Inside Orpic

Orpicinsid

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Issue 25

Technical Services Department

Spearheading thePlastics Industry inOman

Multiproduct Pipeline revolutionising the way we transport fuel in Oman

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Orpic Logistics launched05

Features

Contact the Editor

Inside Orpic is a publication dedicated to our stories,

events and articles. Please feel free to send me any

comments, questions or if you wish to submit an article, simply contact me either by

phone or email.

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Yours in Communications,Steven Smith

Internal Communications Specialist

Email: steven.smith@orpic.om Tel: 968 2685 3907

CONTENTS

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esDepartment Focus: Technical Services DepartmentLandmark signing launches Orpic Logistics Company Sohar Multiproduct Pipeline revolutionising the way we transport fuel in OmanSpearheading the Plastics Industry in OmanOrpic International ScholarshipsSRIP Update-Activity intensifiesBest Near Miss ReportersAbove and Beyond winnersPRIDE winners

Sultan Al SalamiNaeem Al MahrooqiMohsin Hafeedh Alawi Al Hafeedh

HSE organizes two presentations for Orpic female employees Advanced Customer Orientation Training CSS-ITS Staff Successfully Completed Advanced Customer Service Orientation TrainingBusiness Plan 2014 Launch Orpic Sponsors Golf Tournament Communications Department WorkshopMinistry of Education visit to SoharPlant a Tree Orpic employees participate in Olympic Day Arriyadah journey begins for Orpic Managers and Team Leaders The Opening of MAF’s Football Ground Successful Executive Team Plant TourDisaster Recovery Drill for SAP applicationsCongratulations AromaticsPMP Training ProgrammeHazard Identification Mandatory TrainingOrpic sponsors 6th SME conference and Exhibition CEO Meets TraineesOrpic presents 2013 performance and future plansOrpic participates in Civil Defence Symposium & ExpoFacilitation Skills ProgrammeYour Safety is our ObjectiveOrpic sponsors Sohar University to look into…mud! Orpic employee wins prestigious Golf tournament Transforming the Orpic Network into a 10G BackbonePlanning for Performance Discussion

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Issue 25

Inside Orpic

Editorial Team: Martin Norris, Steven Smith, Fadilha Al Ghaithiand Aida Al Shabanooti.

Dear Colleagues,

As we steer our way into the second quarter of 2014, we continue on a heading that takes us towards a promising horizon where our three major multibillion dollar investments will bring opportunity and growth not only to us as a company and as individuals, but also to Oman. The economic ripple effect we create will have benefits across the nation.

We are continuously looking for new ways to enhance our environmental performance, and the Sohar Refinery Improvement Project, scheduled for completion in 2016 and whose momentum is growing rapidly, will be a catalyst for yet more environmental improvement. In addition, the 2016-2017 completion of the Sohar-Muscat Product Pipeline will further decrease environmental impact by shifting the transportation of oil products from truck to pipeline. The Liwa Plastics Project is planned for completion in 2018, and will further increase the value-added we extract from Omani crude oil and natural gas, with annual production of around one million tonnes of plastics helping to support the development of an Omani downstream plastics industry. With each of these projects In-Country Value has been assimilated as an ethos, multiplying the beneficial effect they will have locally, and across the nation.

As you will see in the company highlights section the emphasis we place on training is substantial, as we prepare ourselves for the enormous growth that is ahead of us. The Arriyadah programme is well under way - an intensive year-long leadership programme for team leaders and managers that aims at creating the leadership qualities needed to pilot the workforce towards a successful future. We have also turned our attention to the ways in which we can inspire and advance future generations, resulting in the creation of the Orpic International Scholarships, a programme aimed at developing capable and highly motivated Omani grade school seniors into future leaders, in their community and Oman.

Thank you to all the employees and contractors who have been diligently working towards a better future, and let us continue to spread the word about our achievements.

Musab Al MahruqiChief Executive Officer

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2Inside Orpic

Department Focus

Technical Services Department We had the privilege of interviewing Livio Accattatis who is the General Manager for TSD.

How many employees are in the department?

What motivates the department’s employees?

We currently have 187 people in the TSD function, distributed through 5 different departments (Inspections, Process Optimisation, Engineering, Projects and Laboratory) and additional support teams (Process Safety and Quality/ISO).

We want to be seen as an excellent provider of technical support to the Orpic organization. We want to be the key enablers of sustained and excellent operating performance for Orpic. In order to achieve this, we must be the people in the organization who best understand the technical and business aspects that are critical for our operations, solve the difficult problems and give sound technical advice where it most matters to Orpic, aiming to exceed our performance targets.

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Q:What are the department’s key responsibilities? Our main focus is providing technical support to Operations and Maintenance, to ensure safe, environmentally sound, profitable and reliable operation of the Orpic production assets. Our Inspections department is focussed on ensuring equipment integrity and reliability of our plants. The Process Optimization department ensures an optimal day-to-day management of operational performance, supports Operations and Maintenance in trouble-shooting the difficult problems affecting production, identifies and implements clever solutions to improve Orpic plant profitability. The Engineering department supports both Operations and Projects to provide specialized discipline engineering expertise to solve operational problems, improve equipment reliability and implement capital projects. The Projects department focusses on implementing a range of capital investment projects to sustain and improve environmental and operational performance of the existing Orpic plants (the major growth projects such as SRIP, MSPP and LPP are run by separate, dedicated project teams). The Laboratory department provides analytical services to all Orpic plants as well as outside parties within Oman, and fulfils a key role in Orpic’s Product Quality assurance. The Process Safety team focusses on raising the awareness of Process Safety within Orpic, as well as ensuring compliance with Process Safety requirements and actions. The Quality/ISO team supports Orpic Quality (ISO) Management Systems and is focussed on integrating the various legacy ISO systems into a single Orpic ISO Management System.

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Q:What exciting projects does the department have planned for the future? Improving Environmental performance is one of the main priorities, and in 2014 we will continue implementing our Orpic’s Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP), broadening its scope to cover also the implementation of an Environmental Quality Management System (EQMS) to monitor all key environmental parameters in real-time and an Orpic-wide Environmental Management System (EMS). Reliability is another key priority and a lot of energy and focus is dedicated in completing the implementation of a number of processes (eg Risk Based Inspections, Integrity Operating Windows) that will enhance the reliability of the Orpic plants. We also want to improve our understanding of Reliability and Process Safety risks, to be more proactive in managing them. This will require creating a wider accountability within the organization and TSD will take a key lead role. We want to get better at executing our capital projects, which means both ‘doing the right projects’ and ‘doing them well’. Doing the right projects means to make best use of limited capital resources in a way that adds most value to the organisation.

Doing the projects well means implementing our projects on time, within budget and in line with customer requirements and expectations. A key activity for 2014 that I specifically want to mention, due to its importance, is the definition of the ‘Long-Lead-Items’ for the Sohar Refinery Turnaround in 2016. Starting early and doing a good job in defining the scope will be key to ensure a successful Turnaround in 2016, which in turn will enable a reliable long-term operation and is a key pre-condition for a successful commissioning of the SRIP project later in 2016. We also want to raise the level of competencies of our technical staff to ensure they are fully aligned with our requirements, aspirations and expectations, also in view of the new ‘Growth’ projects (eg SRIP) which will soon be added to our portfolio, and a lot of focus will be given on making our training and development efforts more effective.

Q:What has been the department’s biggest challenge this year? Thinking back to 2013, the profitability (EBIDTA) of the company did not match expectations and was somewhat below plan. A significant part of the profitability shortfall is due to our reliability, which is still not as high as we would like it to be. In TSD, we were very busy in addressing many issues and we were successful in resolving several key problems, but we are still too often ‘on the back foot’ and reacting to events, often-times recurring ones. So, perhaps our biggest challenge was, and still is, winning the struggle to shift from a ‘reactive’ to a truly ‘proactive’ organization.

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Landmark signing launches Orpic Logistics Company

HE Dr. Mohammed Al Rumhi, Chairman of the Orpic Board, and our CEO Musab Al Mahruqi signed contracts to create a new Joint Venture company, Orpic Logistics Company (OLC), with Compañía Logística de Hidrocarburos (CLH) of Spain. OLC will construct and operate the Muscat-Sohar Product Pipeline (MSPP) which will run for 290 kms, linking our refineries together and to a strategic fuel storage terminal in Jifnain. The project has significant environmental benefits, as petrol tanker traffic in the capital area will reduce by 70%. The pipeline is capable of taking 4 different varieties of fuel and is a two-way system. MSPP will be completed between 2016-2017.

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I think the big question we are all asking is, how does one pipeline system transport multiple products?

In a multiproduct pipeline, oil products are pumped in batches and each batch pushes the previous one. Obviously, between batches the oil products got mixed creating an interface composed by products of different qualities that needs to be well managed to ensure an efficient operation of the network. These interfaces are isolated into the slop tanks using control systems that allow identifying the arrival of an interface to the storage tanks. These interfaces then re-inject into the product with less quality in such a way that there is no need to send the oil products to the refineries to be reprocessed. Another relevant issue relating to the interface management is the setting up of the most appropriate batch sequence in order to minimize the interfaces.

Is this technology the first of its kind in Oman?

Yes, up until now, no company had developed this kind of multiproduct pipelines in the Sultanate, and this is the main reason for creating the new joint venture, to take advantage of both companies’ knowledge.

What significant impact will the pipeline have on the environment?

One of the main impacts of the new pipeline network is that it will significantly reduce the transportation of oil products by truck, especially in the Muscat area. In terms of kilograms of CO2 emitted to the atmosphere by tonne of oil products transported, the pipelines are ten times more efficient than the trucks. Furthermore, pipelines are the only transportation medium that do not use energy to move the transportation media itself and that do not return with an empty cargo. As well as the positive environmental effects, the reduction of the trucks will significantly increase road traffic safety and the security of the population.

What are some of the major challenges that you are facing?

The main challenge is to construct and start operating the new assets as soon as possible in order to accompany the strong growth of oil products in the Sultanate. During the last 13 years consumption has grown at an annual rate of 11%. Thus it is vital to select the right EPC contractor who will support OLC during the construction and commissioning of the assets. Furthermore, the development of the new Logistics Function, which will be composed by people from Orpic and Compañía Logística de Hidrocarburos (CLH), and the strengthening of OLC are also relevant to the success of the Muscat-Sohar Product project and for creating a long-term relationship between Orpic and CLH in the region.

Andrés Suárez is driving the joint venture Orpic Logistics Company (OLC) to construct a multiproduct pipeline between Sohar and Muscat refineries and a storage terminal for oil products distribution in Al Jifnain, Muscat Governate. We took the opportunity to ask him a couple of questions:

Inside Orpic

Multiproduct Pipeline revolutionising the way we transport fuel in Oman

Spearheading the Plastics Industry in OmanHow was the name “Liwa Plastics Project” chosen?

This was suggested by our Chairman during a board meeting in June 2013. We call ourselves Sohar Refinery and Sohar Port but actually we are much closer to Liwa. So it is a recognition of the importance of our next door neighbours. The LPP logo still has a link to our old name Sindbad who must have sailed in front of our refinery back in the distant past.

The project aims to build a new Steam Cracker, what is this? And what does it do?

The principle of a cracker is very simple, you heat C2+ (Ethane, Propane or higher) to high temperatures between 800-900 degrees Celsius for a very short while (approximately 0,2 seconds). This strips of Hydrogen molecules and produces Ethylene, Propylene and higher. After separation, these products can be used to make Polyethylene and Polypropylene. Some of the by-products will be used to produce MTBE (Methyl tertiary butyl) or go to the Aromatics Plant.

How will the project add value to the local Omani businesses?

The value that the project will add is quite high as we convert molecules which normally

are used as fuel into much more valuable plastics greatly enhancing the profit of Orpic. We will also be able to setup downstream plastic converters who can use the logistical advantage of close proximity to the refinery and the port facilities for local or even international production.

Will Orpic employees have an opportunity to apply for the new positions? And when will they be advertised?

We will definitely need Orpic employees to fill the new positions. We are currently working on a 5 year training and manning plan for LPP to ensure we maximize the use of our own people. This of course needs to be done in very close cooperation with OMT as they can’t afford to lose all their highly skilled employees as well.

What are some of the major challenges that you are facing?

Implementing a new technology in a very short time requires a lot of resources and approvals which need to be done in a very transparent way. We also need help from other departments and getting buy-in from them also takes time. Currently we are in the process of creating the engineering team for LPP and setting up the right systems and procedures. We are lucky that SRIP paved the way for us and we can use their experience.

There has been a lot of media coverage on the new Liwa Plastics Project (LPP) over the past couple of months, so we took the opportunity to interview Henk Pauw who is the GM of the Liwa Plastics Project.

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On 13 February 2014 at Sohar’s College of Applied Sciences, Orpic and Takatuf executives gave presentations on the Orpic International Scholarships to a large audience of North Al Batinah parents and children. The 10 Orpic International Scholarships are awarded to students from the North Al Batinah area, home to Orpic’s refining complex in the Sohar Industrial Port area. These scholarships provide an unparalleled learning experience and support through six years of international education.

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Orpic International Scholarships

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SRIP Update Activity intensifiesSRIP is marching ahead with an overall physical progress of 17.6% against the schedule of 17.7%. The total expenditure till date is USD 169 million.

An integrated Owner team consisting of CB&I and Orpic personnel (15 + 15 = 30 no.) has been mobilized at the EPC Contractor’s Home Office in Seoul, Korea. Engineering and Procurement activities are progressing per the schedule, PFDs and P&IDs screening meetings are progressing well, and ordering for all Schedule Critical Items is in the final stage. Site work for the topographical survey and geotechnical soil investigation has been going on since 27 February. Contracts for site grading and temporary facilities are expected to be awarded soon.

A review meeting for the ICV Plan was conducted with JV on 18 March, 2014 for finalization.

For lending arrangements, Commitment Letters have been signed with the Bankers. Proposals from ECAs (Korean, German and Italian) are also in the advance stage of finalization. Financial Close is expected before the end of May 2014.

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Best near miss reportersEvery month MAF selects one of the best near miss reports regarding high risks in the operations area.

Congratulations to:

Reporter Month Incident Description Department/Location

Mohammed Al Naamani

October 2013

Area-92 2-P004-A and others in the area - no location for isolation padlocks.

Maintenance

Malik Al Nabhani

November 2013

Inlet and outlet isolation valves of strainer fuel gas S08\8907 all packing stem leaks.

Operations

Omar Al Hinaee

December 2013

When the operator tried to take a sample at the point from v8591- there was too much leak which caused harm to his skin.

Operations

We encourage all employees to continue to report Near Miss incidents, so similar incidents could be prevented from happening again. If you don’t know how to report one ask your Team Leader or your Manager for further guidance.

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beyondA

bove

and As part of employee recognition

scheme, Orpic celebrate the outstanding teams and individuals who go “Above and Beyond” for the Company.

Each month, winners are selected by the Function Heads and Line Managers. These nominees can be from any part of the business and their success can be in any element of their work. Human Resource Services have received the below list of nomi-nees for December 2013 and January 2014 “Above and Beyond” scheme.

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AchievementFunctionWinner Name

For going above and beyond his role and for his work on the APC for Aromatics with the contractor and Honeywell. He got the job done efficiently and on time without any issues. He displayed his capabilities in his technical know-how and experience with APC implementation.

TSD/POS/Opt Ser-

vices and Initiatives

Anoop Pavan Nair

These employees have worked diligently in getting the Thermax service group contracted to troubleshoot and fix the chiller in the RFCC. This has reduced the amount of give away in LPG to the fuel gas system, saving the company millions of dollars. The work done by Operations/Maintenance and the contracting group was commendable.

TSD/POS•Dilip Thakur•Maadh Al Badri•Fatema Al Mamari•Khalid Al Asmi

Harith is handling 4 key jobs in parallel and has been showing his performance consistently throughout the year. Harith is the only Civil Engineers available at Orpic, and he provides services for all Sohar and MAF plants. As well as providing engineering support for all CAPEX projects for Technical Services, Maintenance, CSS etc. In addition to this he is the Project Leader for two projects. One of the projects is the Environmental Improvement Plan. He has also added value to the Operator shelters and Hazard and non-hazard facility. Both these projects were recently inaugurated successfully by the Board of Directors.

TSD/ENS.ESHarith Al Hinai

The SO2 Project Team, successful completed the Wet Gas Scrubber (WGS) project on time and within budget after the fire accident.• Handling of loss adjusters.• Successful demolition of WGS completed without any inci-

dents.• Building and commissioning of the new WGS in parallel to

Turnaround works.• Delivered as planned.

TSD• Al Moatasam Al

Yaqoubi• Varghese Mathews• Mohammed Al Kawi• Shamsa Al Balushi• Dilipkumar Thakur• Manohar Behara

Throughout the shift D routine check, a flange leak was discovered at the inlet and outlet of EI1127 (Deethanizer feed/1PG exchanger) by Hamdan and Abdullah. Immediately, the A00 Shift D team checked the surrounding area with gas detectors and found that the H2S levels were more than 100 ppm.

SR Operations

•Hamdan Al Omrani•Abdullah Al Muqbali

Rashid lead the network consolidation project. His efforts were successful in in planning the network activities with minimal downtime and impact on business considering all potential failure points. His work has been exemplary especially during Sohar Refinery network activities.

CSS/ITS/ In-frastructure

Rashid Salim Al Mahrooqi

Above and Beyond winner - December 2013

Inside Orpic

As monthly winners, these employees will automatically be entered into the second level of the employee recognition scheme, known as the quarterly PRIDE Winners: who are nominated from the pool of ‘Above and Beyond’ winners from each quarter.Congratulations to the December and January winners!

Widad Al KaabiHRS/P&D

Widad nearly achieved the target of %90 participation for all Team Leaders and Managers to Catalyst Events such as the Arriyadah Leadership Workshops. The exceptional communication skills, patience and commitment, perseverance and determination to reach out to all the employees successfully resulted in 228 attendees. This was achieved through working beyond office hours to align time with the shift leaders; by way of chasing these leaders to attend the workshops. This was commitment on her part to develop leaders to ensure Orpic has a ready pool of qualified leaders in its leadership pipeline.

Adil Al ShezawiCSS/Admin

Adil did a magnificent job in arranging and setting up the new mailbox office in the Aromatics Plant Admin building. This is being used to receive all external and internal mails by keeping a strict record of all received mails and sending daily circulars to the employees informing them about their mails. This is a great achievement and has provided better control over all the mails which were previously scattered in many buildings without proper records.

Rashid Al MahrouqiCSS/ITS/ Infrastructure Support

Rashid has gone above his role as the Network Specialist and has shown his capabilities in acting as the Network Design Architect. He has managed project tasks in dependably and with minimum supervisory required from his supervisor. He has also managed and maintained the existing network uptime, and has contributed to the network enhancement project. Rashid has initiated many out of the box solutions to reduce the network down time which has resulted in the end user receiving a smooth computing operation.

Sultan Sulaiman Al AlawiSR Operations

For going above and beyond his role and for his commitment in the overall CDU operations. There were two incidents in Sohar Refinery during the month of November, namely the power failure and CDU furnace trip. Sultan was involved in putting the unit back on-line, and he did so within a very short time (30 minutes) to prevent a CDU furnace trip.

Hamdan Al OmraniAbdullah Al MuqbaliSR Operations

Throughout the shift D routine check, a flange leak was discovered at the inlet and outlet of EI1127 (Deethanizer feed/1PG exchanger) by Hamdan and Abdullah. Immediately, the A00 Shift D team checked the surrounding area with gas detectors and found that the H2S levels were more than 100 ppm.

Above and Beyond “PRIDE winners” for Quarter 4 (2013)

Above and Beyond winner January 2014

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Inside Orpic

Get toknow...Q

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Tell us a bit about yourself? I started my career path as a Mathematics teacher before I shifted to an administrative position at Ministry of Education. During my 14 years’ experience I worked very hard to improve both my technical and non-technical skills. I have also achieved a MBA from Cardiff University in the United Kingdom. For the past seven months I have been working with the Orpic family, the company is an important player in the Omani economy.

What is your current position at Orpic?I am working as a Manager in the CEO’s office.

What is the best part of your job at Orpic?The best part is working with a smart person that allows me to learn something new day-by-day.

Name one of Orpic’s four guiding principles and what it means to you?All of them are deep values but what I value the most is “We bring the potential of our people alive”.

Where in the world would you most like to visit, and why?There are many beautiful and touristic places around the world but Paris is my favorite. I like its intellectual diversity.

Who do you most admire in life, and why?My father, he is my role model and honestly it is difficult to answer why.

If it was your birthday, what would you like to have for dinner this evening?I like to have Omani traditional food.

What do you do on your days off?Usually I spend it with my kids either reading or playing beach sports.

Sultan Al Salami

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Sultan Al Salami

Inside Orpic

happiness can be achieved without safety and a good environment.

Where in the world would you most like to visit, and why? Actually, I am not fascinated in travelling, and have realized that people’s desires are ever changing.

Who do you most admire in life, and why?A Muslim does not forget the leader of humanity - Prophet Muhammad is the best (PBAH).

If it was your birthday, what would you like to have for dinner this evening?To be honest, I don’t often celebrate my birthday as much as I use to but generally I like a variety of fresh and healthy food. What do you do on your days off?Normally in my days off I study to prepare my thesis for my masters degree, do some exercise, clean my room and make myself ready for next working week.

Tell us a bit about yourself?I have been working with Orpic for three and a half years now. I started in the Finance department and worked there for two years then I moved to the Supply Chain department. In fact, I received a better offer at the same time when I was making the decision to join Orpic, and I chose Orpic because I liked the work environment.

What is your current position at Orpic?My current position in the Supply Chain department is Field Operator in Raysut depot.

What is the best part of your job at Orpic?Knowing that I can rely on my colleagues and friends to put in the extra effort to ensure the team meets its goals. Name one of Orpic’s four guiding principles and what it means to you?“We put safety and the environment first”, means that our life is based on these principles and no

Name one of Orpic’s four guiding principles and what it means to you? “We Serve Oman with Pride”. I believe that employees contribute more if they feel that they are 100% part of a government owned organization which has a direct impact on the country’s revenues.

Where in the world would you most like to visit, and why? Venice in Italy as it is the most beautiful city in the world. Each building is a work of art, and the beauty is enhanced when you see the reflection of it in the canals that cross the city.

Who do you most admire in life, and why? My father as he taught me the basic guidelines to reach my objectives.

If it was your birthday, what would you like to have for dinner this evening? Grilled Omani meat.

What do you do on your days off?I always try my best to dedicate my day off to my family to compensate for the extra time that I spend at work during the week.

Tell us a bit about yourself?My home town where I grew up is in Adam. I joined Sultan Qaboos University in 2002 and I graduated in 2007 with a Bachelor is Degree in Finance. I started my career with Orpic in October 2007 as a Contract Administrator. Since I was a student it was always my dream to join a growing Oil and Gas organization that creates opportunities for young Omanis to build their career paths in a professional manner. That’s why I selected Orpic.

What is your current position at Orpic? My current position is Lead Contract Engineer. My role is setting up long-term supply/service contracts to cover the day-to-day goods and services requirements.

What is the best part of your job at Orpic? I enjoy challenging jobs and this is what I consider the best part of my role. Especially the times when maintenance requests us to engage with the contractor in a short period of time during the Turnaround or any other emergency related work in order to maintain the plants reliability. Such challenges make me feel that I am an important player in the organization.

Naeem Al Mahrooqi

14Inside Orpic

Mohsin Hafeedh Alawi Al Hafeedh

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HSE organizes two presentations for Orpic female employees HSE organized two special presentations for Orpic Female employees. The first presentation was entitled ‘Safety Awareness: Footwear at Work’ and the second presentation ‘Avoid Slips, Trips and Falls’. The session was attended by 37 female employees and trainees from our Mina Al Fahal Refinery. The presentations were highly interactive and highlighted safe practices and maintaining high safety standards both domestically and at the workplace to ensure clean, uncluttered and therefore safe spaces. They also focused on reporting unsafe acts and conditions promptly in order to take the proper measures to avoid any injuries in the workplace.

Advanced Customer Orientation Training Training Center organized an in-house training programme for 19 employees from IT Services, on Advanced Customer Orientation. The programme focuses on developing objectives and programmes to maximize customer satisfaction, customer satisfaction surveys, writing Service Level Agreements and controlling service aspects through well-chosen KPI’s. The programme aimed to improving employee’s performance by taking their customers to higher levels of satisfaction through advanced customer service tools.

CSS-ITS Staff Successfully Completed Advanced Customer Service Orientation TrainingIT Services staff had two days of training in early January. The training was conducted by a senior consultant from Meirc. The objective of this training was to improve the customer centric approach of IT Services staff members and covered topics such as the customer Services Ladder, Kano Model, the Concept of Customer Recovery and use of tools like RATER, ServQual.

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Business Plan 2014 Launch Orpic launched its Business Plan for 2014 – 2018 to all its managers on 16 January 2014 at the Majan Hall in Sohar. Orpic’s 2013 performance was discussed and key achievements were defined. Orpic’s Achieve – Enhance – Grow theme continues to guide the company into the future with key projects to support Orpic’s mission and vision. Strong emphasis was placed on the Enhance theme for 2014 which contains six projects aimed at developing the company’s human capital as well as the contribution of the successful Environmental Improvement Plan.

Orpic Sponsors Golf Tournament Orpic was a supporting sponsor of the 5th Oman Amateur Golf Championship held at The ”Ghala Valley Golf Club” on 17 and 18 January 2014. Orpic sponsored the same event last year at the “Muscat Hills Golf and Country Club”. The event was organized by the Oman Golf Committee under the auspices of the Ministry of Sports Affairs.

Communications Department WorkshopThe Communications Department held a workshop on 19 January 2014, in Sohar to review 2013 and set in motion its plans for 2014. The event was moderated by Dr Hilal Al Hinai, GM Corporate Support Services, and included members of the newly-formed External Relations Services Department headed by Ahmed Al Naqbi. As well as familiarizing themselves with the corporate BP, and developing their own plans, the two departments worked on ways in which to maximize their impact through close collaboration during the coming year.

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Plant a Tree Orpic employees participated in the third phase of the “Plant a Tree” volunteerism initiative; the event was jointly coordinated by Liwa Municipality and Jusoor. 511 trees were planted and the initiative was supported by over 200 volunteers from the community and sport teams in the region. The plant stretched over 6km along the main road at four different villages: Al Had, Ghadafan, Nabr and Al Rumailah.

Orpic employees participate in Olympic Day In celebration of Olympic Day, Orpic employees participated in the event’s activities and games which were organized by the Oman Olympic Committee (OOC) and in collaboration with Ministry of Sports Affairs. The event took place at the Silver Jubilee Park beach in Sohar. It involved various games and activities such as a 5 kilometre Marathon, Volleyball, Football, Traditional Games, as well as a whole host of other events. The Olympic Day celebration participation is an example of Orpic’s efforts to encourage its people to become involved in community engagement, to participate in sports and to promote a healthy and active lifestyle.

Ministry of Education visit to SoharThis week 21 representatives from the Ministry of Education (Life Skills team) visited Orpic. The delegation represented five educational areas (Muscat, Batinah North, Batinah South, Al Dhahirah and Buraimi ). The objective of their visit was to enhance and improve their understanding of chemistry and its processes, and learn more about the plant. The visit included the Visitor Centre as well as a field trip, and a presentation on leadership and training.

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Arriyadah journey begins for Orpic Managers and Team Leaders Orpic Team Leaders and Managers have taken the first steps on the Arriyadah journey, attending a two day leadership event called ‘Leading from Within’. The event looked at the ‘inner leadership qualities’, such as personal values, strengths, philosophy and purpose - the qualities that make each leader unique! Participants have been highly engaged in the Arriyadah programme, a yearlong leadership development process. Much valuable experience has been shared, with Team Leaders and Managers feeding back their appreciation of how the programme has helped them forge new connections across the organization, and reflect and focus on their own leadership styles.

The Opening of MAF Football Ground Orpic has inaugurated its six-a-side artificial football pitch at MAF as part of its employee motivation programme. Essam Al Sheibany, (GM-MAF Operations) was the guest of honour at the opening ceremony. It followed with a friendly match between Operations and Maintenance teams where Maintenance won 6-1. The pitch took more than a year to construct and it will suit shift workers and small teams as it was built to the latest international standards and will help in keeping employees healthy lifestyle and fit.

Successful Executive Team Plant TourOn 12 February the Executive Team presented their final session at the Mina Al Fahal Refinery. More than 800 employees attended this annual event this year, 200 more than in 2013. Knowledgeable employees are key to building Orpic’s reputation as they are ambassadors for the company and can have a positive impact on the society at large. Thank you to all the employees that made time to participate.

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Disaster recovery drill for SAP applicationsOn 8 February 2014, IT Services achieved an important milestone by successfully completing the Disaster Recovery (DR) drill for SAP applications. This drill is an important part of our Business Continuity Plan which essentially uses Information Technology to carry out critical business operations. IT Services successfully migrated SAP services from the Main Data Center in Sohar to the Data Center in Mina Al Fahal Refinery (MAF), tested the SAP applications on MAF Servers and again reinstated the original state of servers in Sohar. This will ensure continuous uptime for all critical SAP related applications, as they can now run from MAF Data Centre servers if there is any issue at Sohar’s Main Data Centre.

Congratulations Aromatics PlantAromatics achieved a new record in daily Benzene production of 862 MT, on 19 February 2014. The previous record was on 21 June 2013 when Benzene production reached 774 MT. Congratulations to all.

PMP Training ProgrammeTraining Centre Services conducted a 5-day Project Management Professional (PMP) training Course on 2 to 6 February at the Crowne Plaza Sohar. The course was attended by 16 pre-assessed candidates coming from various disciplines. It helped certify Orpic project managers to become PMP Professionals, to further improve the success rate of projects in all areas of knowledge, by applying a standardized and evolving set of project management principles. It gives the knowledge and skills to ensure that specific projects are completed on time and in budget. Soon all candidates will carry out the self-review process in preparation for the PMP examination wherein successful takers will be certified as PMP Professionals.

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Hazard Identification Mandatory TrainingIn line with the annual master training plan, the Training Centre launched the Hazard Identification mandatory training in coordination with the HSE department for all Orpic employees. The Hazard Identification Programme will enhance the knowledge and skill of Orpic employees to identify and report the work place hazards. The programme is conducted in classes in the Training Centre and is followed by a site visit to various locations to identify and report work place hazards.

Orpic sponsors 6th SME conference and Exhibition Orpic was proud to sponsor this year’s 6th Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Conference and Exhibition as a Bronze sponsor. The event was held under sponsorship of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority from 17 - 19 February 2014. The promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is another step that companies can make in creating further growth, innovation and job creation.

CEO Meets TraineesOn 27 February 2014, Musab Al Mahruqi met with the 106 Orpic Trainees as part of continuous and direct follow up of their progress during the training programme. The CEO highlighted some of the upcoming projects and the number of opportunities that the company will offer to newcomers. He expressed on expectation that they would make use of the opportunity, so that they can reap its full reward. He wished them success leading to an adventurous and productive future.

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Orpic presents 2013 performance and future plansOn 3 March 2014, Orpic, along with other key players in the Omani oil and gas industry, participated in the 3rd Annual Ministry of Oil and Gas Media Briefing at the ministry. CEO Musab Al Mahruqi gave a presentation on Orpic’s 2013 performance and the future strategic plans for 2014-2018. Orpic reported significant improvements in environmental performance and the achievement of key milestones in its future growth projects.

Orpic participates in Civil Defence Symposium & ExpoAs part of its primary commitment to safety, Orpic participated in the Civil Defence Symposium & Expo held at the Al Bustan Palace Hotel. This year it focused on the prevention and containment of industrial fires. Our Fire Fighting and Health, Safety and Environment departments were present at the symposium. Our employees demonstrated to visitors its commitment to fire safety issues and informed them on the resources that Orpic has at its disposal to handle fires.

Facilitation Skills ProgrammeThe Training Centre organized a training programme for HR Partners focusing on Facilitation Skills. The programme provides the individual with a sound process, knowledge and skills to facilitate a diverse group of staff to a common goal. The programme highlighted aspects such as conflict-handling techniques, decision-making techniques, communication and facilitation techniques to ensure the best solution.

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Your safety is our objectiveThe GCC Traffic Week exhibition was launched on 9 March 2014 at Seeb City Centre. The event included several awareness activities such as a traffic expo at Muscat City Centre organized by Directorate General of Traffic with participation from various road safety organizations, traffic safety competition as well as an exhibition in Muscat Grand Mall. A number of awareness sessions were organized throughout the week in different government organizations, schools as well as universities and colleges.

Orpic sponsors Sohar University to look into…mud!Orpic sponsored a Sohar University research project that will investigate the uses of local Sarooj mud in removing toxic Boron from the environment within the context of wastewater treatment and within the desalination process. Boron can have a deadly effect on plant life, inhibiting the processes that they need to survive and grow. We hope that the project will result in a positive use for what is a freely available local commodity. At the same time, the students and faculty members working on what is ground-breaking technology should benefit from the experience and knowledge that they gain from the project.

Orpic employee wins prestigious Golf tournament Congratulations to Azzan Al Rumhi (Team Leader Corporate Planning) for his inspired performance in winning the Seniors Net Individual Title at the 18th GCC Golf Championship held in Riyadh recently. Azzan scored a total of 217 and finished ahead of Saudi and Bahraini rivals. Well done Azzan.

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Transforming the Orpic Network into 10G BackboneIn a milestone achievement the ITS Team has successfully transformed Orpic’s entire obsolete network into a 10GB Backbone based on state-of-the-art HP Network technology.

This implementation has benefited Orpic by achieving the following:

• High network bandwidth for Sohar Refinery users.

• Increase in network speed connectivity between Sohar and MAF by 20 times.

• The Orpic network is ready and provisioned for the next generation technology upgrade (100G).

• The new network upgrade will eliminate unplanned downtime for end users and ensure a higher degree of Network resilience.

• The new network upgrade will help Orpic achieve significant improvements in terms of network security.

• This milestone has been achieved with the support and remarkable team-work of all CSS-ITS Teams.

Planning for Performance DiscussionOn 9 February 2014, Human Resource Services conducted a series of in-house workshops to discuss ways in which they can plan for performance. The aim was to refresh Supervisors knowledge and skills prior to setting the 2014 individual KPIs. In addition, a guideline has been prepared and will be distributed to all Supervisors explaining the steps involved in preparing 2014 individual performance contracts.

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Exercise your mind

Sudoku pu lez z

The rules of Sudoku are:Sudoku (or su-doku) is a game of numbers, specifically, the numbers 1 through to 9. But it really isn’t about mathematics - it’s about logic! The puzzle consists of a grid of 9x9 cells. Each of these fields must be filled in with the digits from 1 to 9. Each number/digit must occur only once in each of the nine columns, nine rows and each of the nine 3x3 blocks. The objective is therefore simply to add more and more numbers only by eliminating and combining possibilities until the whole Sudoku grid is completely filled. Good Luck!

Your Life is Worth Protecting

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