better communication and readily available information. this has led to improved process efficiency, reduction in errors & complaints thereby significantly increasing the quality of products and ser-vices being delivered by gloBcom. the company is projecting to have Iso 27001:2013, Iso 20000:2011 which will complement our existing integrated management system by the end of 2017.

4Opal Newsletter February 2017

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mEmBEr nEws

citrine trading & serVices llc celebrates six Year without lost time injurYas a road maintenance subcontractor in north oman pdo area since Jan-uary 2011 citrine trading & services llc started the contract with sts-t. during the contract period company got appreciation letters from client to achieve the operation complete the task on time and keep with pdo qhsE procedures. until this month ci-trine trading & services llc completed successfully six years without lost time Injury. the company celebrated the successful journey on February 6th in citrine Base (qarnalm).

al athnain co. recently completed its 25 years of service in oman. Its core area of operation is catering and facility management services. al athnain organised an annual party meeting at safeer plaza hotel. Event was followed with seminar for supervisors and staff on various top-ics and it was conducted by Fadi nimer Elayan, gm operation and c. a. J agadeesb, finance manager. Khalid hamed salem al ruzaqi, cEo, addressed the employees and those who have completed 25 years of service were honoured during the event. the event concluded by dinner attended all managers. staff and supervisors.

Al AtHNAiN celeBrAtes 25 yeArs iN omAN

gAc omAN coNtiNues witH “ThE ART Of RECyClING CAMPAIGN”Environmental initiatives of gac oman are focusing on reducing the usage of paper and recycling of used single-sided papers to produce note-pads and paper cubes. with the improved hssE awareness, gac oman managed to reduce usage of a4 copy papers, stopped purchase of note-pads, paper-cubes since last two years!as part of the awareness campaign and hssE initiatives, the note-pads are being distributed to all gac offices in oman, and staff in the respective offices would think about the value of saving and recycling of paper, appar-ently realises the impact it makes to the environment together with a slogan of ‘save the environment’ for better future.

oman airports management company (oamc) signed a memorandum of under-standing (mou) with dhl Express. within the framework of the mou, both parties have agreed to discuss cooperation in regards to growing capabilities within the logistics sec-tor across oman’s airports. the mou aligns with oamc’s objective to facilitate growth of

the logistic services industry, which is identified as one of the key contributors in the sultanate’s economic diversification drive. representing oamc at the signing ceremony was shaikh aiman bin ahmed al hosni, cEo of oamc, while representing dhl Express was nour suliman, cEo of dhl Express mid-dle East and north africa. commenting on the signing ceremony, shaikh al hosni noted: “In line with its efforts to diversify the economy, the government of oman is focusing on a number of key economic sectors. the logistics indus-try is one such sector which can play an important role the country given the sultanate’s ideal geographical position and strong infrastructure base.

OMAN AIRPORTS MANAGEMENT COMPANy (oamc) signed a mou with dhl express