31career counselors have passed the Career Practitioner Certification Program, enabling them to actively facilitate career development, engagement, and retention while driving organizational performance.

Saudi Aramco by the numbers

$

OPEC basket five-week price trend 2019

53.42

58.04 59.3460.76 60.47

JAN. 4 JAN. 11 JAN. 18 JAN. 25 FEB. 1

A day trip to nearby Qatif provides an insightful look into the lifestyle and art of the Eastern Province community for one Saudi Aramco couple.

see pages 14 and 15

a one day escape to unexpected Qatifsee page 5

insidethis issue

NITI: a national dream, a success story

D&WO outreach provides encouraging opportunities for young females to become future engineers

see page 8

see page 13

Benchmarking is one of the most vital tools to achieve Operational Ex-cellence (OE). With that in mind, the OE Depart-ment recently sponsored an exchange meeting with Abqaiq Plants Oper-ations and Maintenance to share best practices in how to use it to achieve OE goals.

For Turki Almathami, a Saudi Aramco College De-gree Program for Non-Employee participant study-ing abroad in the U.K., his most profound moment outside of the Kingdom came not in Manchester but in Muizenberg, South Africa, where he volun-teered by teaching at a local school.

benchmarking for excellence, sharing OE culture

making connections through volunteering abroad

Saudi Aramco took the driver’s seat in demonstrating its commitment to sustained safety excellence during the 13th

American Society of Safety Professionals Middle East Chapter’s annual conference held in Bahrain.

Offering an optimum learning environment and quality facilities, the award-winning National Industrial Training Institute in al-Hasa is a key component of Saudi Vision

2030’s goals of producing a well-qualified workforce of young Saudis.

Saudi Aramco Fellow Ali Dogru, who has been integral in building the world leading TeraPOWERS program, has again been honored by MIT.

see page 9 see page 3

see page 7

excellence in safety a strategic enabler

Ali Dogru receives new recognition from MIT

Njoud Al Shreedah sits in the Well Control cyberchair during the Well Control Simulator tour. Al Shreed-ah was one of approxi-mately 50 young females who were invited by Saudi Aramco’s Drilling and Workover Training Division on a tour of the recently inaugurated Well Control School in Dhahran. The outreach event is in line with the company’s efforts to attract young talent at an early stage.

a weekly Saudi Aramco publication for employeesFebruary 6, 2019 vol. LXXIV, No. 6

your voice

The use of smartphones while driving has become a popular habit, especially among young people. This is despite the fact that this behavior disrupts and re-duces the driver’s concentration behind the wheel.

According to the latest statistics pub-lished by the Traffic Department in Sau-di Arabia, the number of road deaths resulting from this behavior has been steadily increasing, and as a result, at-tempts to curb this kind of behavior have become more stringent through rules and regulations that contribute to tracking and monitoring drivers. Exten-sive campaigns have been launched to raise awareness, covering a variety of visual and reading platforms across so-ciety.

Long-distance driving requires a deep focus to avoid sudden situations that can occur during the trip, and the practice of dealing with all conditions is the key to safe driving for everyone on the road.

When one loses track of his or her surroundings because of smartphone use while driving, it results in an in-creased number of incidents, which in turn increases the numbers of highway deaths and disabilities, and leads to economic losses as well.

Let us consider the loss of life and souls in the early years of youth in any society and its impact on the social life and economy of countries.

We need to be smarter about our choices and use smartphones only when it’s safe.

Surely the smartest option is to stop using your smartphone while driving. Even if you think that you can easily do many tasks at once, be mindful that you can encounter many difficulties and situations during the trip.

Think about how the vehicle is a means of transport and not a means of killing. While driving, you must be alert and engage all five senses. All others

on the highway share this responsibility with you. It requires the cooperation of everyone to complete our journeys safe-ly instead of being like a battlefield due to the lack of driving safety and ethics.

You must demonstrate your discipline and commitment as a driver during ev-ery journey, as your lesson will be a re-flection of your actions, teaching others how to respect each other on the roads.

Always follow traffic rules, and ex-pect mistakes from other drivers on the road.

A call, message, or social communi-cation can be answered at any time, but the soul can never be recovered. Be aware of these results, and do the smart thing — use your smartphone when you are in the right location.

Unfortunately, the smartphone has become a silent killer. I implore you to restrict your use of mobile phones on the road and resist the impulse to be-come a slave to it.

Your Voice reflects the thoughts and opinions of the writer, and not necessarily those of the publication.

drivers, don’t let the smartphone steal your life

Zakaria H. Al-Darwish

Dhahran

Zakaria.Darwish@aramco.com

by Janet Pinheiro

inspirational volunteering earns prestigious awardfor Aramcon who loves to ‘bring joy’ to people

Dhahran — When Reem M. Alghamdi’s workday finishes, it’s time for her to start her voluntary work helping Saudi Ara-bia’s youth develop their readiness for the workplace.

Sharek — an Arabic word for share — is a program created by Alghamdi to develop the soft skills of female students and job seekers by delivering practical job advice to groups from education and community organizations.

It is just one of around 40 in-Kingdom and international projects that the young Saudi has donated her time to during the past four years.

Her dedicated contribution was recog-nized recently when HRH Prince Saud ibn Nayef ibn ‘Abd Al-’Aziz and HRH Prince Ahmed ibn Fahad ibn Salman ibn ‘Abd Al-’Aziz conferred her with the “Saudi Volunteering Ambassador” award at the inaugural “Saudi Volunteering Awards” ceremony in the Eastern Province.

The awards event is designed to increase volunteerism in the Kingdom. Saudi Aram-co employees provided assistance toward organizing the new recognition program, and the company received an appreciation certificate for its sponsorship.

sharing between peersA management information systems

graduate from Al imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University in Dammam, Algham-di explained that what makes her Sharek program different is students learn from a fellow student or graduate.

“Instead of advice from an expert, with Sharek, the students hear from someone around their same age,” she said. “Mes-sages are more impactful when they come from someone your own age.”

The idea for Sharek came to Alghamdi when she was chosen to represent Sau-di Arabia at the 2017 Girls20 — a global summit along the lines of the G20 format

bringing together young female delegates from each G20 country. One of the goals of the summit is to develop 100 million global job opportunities for women by 2025.

Alghamdi said practical advice about ev-eryday things such as writing a CV makes a big difference

“For instance, when I was younger I didn’t know how to properly construct and approach distributing a professional email message,” she said.

Alghamdi’s volunteering journey started in 2014, when she helped out at the com-munity event, “Summer of Eastern Prov-ince,” saying her participation quickly con-firmed that volunteering was her calling.

“I just wanted to spend time doing something useful and I quickly realized that this was my thing,” said Alghamdi.

Her dedication to volunteering saw her selected in 2015 as one of 25 Saudis cho-sen to participate in a United States sum-

mer exchange program focused on volun-teering.

giving returns even more Alghamdi advises that volunteering will

give back far more than what you will contribute.

“Volunteering makes me feel good about myself,” says the inspirational vol-unteer.

One of her most memorable volunteer-ing projects was a fun day for child cancer survivors with the Saudi Cancer Founda-tion:

“You can immediately see in their faces the joy you are bringing by just giving a few hours of your time,” said Alghamdi, who works with Saudi Aramco’s Human Resources Systems Support Department in the Data Management Division.

One of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 goals is to boost volunteerism in the Kingdom by 1 million volunteers per year.

I just wanted to spend time doing something useful and I quickly realized that this was my thing. Volunteering makes me feel good about myself.

— Reem M. Alghamdi

”February 6, 2019 the arabian sun

2 company news

Ali Dogru receives new recognition from MIT

Davos, Switzerland — Peak oil de-mand, the conjectured point in the fu-ture when oil demand stops growing, was dismissed as a longer term scenario during a panel of energy experts’ discus-sion on “The Great Energy Race” at the recent 2019 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

An assessment by the International Energy Agency (IEA) projected that with current economic and innovation rates, peak oil demand was at least 15 years away, while Majid Jafar, CEO of Crescent Petroleum — the Middle East’s oldest private upstream company — suggested the growth of U.S. shale has debunked the myth of peak oil supply.

Harvard University’s Meghan O’Sullivan said peak oil demand was causing a mis-understanding about the centrality of oil and gas to the global economy for the next 20 years and “pushing investment into short cycle investment rather than the long cycle investment that the world will need.”

oil price volatilityLast year was a bearish 12 months,

averaging about $72 per barrel, but the advice from IEA executive director Fatih Birol was that geopolitical uncertain-ties, and a decelerating global economy, would continue to drive price volatility during 2019.

Commenting that the name of the game at the last Davos was volatility, Birol said volatility during 2019 may be stronger. He referred to China as an ex-ample of a slowing economy, saying it was responsible for 50% of global oil growth.

To stabilize prices in December 2018, Saudi Arabia, its OPEC partners, and Rus-sia cut production 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil beginning January 2019.

Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev said four years ago no one believed in the Russia-Saudi cooperation.

“Then, we started this cooperation, which became truly historic,” said Dmi-triev. “We really have a very well-func-tioning mechanism to adjust supply and demand.”

U.S. shaleAt last year’s forum, the IEA head cor-

rectly predicted the steep rise in U.S. oil production.

Shale oil — high-quality crude oil that lies between layers of rock — saw oil output in the U.S. rise by more than 2 million bpd during 2018, making it the world’s largest producer for the first time since 1973.

Birol recalled that many people be-lieved the IEA’s prediction was too bull-ish, but it later revised its prediction upward and said if anybody thinks they have seen the full impact of shale evolu-tion, they were mistaken.

Adding that at the end of 2019, U.S. pipeline construction completion would expand U.S. capacity to bring oil to the market by two-thirds, Birol said: “This will increase the ability of U.S. oil indus-tries reaction capability to oil markets.”

“We don’t see U.S. shale as a threat at all,” said Crescent’s CEO. “The vast ma-jority of demand growth in oil has been met by U.S. shale over the last four, five years, and there has been chronic un-derinvestment in the conventional in the rest of the world, including in the Middle East.”

thoughts from the futureWorld Economic Forum: the great energy race

Ali Dogru works on a TeraPOWERS simulation with his team in Dhahran. The Saudi Aramco Fellow has again been recognized by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, this time by its Earth Resources Laboratory (ERL) and the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. Dogru is among the first class of ERL Fellows, which also includes professionals from Shell and the National University of Singapore.

Information sourced from proceedings published on World Economic Forum Davos 2019 website. The views do not necessarily reflect Saudi Aramco’s point-of-view.

Dhahran — Saudi Aramco Fellow Ali Dogru has been recognized by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Earth Resources Laboratory (ERL) and the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) with a new Fellowship honoring leading researchers in geophysics, and related areas.

Dogru is among the first class of ERL Fel-lows, which also includes Dirk Smit, the vice president of Exploration Technology and chief scientist of geophysics at Shell, and Arthur Cheng, a professor of petro-leum geosciences at the National Univer-sity of Singapore. The three Fellows will be invited, and encouraged, to spend time on campus, pursuing work of their choice in collaboration with ERL students, research-ers, and faculty.

new perspectives from the fieldLaurent Demanet, associate professor of

applied mathematics and director of ERL, — and Robert van der Hilst — Schlum-berger professor of earth and planetary sci-ences, and EAPS department head — said these visits will be opportunities for the Fel-lows to contribute to ERL’s research mission and offer mentoring and career guidance to students.

“MIT is known for innovative interdisci-plinary work that often begins with infor-mal interactions among researchers,” says Demanet. “By including leaders from aca-demia and industry in the day-to-day life of our lab, we hope to not only recognize their support but gain valuable perspec-tives on the past, present, and future of our fields.”

The selection of the first class of ERL Fel-lows was done by a prestigious committee, including oil industry executives and EAPS professor emeritus and ERL founding direc-tor M. Nafi Toksöz. The names of the first

by Scott Baldauf

class were announced at the 2018 Society for Exploration Geophysics Annual Meet-ing in Anaheim in late 2018.

a career steeped in excellenceDogru has published extensively through-

out his career and holds many U.S. pat-ents. He has received SPE’s John Franklin Carll, Reservoir Description and Dynamics, Honorary and Distinguished Membership Awards, along with World Oil’s Innovative Thinker Award and ADIPEC’s Best Tech-nology Award. He is also a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering.

Dogru started his career at Saudi Aramco in 1988, initially on a loan basis from Mo-bil, and in 1996 he transferred permanent-ly to Saudi Aramco.

A visiting scientist at MIT since 2011 and a Saudi Aramco Fellow since 2013, Dogru is the director of Saudi Aramco’s Compu-

tational Modeling Technology team, which is creating the world leading TeraPOW-ERS program for modeling Saudi Arabia’s reservoirs with granular accuracy. His cur-rent research is focused on developing the next-generation parallel reservoir simulator to improve the reservoir models and opti-mize oil recovery in mature fields, helping Exploration find new oil and gas fields.

“This is a great honor for me to be rec-ognized by MIT and to be among the three most distinguished scientists from around the world,” said Dogru. “This event also reflects Saudi Aramco’s capabilities in lead-ing edge technologies. I believe my eight years of association with MIT in research and teaching has contributed to this recog-nition, and I would like to thank the lead-ership of Saudi Aramco, and all of my team members and colleagues from the industry and academia for their support.”

This is a great honor for me to be recognized by MIT and to be among the three most distinguished scientists from around the world. This event also reflects Saudi Aramco’s capabilities in leading edge technologies.

— Ali Dogru

”the arabian sun February 6, 2019

3company news

bringing career counseling services to all

Saudi Aramco and Total announce agreement with Daelim to build new facility in Kingdom

Posing at the close of the Career Practitioner Certification Program (CPCP) graduation ceremony are Career Counseling Group leader Zahiruddin Butt (left), CPCP graduates Rami Busbait, Hatem Darwish, Aiyd B. Otaibi, Moayed A. Raheb, Mariam M. Khater, Maiss Hamad, career counselor Tracy M. Lara Hilton, Dhafer M. Bahri, Ateeq R. Juhani, Rickey L. Tribble, Ahmad S . Althukair, Bandar M. Amri, career counselor Ajaz Hussain, and Abdullah N. Hassan.

Salma M. Asaad, a cohort graduate from the first Career Practitioner Certification Program session, opens up the recent graduation ceremony of the second cohort of the Career Development Division training course. The internationally accredited counseling certification program was tailored specifically for Saudi Aramco employees. (Photos: Musleh Khathami/MPD)

In line with its strategy to deliver world-class counseling services, the Manage-ment and Professional Development De-partment’s (M&PDD) Career Development Division (CDD) is expanding efforts to develop the Saudi Aramco Career Coun-seling Center of Excellence by offering an internationally accredited counseling cer-tification program tailored for Saudi Ar-amco employees.

The Career Practitioner Certification Program (CPCP) aligns with the Kingdom’s standards in career education and devel-opment, allowing the company to rapidly expand services through career counseling hubs located across the company.

extensive programThe CPCP enables career counselors to

support Saudi Aramco employees in their career development. Aligned with inter-national competencies and professional standards, the program enhances career counseling practices in the company, pro-motes a common language and practice, and builds the capacity of line organiza-tions to provide high-quality career coun-seling services.

Nominated by business lines and admin areas, aspiring career practitioners learn and demonstrate professional and tech-nical competencies required to deliver ca-reer counseling services. Other criteria for eligibility include a university degree, more than five years of experience in either human resources (HR), employee devel-opment, mentoring, coaching, or career counseling; and ongoing demonstration of the company’s Four Critical Behaviors

Saudi Aramco with its partner Total has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Daelim, a South Korean petrochemical company. Under the MoU, Daelim is planning to build a new 80,000 ton, state-of-the-art polyisobutylene (PIB) plant, which is expected to come on-stream in 2024.

This agreement is another step to drive Saudi Aram-co’s petrochemicals growth strategy. This follows Sau-di Aramco’s announcement in October 2018 to launch an engineering study to build a large petrochemical

complex in Jubail.

a first for the KingdomThe launch of the Front-End Engineering and Design

of the PIB plant will start this month and be concluded in the fourth quarter of 2019. The new petrochemicals facility will be using feedstock from the Amiral com-plex in Jubail. It is the first time that the PIB product will be developed in the Kingdom.

The facility’s location in Saudi Arabia will give Daelim access to competitive feedstock and energy, with large

infrastructure, to better serve customers in the Middle East and markets across Europe and Asia.

This specialty chemical project will be part of the large-scale petrochemical complex of Amiral, located in the Value Park. It will be using Daelim’s PIB propri-etary technology to produce a wide range of products in a single plant, from conventional PIB to highly re-active PIB.

PIB is a high value-added chemical product and has a wide range of industrial applications such as adhe-sives, lubricants, and fuel additives.

(Decision Making, Empowerment, People Conversations, and collaboration).

blended learningThe CPCP uses a blended learning ap-

proach of interactive workshops, coun-seling skills, development practice, and application of the latest research in career development. It also includes access to an online learning platform that enables knowledge sharing, and stimulates out-of-class debate and peer collaboration — all within the Saudi Aramco context.

The program is accredited by the Inter-national Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance, and has been en-hanced in-house to align with professional standards for career practitioners in Saudi Arabia.

continuous commitmentSpeaking on the impact of the CPCP,

CDD administrator Najwa S. Azaimi said: “The CPCP takes Saudi Aramco one step closer to excellence. As we establish a cen-ter of excellence, we are building the ca-pacity of line organization hubs across the company to provide high-quality, accessi-ble career counseling services.”

Mohammed T. Al-Subaiei, director of the Local Workforce Development Department, said: “The launch of the CPCP shows Saudi Aramco’s continuous commitment to de-velop and support our most valuable asset — human capital. We are committed to transferring this specific knowledge, em-ploying the most up-to-date career coun-seling practices, and building a bridge of alliance with employees to successfully de-liver career path plans.”

program impactCDD has graduated two cohorts of the

CPCP, each lasting nine months, with the

most recent conducted from March to No-vember 2018. To date, 31 employees have obtained certification and are actively facil-itating career development, engagement, and retention, while driving organizational performance and effectiveness.

Mariam M. Khater, an HR generalist from the Chemicals HR and Support Services Unit, and a graduate of the second cohort, said that she was able to implement learn-ing from the program in her workplace.

“Using a combination of online study, in-person teaching, and practical career counseling, I had an opportunity to take back learning from the program. It taught me how to listen effectively, observe em-ployee emotions, and address their con-cerns in a more effective manner,” she said.

Hatem H. Darwish, an HR generalist from the Project Management Support Services Unit and a graduate of the second cohort, said the program fits business needs.

“The master trainers act as counselors, provide inspiration, and encourage self-re-flection,” said Darwish.

extended reachThe continued development of the Saudi

Aramco Career Counseling Center of Ex-cellence supports the rapid implementa-tion and strategic use of international best practices, allowing Saudi Aramco to extend its world-class career counseling services. As the CPCP expands in the coming years, with greater numbers of certified career practitioners serving the company through career counseling hubs, career counseling services will further impact professionals companywide.

by Shaistha Khan

February 6, 2019 the arabian sun

4 company news

outreach initiativeDrilling and Workover encouraging young females to become future engineers

Drilling engineers Jawaher Al Saleh (center) and Zainab Al Saihati (far left) demonstrate to Dhahran Ahliyya School students the Well Control Simulator. The exercise is part of Drilling & Workover Training Division’s outreach event for 50 female students from the Dhahran Ahliyya School and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals as part of its outreach initiatives.

Students Nada Al Yami and Aseel Al Abdul-hadi show their excitement during a visit at the Well Control School run by the Drilling and Workover Training Division.

Fahad Al Mulaik explains the complexity of operations and the opportunities available for young talent.

Dhahran — Saudi Aramco’s Dri l l-ing and Workover Training Division (D&WOTD) recently conducted an out-reach event for 50 female students from the Dhahran Ahliyya School and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Miner-als (KFUPM).

The event took place at Drilling and Workover’s (D&WO) Well Control School — a recently inaugurated state-of-the-art training facility school equipped with high-end well control simulators and classrooms.

early attraction of young talentThe visit is in line with Training & De-

velopment’s (T&D) strategy to attract young talent at an early stage — headed by the Academic Programs & Partnership Department (AP&PD), which is contin-uously developing and promoting the company and the opportunities it pres-ents to young students.

Identification and filtration of high school students is done to search for top talent to join the College Degree Pro-gram for Non-Employees (CDPNE). The program selects top Saudi high school graduates to be sponsored for a bach-elor’s degree, in a number of disciplines critical to the company.

The early attraction of young talent strategy is founded on four main pillars — communication, partnerships, promo-tion, and programs. Part of AP&PD’s pro-motional activities is to invite students from top schools to field visits in Saudi Aramco facilities, such as this recent D&WO outreach event, to raise aware-ness of employment opportunities with the company.

exploring various career opportunities

The school outreach event was ar-ranged by D&WOTD. Many parties were involved in organizing the visit with D&WOTD to deliver an extraordinary ex-perience to the students. AP&PD played a key role in coordinating the visit with Dhahran Ahliyya and KFUPM, and with obtaining feedback from the students on all aspects of the visit, which was ana-lyzed for further enhancements.

The event focused on promoting the D&WO industrial work environment and enriching students’ knowledge, and building interest in the energy industry — specifically D&WO operations. The visit started with motivational remarks by Faisal H. Al Daihani, D&WOTD super-intendent, encouraging the students to explore career opportunities within sci-ence, technology, engineering, and math fields of study.

Then, an overview on upstream busi-ness activities was delivered by Fahad A. Al Mulaik, acting manager of Southern Area Oil Drilling. The overview included an outlook on the oil industry and place-ment of upstream personnel among Saudi Aramco operations. Al Daihani shared career insights and answered the students’ questions that were general-ly around the D&WO working environ-ment, and the difference between vari-ous engineering majors.

Drilling engineers Zainab Al Saihati and

by Dania Ghazi and Eiman Alhamad

experience and story with the students. Students had an opportunity to en-

gage and converse with other female professionals from D&WO and other Saudi Aramco organizations to learn from their experience and knowledge.

learning about Saudi Aramco culture and offerings

AP&PD’s career counselor Shatha A. Aljamea was also among the presenting team and delivered an overview on the CDPNE program and its requirements. During the session, Fay A. Al Mutlaq, a career counselor from Human Resourc-es, led a personality assessment activi-ty, helping the students to explore and reflect on their personal traits and how they might communicate with others and improve their career choices.

A number of videos showing Saudi Ar-amco female leaders were shown to stu-dents to highlight successful female role models. That was followed by a group discussion facilitated by D&WOTD per-

Jawaher Al Saleh delivered an overview of drilling business activities and oper-ations. Additionally, the students were taken on a facility tour demonstrating the well control simulation training, and its importance and criticality. The stu-dents were given a hands-on opportuni-ty to overlook drilling operations using the DS-5000 simulator with the cyber-chair connected to its visualization wall.

establishing bonds with the Society of PetroleumEngineers (SPE)

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) has been an active society for re-sources and professional networking among petroleum engineers. During the visit, SPE’s Ambassador Lecturer Program team representative Zainab Al Ali, a pe-troleum engineer, welcomed the stu-dents to establish early bonds and mo-tivate them to become part of SPE. She shared SPE’s activities and her personal

sonnel, led by Lamees K. Alsaikhan, a business system analyst, giving the stu-dents a chance to reflect on the many ca-reer opportunities available to them, and the various challenges that might face them, and how they can overcome them.

future drilling engineers in the making

At the end of the visit, a survey was conducted to gauge the impact of the event on the students and the results were positive. For example, when the students were asked if the visit has pos-itively changed their opinion of D&WO, an astounding 88% agreed that it did. As one of the students said in the survey, “When I first came, I didn’t know much about drilling and the things we learned here have helped a lot in changing my views about this career.”

The recent trip is to be followed by continuous communication from AP&PD with potential students for more activ-ities and programs to help prepare and attract them to Saudi Aramco’s critical majors. It has been observed that educat-ing students about critical fields of study at an early stage clarifies misconceptions regarding these, and increase the num-ber of CDPNE applicants interested in applying to them. AP&PD will be work-ing closely with business lines to develop promotional and educational content to be used in events and programs.

With such continuous collaborations, D&WO and its management continue to support the community in many forms as it promotes the energy industry to the Kingdom’s youth. This event is part of many planned initiatives to increase awareness on female career opportuni-ties within D&WO.

5cover storythe arabian sun February 6, 2019

Yanbu’ Refinery holds 2018 Health, Safety, Environment, and Energy Conference and Exhibition

Yanbu’ Refinery environmental engineer Abdulmalek M. Alharbi proudly showcases to HE Adnan Alwani and members of Saudi Aramco management the Green World Award, which the Yanbu’ Refinery received in 2018 for its environmental excellence.

Ahmed Dawood, one of Yanbu’ Refinery’s young engineers, explains to the audience how the refinery’s DHT high-pressure separator’s temperature was optimized, an initiative that led to significant fuel gas savings.

A panel discussion on turnaround safety was moderated by YRD supervisor Muhammad M. Chohan. Panelists, from left, are Ashraf Khira, Sami Saklou, William G. Bridges, and Maddala V. Bhanumurthy.

Yanbu’ — The Yanbu’ Refinery Depart-ment (YRD) recently hosted the 2018 Health, Safety, Environment, and Energy (HSEE) Conference and Exhibition at a Yan-bu’ hotel.

Led by Abdulatif S. Al-Shami, Yanbu’ Refinery Department (YRD) manager, the event was attended by Adnan Alwani, CEO of Yanbu’ Royal Commission; Salahaddin H. Dardeer, president and CEO of SAMREF; Faisal A. Al-Subhi, manager of the Yanbu’ NGL Fractionation Department (YNGLFD); Saleh U. Al Ghamdi, Western Region Termi-nal Department manager; and Sami A. Saa-ti, deputy manager of Yanbu’ Government Affairs. In addition, hundreds of delegates attended from the company’s Upstream and Downstream departments, as well as from domestic joint ventures (JVs) in Yan-bu’.

“The objective of this event is to place a higher focus on HSEE by exchanging knowledge, experiences, best practices, and lessons learned,” Al-Shami said in his opening remarks. “This forum is one ex-ample of the knowledge sharing process, which is an everlasting journey that con-tinuously preserves the experience of the workforce, new technologies, and best practices.”

tour highlights excellence, solutions

The conference opened with a presen-tation delivered by Nafil Al-Rashidi, direc-tor of the Environmental Protection and Control Department in the Yanbu’ Royal Commission, on prompting environmental management and monitoring at the Yan-bu’ Industrial College. He was followed by William G. Bridges, president of the Process Improvement Institute, who spoke about safeguarding process safety during turn-arounds.

The distinguished guests, led by Al-Shami and Alwani, proceeded to the inauguration ceremony. Guided by Yanbu’ Refinery engi-neer Ahmad Y. Bokhari, the guests toured the exhibition booths for Saudi Aramco, the Royal Commission, and King Abdullah Uni-versity of Science and Technology (KAUST).

In one booth, YRD environmental engi-neer Abdulmalek Alharbi celebrated the refinery’s environmental excellence, which was recently awarded the internation-al Green World Award. In another, YRD

by Yazeed A. Subaiee

machinist Rakan S. Al-Zhrani demonstrat-ed the refinery’s 3-D printing capabilities, which are available in the Yanbu’ Refinery 3-D Hub.

Researchers Issam Gereige and Esra M. Alhabshi from the Research and Develop-ment Center’s renewables team at KAUST showcased a new technology in solar en-ergy that can withstand high temperatures, as well as alternative methods for the pro-duction of hydrogen fuel.

Environmental engineer Barra Bokha-ri from the Yanbu’ Royal Commission Environmental Protection Department showed the guests new technologies used in their environmental control pro-grams. Center liaison officer Paul J. Buijs discussed the new leading technologies in water desalination and re-use such as the

LPD’s Khira opened the second day by demonstrating how turnaround and in-spection activities were conducted safely at Jiddah Refinery’s Gate 4.

Suresh Venkatarayalu, vice president and chief technology officer of Honeywell Safety and Productivity Solutions, spoke on connected workers and worker safe-ty. He was followed by energy engineer Abdulaziz Najjar from the Process and Con-trol Systems Department, who gave a pre-sentation on his department’s cutting-edge eco-transformation technology for energy efficiency.

Dr. Majdi Hassan Altoukhi of the National Strategy for Health and Environment de-partment spoke about the health status of Saudi Arabia and its relationship with environmental pollution. Ahmed Dawood, a young process engineer at YRD, spoke about a recently implemented initiative in energy efficiency, which was achieved by optimizing the refinery’s DHT high-pres-sure separator’s temperature — an initiative that led to significant fuel gas savings. The morning session ended with a presentation by piping and equipment welding inspector Mabber Y. Jaafari, who gave a presentation on Safe Zone technology.

After the lunch break, the attendees re-convened and listened to Ihab Khayyat, Engineering, Research, and Development manager at Rawabi United Safety Services, as he talked about the many opportuni-ties to add value to turnarounds and shut-downs.

Buijs illustrated to the audience new technologies being developed at the Water Desalination and Re-use Center at KAUST such as hydrophobic sand. The event con-cluded with a final presentation by Bhanu-murthy, who discussed the major efforts for energy optimization in the refinery’s con-densate recovery system.

Twelve keynote speeches and technical presentations were delivered over the two days in the conference by Saudi Aramco, the Yanbu’ Royal Commission, internation-al HSEE, energy experts, and solution pro-viders. The exhibition included 24 domestic and international specialized companies that came from around the globe to pres-ent their leading solutions and technologies in HSE and energy. The delegates exceed-ed 215 from several Saudi Aramco depart-ments, the Yanbu’ Royal Commission, and four Saudi Aramco JVs.

4CBs power success“The Four Critical Behaviors were clear-

ly demonstrated since the inception of this event to its implementation,” said Abdullah Alzahrani, the event’s lead organizer. “The empowerment that was given to the team from the department manager was the first driver that led to this successful event. The collaboration between the participating Saudi Aramco departments and JVs was amazing. We had conversations that ca-tered to team’s decision making process. It reflected the power of Saudi Aramco’s four critical behaviors that are known to always lead to excellence.”

positive feedback The event received an overwhelmingly

positive feedback from management and delegates. “Amazing,” was the word that Al-Subhi used to describe this event, and Dardeer said he felt that the event was well-organized, noting that it will surely benefit both Saudi Aramco and SAMREF, as well as the other JV delegates who at-tended.

use of hydrophobic sand.In addition, the guests stopped by the

booths set up for domestic and internation-al solutions providers in HSE and energy.

turnaround safety and moreAfter the exhibition tour’s conclusion, the

conference continued with a panel discus-sion on turnaround safety. Moderated by Yanbu’ Refinery Operations Engineering Unit supervisor Muhammad Chohan, the discussion featured Bridges, Ashraf Khi-ra from Loss Prevention’s Western Region Turnaround and Inspection Group; Sami Saklou, Yanbu’ Refinery Project Planning and Execution Unit supervisor; and Madd-ala V. Bhanumurthy, senior operations engi-neer at the Yanbu’ Refinery. The group dis-cussed the importance of health and safety while conducting turnaround activities. This comes in due time as the Yanbu’ Refinery plans to conduct its major turnaround in March.

Afterwards, 3M senior applications engi-neer Mohammed Hatooq took to the stage and discussed the topic of hazardous con-ditions in the oil and gas industry.

After breaking for lunch, the attendees listened to Zaur Abbasov, HSE director of Global Environmental Management Ser-vices, as he spoke about HSE culture, its benefits, and its challenges. He was fol-lowed by Ahmed Abu Ahmed, associate health promotion adviser at Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare who delivered a pre-sentation on what it takes to be a healthy leader. The first day concluded with Saleh Khabour, product manager at Dräger Ara-bia, who discussed his company’s safety solutions for confined space entry.

February 6, 2019 the arabian sun

6 company news

NITI: a national dream, a success storyAl-Hasa — Keeping pace with Saudi Vision

2030 and its call to create job opportunities for qualified Saudis, Saudi Aramco has sup-ported and funded youth training institutes and academies Kingdomwide.

One of those institutes, the National In-dustrial Training Institute (NITI), is attracting students and people from across the King-dom who seek knowledge and want to learn the skills that will help provide its labor market with highly skilled Saudis.

optimal learning environment, quality facilities

Headquartered in a 36,500-square-meter facility in al-Hasa and accommodating 2,500 students, NITI is composed of 144 classrooms where students study English, mathematics, and computer science. In addition, there are 59 workshops that provide 80% of the total training hours offered by the institute.

NITI facilities were built to attract students seeking fitness, well-being, and recreation in addition to learning and hands-on training, and they provide a lifestyle rarely offered by industrial training centers anywhere.

In line with a memorandum of under-standing signed between the Technical & Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) and Saudi Aramco (which donated the land in 2009), NITI is equipped with distinctive train-ing facilities that suit students of different ages.

This includes football, basketball, and volleyball fields and courts, a recreational center, a mosque, a medical center, a huge dining hall, and landscaping. The student compound, built to high safety specifica-tions, accommodates 1,000 students and 100 trainers and instructors. It also has a conference hall that can accommodate 1,050 people.

international accreditation and awards

Waleed Al-Khudair, NITI general manager, noted Saudi Aramco and TVTC have created one of the best nonprofit partnerships that provides for Saudi youth, the Kingdom’s in-dustrial future, and its domestic and regional labor markets.

Al-Khudair highlighted the three-year ac-creditation NITI received for satisfying the highest internationally recognized require-ments, state-of-the-art operational pro-grams, and having a facility that is equipped with internationally recognized safety stan-dards.

Al-Khudair noted that NITI was recognized at the Annual GetEnergy Awards ceremony in London as an example of the best pub-lic-private partnership. TVTC governor, Ali bin Nasser Al-Ghufais, received the award.

“NITI won the award as a result of the consolidated efforts of NITI staff, trainers, administrators, and partners. NITI’s output, namely the students who have proved to be competent, receive optimal attention,” he said. “With TUV’s accreditation of all NITI’s training programs, NITI and its graduates at-tained a world-class level, as NITI certificates are key to job opportunities for national and international companies.”

Al-Khudair commended NITI’s 3,600 high-ly skilled graduates on work sites who repre-sent NITI’s vision and mission in partnership with the well-established German company TUV, which runs NITI’s technical and aca-demic aspects.

He also extended thanks to Saudi Aram-co Training and Development for its support and expertise, as well as to the NITI board of directors, which is chaired by Nabeel A. Al-Jama’, Saudi Aramco’s vice president of Corporate Affairs.

by Mohammad Al-Adarbeh

the highest of honorsNITI also recently received one of the high-

est possible awards for a nonprofit — the King Abdulaziz Quality.

The announcement was made earlier this year at a ceremony of the fourth edition of the awards in Riyadh, held under the pa-tronage of The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman ibn ‘Abd Al-‘Aziz Al Sa’ud. Governor of Riyadh HRH Prince Faisal ibn Bandar ibn ‘Abd Al-‘Aziz also attended the recognition event.

Al-Jama’ said winning this award marks a proud moment for NITI and all those associ-ated with the institute.

“We are proud of NITI winning this na-tional leading award, especially because it carries the name of the founder of this na-tion,” said Al-Jama’. “Winning this award reflects the institute’s drive for quality, per-formance, and excellence. It also reflects the great efforts of NITI employees that resulted in earning this prestigious recognition.”

He added, “From Saudi Aramco’s per-spective, qualified human resources are the cornerstone of industry, trade and econo-my. Therefore, the company is committed to supporting initiatives that provide training and qualification opportunities for the King-dom’s male and female citizens in line with labor market requirements. Saudi Aramco’s strategic partnership with TVTC provides for the establishment of industrial energy train-ing centers (NITI being in the forefront) to be run by international training and devel-opment centers.”

He said this was part of Saudi Aramco’s strategy that has translated into 16 initia-tives. NITI, with its wide range of capabili-ties, represents the fruitful partnership with TVTC. Al-Jama’ also urged large companies to follow suit and qualify Saudi citizens based on national development plans.

Al-Jama’ commended NITI students for their aspirations and commitment, noting their pride in donning the NITI logo and

motto on their helmets and uniforms. He hopes the students will form the corner-stone of future development in the King-dom, shaping industrial and professional development at the highest levels.

academic training and job skillsTraining is divided into academic and

on-the-job. Academically, students study English, mathematics, computer science, public safety, physical and health education. On-the-job training ensures that graduates meet job requirements and are capable of carrying out the assigned tasks.

The academic section focuses on honing English and other academic skills, which is an extension of the students’ school life. Its target group is students between 18 and 24 years, which has resulted in a success rate between 97% and 100%.

hands-on trainingElectrical engineer and trainer Musa

Al-Agawi teaches three training sections — instrumentation, operation, and electricity. A student who graduates as an instrumenta-tion technician is also trained on how to op-erate, install, and maintain oil and chemicals equipment.

These job skills are critical for Saudi Aram-co and other oil companies.

“NITI trainers do their utmost to encour-age students to be diligent and creative. We have to commend the efforts made by the students to build their career and future,” Al-Agawi said. “Hands-on training consti-tutes 80% of total training, so it is no ex-aggeration to say that a student can join the labor market immediately after gradu-ation.”

Students receive 1,350 training hours in workshops and classrooms. The maximum

class size is 12, so students can be fully ac-quainted with their respective job skills and requirements.

Mechanical engineer Fahd El-Mosailam, trainer for NITI’s Maintenance and Heavy Equipment Division and Inspection Division, said training can take as little as two weeks or as long as two years, depending on the job requirements.

The basics are emphasized, including heavy equipment maintenance and condi-tioning.

“Students start the training by knowing the names of tools and their characteristics. Then, with a focus on safety, they work on assembling, disassembling, maintenance, and the mechanics of such equipment,” said El-Mosailam, who noted that students work to learn a new concept of safety every day.

pride and contentment in the eyes

The Arabian Sun interviewed a group of students with signs of contentment, happi-ness, and pride on their faces.

A confident Sultan Al-Alyan said: “I’ve loved working with my own hands since I was a child. I used to look at electrical and mechanical technicians with admiration. Once I saw NITI’s advertisement, I felt I was at the crossroads; I had to start my own journey and establish myself.”

Al-Alyan, a pipeline trainee from Interna-tional Maritime Industries, praised the role NITI played in training and placement, as well as the close-knit community it provided. “I’ve never seen youth from Najran, Riyadh, Khafji, and Qasim having dinner together except with my friends in the NITI,” he said.

Melhim El-Melhim, a NITI student from al-Hasa, said, “Once I came and heard the statistics about the number of vacant tech-nical jobs in the Kingdom, and the many job opportunities for Saudi youth, I found my-self at NITI’s gate and enrolled in the Electri-cal Division to train to become an electrical technician.”

El-Melhim praised the many skills he learned at NITI, especially those related to safety. He noted that seat belt use and safe driving have become habits — not for fear of traffic tickets, but because he now em-braces safety as a lifestyle.

Abdal lah Al-Dar i , who hai ls from Al-Mubarraz and is on the verge of gradu-ation, will soon be entering the workforce as a safety supervisor — a job he says is im-portant at all facilities. Al-Dari said he has long wanted to be a safety supervisor, going all the way back to his childhood.

“When I hear about an accident, I feel disturbed,” he said, adding that safety is a critical issue for all facilities.

Upon graduation, students are familiar with various industrial job skills, as hands-on training in workshops is conducted under the supervision of qualified trainers.

Waleed Al-Khudair commends nearly 3,600 NITI graduates, who are performing their jobs on their respective work sites. With their quality training and qualification, they will be the best holders of NITI’s vision and mission.

After classes, students go to the swimming pool, the sports hall, or the library to practice their favorite hobbies. The facilities are part of student life at the campus and allow NITI’s students to take part in a range of non-academic activities to enrich their academic experience.

the arabian sun February 6, 2019

7company news

seminar highlights technology strategies for refining, petrochemicals

benchmarking for excellence, sharing OE culture, practices

Khalid S. Al-Ghamdi, manager of the Abqaiq Plants Operations Department, speaks to participants at the OE exchange meeting in Dhahran, with more than 420 participants from various Saudi Aramco organizations. “A cornerstone of Operational Excellence is benchmarking, and venues such as this one are always helpful in showcasing excellent performance, offering glimpses of proven best practices, and providing a platform to go further and beyond,” Al-Ghamdi said.

Zaher Al Deeb, process engineer at Petro Rabigh, participates in a panel discussion at the Refining and Petrochemicals Seminar held in Dhahran. More than 130 participants attended, including Saudi Aramco organizations, and domestic and international joint ventures Petro Rabigh, Sadara, YASREF, SASREF, SAMREF, SATORP, S-Oil, and FREP.

Abqaiq — Global markets are changing, and the oil and gas industry is becoming more competitive. This can be seen as a great opportunity to challenge the status quo and adopt new behaviors to enhance our commitment even further to be the best in everything we do.

Saudi Aramco has a rich legacy of being a provider of quality products and services — a pioneer in both safety and quality man-agement systems.

Over the years, Saudi Aramco has under-gone a major transformation from quality to excellence.

Beginning in 2013, Operational Excel-lence (OE) components were developed, and an OE corporate governance was es-tablished. In 2014, an OE management sys-tem was deployed companywide.

In 2015 in an effort to gauge the extent of OE deployment, Southern Area organi-zations started to perform self-assessments, with 2016 being the first year to have an integrated corporate assessment.

Nine different corporate entities were involved in the assessment, which helped eliminate overlaps, allowing for efficient use of resources, reduced assessment fa-tigue of assessed organizations, and ac-celerated realization and closure of perfor-mance gaps, thereby providing a platform for knowledge sharing.

In 2017, the President’s OE Excellence Award was presented. The objective of the award is to recognize excellence, celebrate success, drive continuous improvement, and promote healthy competition among all the organizations to achieve sustainable results driven by structured business pro-cesses.

Dhahran — Saudi Aramco’s Process and Control Systems Department (P&CSD) re-cently conducted a three-day Refining and Petrochemicals Seminar at the Technical Ex-change Center in Dhahran.

The seminar, which featured the theme of “Using the Best Technologies to Prepare for the Future of Refining and Petrochemicals,” focused on the latest technologies in refin-

by Mohammed Said a vital tool for excellence and success

Saudi Aramco’s Strategic Intent is to be the world’s leading integrated energy and chemicals company, and benchmarking is a vital tool in our OE model that enables our organizations to identify improvement opportunities to exceed the performance of our peers in the industries in which we compete. Because of that, Saudi Aramco or-ganizations should develop a comprehensive benchmarking strategy that includes con-ducting internal and external benchmarking focused on improving overall business per-formance, and one that is aligned with our Strategic Intent.

The OE Department (OED), in collabora-tion with the Abqaiq Plants Operations and Maintenance departments, recently spon-sored an OE exchange meeting in Dhahran, with more than 420 participants from vari-ous Saudi Aramco organizations. The event served as a venue to exchange best practices related to benchmarking and to share other departments’ experiences through a series of presentations and workshops. The event highlighted six presentation topics sharing success stories and demonstrating how pur-suing excellence can benefit everyone, re-gardless the nature of their business.

Also, Accenture representatives shared key takeaways in international benchmarking.

OE journey and benchmarking Abqaiq Plants gave a presentation on its

“Journey to Excellence,” capitalizing on the OE framework and the initiatives that were implemented that eventually led to winning several awards.

OED presented a short overview on the benchmarking process, in addition to intro-

ducing the audience to some of the tools that can be utilized for internal and external benchmarking.

Meanwhile, the Information Technology’s Planning and Performance Division (P&PMD) demonstrated its experience collaborating with oil and gas companies in benchmark-ing, reflecting the value of implementing the OE 12.3 Benchmarking Process.

Accenture followed with a presentation, highlighting the definition and various types of benchmarks, discussing variations that drive complexity, the international bench-marking approach, and the guiding princi-ples to be used during external benchmark-ing.

Business Review System and process updates

The Project Management Office Depart-ment (POMD) demonstrated the Business Review System, which it developed and launched in 2018. The system improved the way PMOD monitors day-to-day activities by providing constant and consistent monitoring of all department activities, accountability in achieving deliverables, and detailed and up-dated information for all PMOD activities and key performance indicators in one platform.

OED followed with an overview about the OE updated process, drivers behind those updates, and the expected benefits.

sustaining our competitive advantage

As current market conditions drive change, the company has no option but to embrace it. OE will simplify efforts to provide Saudi Aramco a sustainable competitive advantage when compared to our competitors.

This means more stability for the employ-ees, more opportunities for growth, and more productivity with less efforts (working committed and smarter, not harder).

Our commitment to OE enables us to maintain the Kingdom’s position as the world’s top oil exporter and most reliable supplier of energy, while continuing to make strategic investments across the hydrocar-bons value chain.

In addition, Saudi Aramco’s OE ensures that all business practices — in any organi-zation — are transparent, understandable, useful, and standardized. OE is applied across all business lines in the company, allowing employees to work collectively to-ward creating a safe, sustainable, and profit-able business environment.

ing and petrochemical processing of light hydrocarbon streams.

Conducted jointly with world-class indus-trial leaders in petrochemicals and refining, the seminar’s presentations discussed refin-ing and petrochemicals integration, reform-ing, and the aromatics technologies portfo-lio. The event represented an opportunity for Saudi Aramco and their joint ventures to network with world experts while learning about new technology solutions to achieve operational excellence in our refineries.

More than 130 participants attended, in-cluding Saudi Aramco organizations, and domestic and international joint ventures: Petro Rabigh, Sadara, YASREF, SASREF, SAMREF, SATORP, S-Oil, and FREP.

working together to overcome challenges

Khalid Y. Al Qahtani, P&CSD acting man-ager, opened the event by highlighting the challenges facing downstream industries and the benefits expected by collectively interacting, discussing, debating, sharing knowledge, and exchanging innovative solutions and improvement opportunities during the seminar.

Al Qahtani noted the significant efforts Saudi Aramco is exerting in the downstream development and optimization by integrat-ing world-scale petrochemicals facilities into our value chain.

“Optimizing the company’s refining and petrochemical system by means of deploy-ment of technologies in process, automa-tion, and digitization will support staying competitive on the back of a volatile mar-ket,” said Al Qahtani.

world-class exchange of ideasWorld-class refining and petrochemical

experts from Honeywell UOP, Axens, GTC Technology, and BP presented during the three-day seminar. Together with Saudi Aramco subject matter experts, these pre-sentations served as a platform for fruitful discussions and an exchange of ideas. Each day’s seminar included presentations cover-ing technology advancements, market up-dates, performance improvements, and best practices pertaining to specific refining and petrochemicals processes.

Throughout the workshop, the interaction between the presenters and the participants promoted knowledge transfer and generat-

ed new ideas that can be implemented at Saudi Aramco facilities. The sessions were successful and highly appreciated by the participants.

Topics discussed at this year’s seminars touched on refining and petrochemical inte-gration, advancements in aromatics, naph-tha production through deep conversion technologies, upgrading steam crackers py-rolysis gasoline to petrochemicals, recovery of light chemicals from pyrolysis gasoline, and para-xylene technology.

developing a Community of Practice

The afternoon of the third day was ded-icated to a meeting of the Reforming and Aromatics Community of Practice, with presentations from Saudi Aramco and Do-mestic and International Joint Ventures. Engineers from the Yanbu’ Refinery, Petro Rabigh, YASREF, SATORP, and S-Oil present-ed on their experiences and best practices for reforming and aromatic complexes.

Materials from the seminar presentations can be viewed at the Refining and Petro-chemicals Community of Practice site at https://sharek.aramco.com.sa/cop/Refining/.

Over the past years, Saudi Aramco went through a major transformation from quality to excellence, and benchmarking is a vital tool in our Operational Excellence Model that enables our organizations to identify improvement opportunities to make major positive impact toward our business objectives.

— Mohammed A. Al-Zaid, acting manager of the Operational Excellence Department

”

February 6, 2019 the arabian sun

8 company news

HSE excellence a ‘strategic enabler’conference looks to a future of sustained safety excellence

Abdulhakim A. Al-Gouhi participates in a panel discussion on the subject of contractor safety. A packed program featured workshops, presentation sessions, and live health and safety demonstrations involving Saudi Aramco’s Aviation Department and Bahrain’s Civil Defense.

Aali M. Al-Zahrani addresses delegates at the opening ceremony of the 13th Professional Development Conference and Exhibition at the Gulf Convention Center in Bahrain. The conference and exhibition, attended by hundreds of HSE professionals, was held over four days. (Photos: Musleh Al Kathami/MPD)

Manama — Safety is a core value that all businesses and organizations should be striving for, a major health, safety, and en-vironment (HSE) conference was told last week by Saudi Aramco’s vice president of Industrial Services.

Abdulhakim A. Al-Gouhi made his com-ments during keynote remarks at the Amer-ican Society of Safety Professionals Middle East Chapter’s (ASSP-MEC) 13th annual con-ference in Bahrain’s Gulf Convention Cen-ter.

The Saudi Aramco sponsored event, held under the theme “Sustaining HSE Excel-lence,” brought together HSE professionals and leaders from regional academic institu-tions, oil and gas companies, and govern-ment organizations to share experience, perspectives, insights, and the latest, most innovative ideas to meet current HSE chal-lenges.

The conference and exhibition was held over four days under the patronage of HE General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khali-fa, Bahrain’s Minister of Interior.

A packed program featured workshops, presentation sessions, as well as live health and safety demonstrations involving Saudi Aramco’s Aviation Department and Bah-rain’s Civil Defense.

commitmentAl-Gouhi identified three key HSE issues

— the levels of corporate commitment to HSE performance, awareness training and leadership, and the effective use of technol-ogy as a strategic enabler.

He said that a solid corporate commit-ment to HSE is vital.

“Commitment to HSE excellence has to start from the top. Until the leadership of a company commits to the investment of time and resources in HSE, no initiative can be successful. A company’s leadership needs to clearly define its HSE priorities and demon-strate leadership commitment to the entire organization.”

Noting the importance of raising aware-ness, effective training, and leading by ex-ample, Al-Gouhi added that “nothing is more damaging to the HSE efforts of an organization than a manager who says one thing, but does another. How we behave with regard to safety, even when we think that no one is watching, sets the example for how the workforce will act, and it is this reaction that can undermine our efforts to

promote HSE excellence.”Al-Gouhi pointed to technology as a key

enabler in terms of accessing valuable data and its applications in a training environ-ment. For Saudi Aramco, he continued: “Safety is one of our core values and we operate safely and are committed to the well-being of our workforce. We firmly be-lieve all occupational illnesses and injuries are preventable.

challenges“We benchmark ourselves against our

peers and industry best practices, and we invite external parties to conduct regular ex-ternal audits.

“Safety and health issues are reviewed at the highest levels through a corporate Health, Safety, Security, and Environmental Committee that is chaired by our chief ex-ecutive.”

‘culture of excellence’The previous evening, at the opening cer-

emony of the ASSP-MEC conference, Saudi Aramco’s executive director of Safety and Industrial Security, Aali M. Al-Zahrani, also told delegates that safety is not just about meeting basic standards and requirements, but also about promoting a culture of ex-cellence.

“A positive culture of excellence is one that is built on a strong belief system in-

stilled in the hearts and minds of our peo-ple and reflected in all of their actions and their behaviors — each and every day,” said Al-Zahrani. “As safety professionals, one of our responsibilities is to challenge the mistaken view of anyone who sees it as a cost. We must ensure that safety is seen as value creation. After all, it only takes one single incident to destroy a company’s repu-tation and image. This, of course, suggests that preventing injuries and incidents is not only good for people and communities, but is also important to the bottom line of any organization.”

He added that Saudi Aramco expects and demands that its employees and contractors act “sensibly and safely at all times, even when no one is watching.

“I wish I could stand before you and say that we have met our objective of a perfect safety record. The reality is that our HSE performance has continued to improve over the years, and Saudi Aramco is now recog-nized as an industry leader in safety, based on industry benchmarked figures for both process safety and personal safety,” accord-ing to Al-Zahrani.

Complacency, he stressed, is to be avoid-ed.

“Safety is managed through a process of discipline and focus. It must be seen as the personal responsibility of each and every employee, each and every day, and at each and every level, including the top leadership and management.

“As safety professionals, we must always, always remember that lost time injury rates and statistics are not just numbers, but ac-tual people — real people with real families who are being impacted, potentially for the rest of their lives by an injury or an acci-dent.”

‘true heroes’Al-Zahrani saluted the safety practitioners

in attendance as “the true heroes of our in-dustry.

“Every day you are out in the field or in-side a facility or on a factory floor, working diligently to protect the lives of people. It is directly because of your efforts that your colleagues are able to go home to their families at the end of the working day, feel-ing healthy and happy.”

hopes and dreamsAli M. Al Ghobari from Saudi Aramco’s

Loss Prevention Department (LPD) served as conference director.

He told delegates at the opening ceremo-ny that the region was dynamic and youth-ful, and that the hopes and dreams of the population were pinned to prosperity and sustainable HSE excellence.

“We are guided more than ever for the pursuit of excellence in everything we do,” said Al Ghobari.

Workshops and presentation sessions saw significant contributions from Saudi Aramco professionals.

Al-Gouhi participated in a panel discus-sion focusing on the key topic of contractor safety alongside Fahad M. Al-Battar, CEO of Sadaf, and Mohammad Baaqil, manager of the Safety Department of Petro Rabigh.

Muhammad M. Qureshi, an engineer with LPD, gave a detailed presentation on “Applying and Enterprise Risk Management Framework to Process Safety.”

by Eamonn Houston

Bahrain’s Civil Defense demonstrates a disaster response outside the Gulf Convention Center.

Muhammad M. Qureshi presents on the subject “Applying an Enterprise Risk Management Framework to Process Safety.”

Geoffrey T. Josefy, a specialist with LPD, also examined the importance of contractor safety in a presentation session.

Farooq N. Jwesm, a senior supervisor with Saudi Aramco’s Computer Data Center, de-livered a presentation on “Building a Safe-ty Culture in Your Organization,” offering an insight into how the Saudi Aramco core value of Safety permeates every level of its organizations.

Robots and robotic technology were the focus of a presentation by Soliman A. Walaie, an engineering consultant with Sau-di Aramco’s Inspection Department.

Drones, he said, could inspect flare stacks, distancing employees from any potential dangers.

Meshaal S. Al-Azmi, supervisor, and Ilker M. Cankara, engineer, from Safaniyah On-shore Producing Department, focused on “Turnaround Inspections Process Enhance-ment Tools” and Nicholas J. Prentice, an en-gineer from LPD, examined the challenging issue of traffic safety.

Prentice provided an insight into Saudi Ar-amco’s determination to instill safe driving practices for employees on- and off-the-job.

Engineer Ali M. Al-Sinan described an ISO 14001:2015 implementation case study, and Mohammad S. Al-Addadh, also an en-gineer, presented on “Evaluation of Chlo-rine Dioxide at the Riyadh Refinery Depart-ment (RDD) to Phase out Chlorine Gas.”

Founded in 1911, the ASSP is the world’s oldest and largest professional safety orga-nization. Its 33,000 members manage, su-pervise, and consult on HSE issues in indus-try, insurance, government, and education. ASSP has 12 divisions and 148 chapters in the United States and abroad.

the arabian sun February 6, 2019

9company news

forum brings together NAOO management and PDPs

Jazan Refinery Complex campaign offers insight into off-the-job safetyJazan — Off-the-job safety is considered

by safety experts to be as important as on-the-job safety.

With a goal of enhancing a safety culture, the team from the Jazan Refinery Complex (JRC) recently conducted an off-the-job safety campaign under the theme “Safety Around the Clock” as part of a commitment to promote safety to employees and the community.

The campaign was inaugurated in the presence of HE Governor of Baish, Hassan Abu Sharhah, and other guests from the government.

The message of safety awareness was shared with approximately 150 high school students and more than 1,000 employees and representatives of Jazan’s government entities.

Participating organizations included JRC’s Operations Compliance Group, the Fire Pro-tection Department, Loss Prevention, West-ern Region Industrial Security Operations, Information Technology (IT), Project Man-agement, the Baish Coast Guard, General Traffic Administration, Government Affairs, Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare (JHAH), and the Traffic Safety Signature Group.

Each supporting organization conducted distinct and individual awareness themes pertaining to their individual expertise.

safety presentationsMesfir M. Alqahtani of the Traffic Safety

Signature Program Division presented on the consequences of dangerous driving, noting that about 1,400 accidents occur in Saudi

Dhahran — Northern Area Oil Opera-tions (NAOO) recently held its annual PDP Forum, which was sponsored by NAOO vice president Dawood M. Al-Dawood. The event was attended by the vice pres-ident and members of management, as well as about 160 of NAOO PDPs.

With NAOO having more than 75% of its employees under the age of 35, the theme of this year’s event was “Leaders of Tomorrow,” highlighting the impor-tance of the role of the young genera-tion to the future growth of NAOO.

The event featured an interactive event with several nontechnical topics devel-oped and designed by the PDPs them-selves, and concluded with an open panel discussion with management that gave the PDPs an opportunity to address their questions and concerns directly.

starting off rightRakan Albaker, a system analyst with

by Osama M. Alawwad

Demonstrations and displays on topics such as fire safety, traffic safety, and cybersecurity were just a few of the offerings at the recent off-the-job safety campaign conducted by the Jazan Refinery Complex. The message of safety awareness was shared with approximately 150 high school students and more than 1,000 employees and representatives of Jazan’s government entities.

Dawood M. Al-Dawood speaks about the importance of competence, patience, and dedication to one’s responsibilities in the company during the recent Northern Area Oil Operations Professional Development Program Forum. Al-Dawood was joined by fellow members of the admin area’s management and approximately 160 young professionals. (Photos: Moayed Al-Qattan)

Young Professional Development Program participants discuss their future goals and aspirations with the company as part of the recent NAOO PDP Forum held in Dhahran.

the NAOO HR Development Division, and Abdulaziz A. Aleissa, an information security analyst with NAOO Planning and Technical Staff, opened the event with a pair of videos — one on the risks involved with speeding, and the other a motivational video on the history and the future of NAOO.

Ahmad Althukair, a petroleum engi-neer with the Northern Area Production Engineering and Well Services Depart-ment, then kicked off the main event with an engaging ice-breaking exercise that set the mood of the forum and created a comfortable environment for the PDPs to discuss their views with the management.

Yousef M. Al-Shammari, an engineer with the Safaniyah Onshore Producing Department, shared his inspirational sto-ry about overcoming obstacles and the importance of facing difficulties head-on rather than avoiding them.

solid advice and the panel session

Following Al-Shammari’s presentation, Al-Dawood gave inspiring remarks in which he invited all PDPs to take own-ership of their career and development, saying that reaching leadership positions requires competence, patience, and dedi-cation to one’s responsibilities in the com-pany.

Building on the vice president’s re-marks, Ali S. Al Ajmi, general manager of Safaniyah Area Producing, emphasized NAOO’s future expansions and the need for PDPs to be technically and profession-ally ready to handle the associated chal-lenges with such major expansions.

PDP engineers Rakan S. Alrowais and Sultan Alhajri started off a management panel session by presenting the results of a survey that the organizing commit-tee conducted prior to the forum among the PDP workforce. The survey looked

Arabia on a daily basis resulting in an aver-age of 21 fatalities per day. Four of these sessions were conducted in the JRC camp tent during the two-day campaign.

A total of 10 booths were set up to cover a variety of safety topics, with the Western Region Industrial Security Operations team providing information on vehicular accident prevention and defensive driving techniques. The team also highlighted Saudi Aramco’s new point system, which has been devel-oped for drivers in remote areas.

Loss Prevention representatives shared information on adverse weather safety, while Fire Protection Department officials demonstrated the importance of early fire protection and detection systems, showcas-ing some of the difficulties firefighters face

in putting their lives on the line while on the job.

cybersecurity, well-being, and more

IT employees shared information on cybersecurity, phishing, internet banking, and data protection, while an HSE team from Project Management highlighted inju-ry prevention and the need to have proper equipment for sports.

The Operations Compliance booth fo-cused on home safety, covering a variety of topics, including electrical hazards, kitchen fires, and choking hazards. An interactive presentation allowed participants to assess their knowledge on home safety.

Meanwhile, JHAH dispensed valuable les-

sons on personal well-being, with a focus on weight management and the importance of a balanced diet. A booth conducted by a medical team promoted the importance of monitoring blood pressure and sugar levels.

interactive displaysAside from the educational venues, JRC

showcased a full-scale car rollover driving simulation for teaching safe driving tech-niques, in addition to a 5-D Cinema Aug-mented Car Reality Game, as well as other interactive e-games.

Overall, the event fostered a sense of to-getherness among Saudi Aramco employees and the community, helping attendees learn about the importance of developing a full-time safety mindset.

to capture the PDPs’ views on develop-ment-related topics such as mentoring, individual development plans, engage-ment, and work environment. All scores were benchmarked to allow comparisons outside NAOO.

The survey results were shown to the leadership team to facilitate the dialog between management and the PDPs, who were able to address concerns and raise ideas and proposals for improve-ment.

To address such topics and continue the fruitful dialog between Generations X and Y, Al-Dawood requested the estab-lishment of the “NAOO PDP Committee,” which shall act as a sounding board of the young generation by presenting its findings and activities to management on a quarterly basis.

The event concluded with the organiz-ers thanking management and the PDPs for a successful forum.

February 6, 2019 the arabian sun

10 company news

Most fast food contains a lot of calories, saturated and trans fats, cholesterol, salt, and sugar. They also provide low amounts of fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and min-erals. The fact is that fast food increases your risk for obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some types of cancer.

Hamburgers are the perfect example. In addition to being fried and fatty, they of-ten contain cheese and mayonnaise, and are served with French fries. They are most often also served on white buns, which are of little nutritional value. Other good examples of fatty foods are sausages and fried chicken coated with flour or bread crumps.

They may taste good, but they are not good for your health. The other fact is that most of us will continue to eat fast food, so to help make fast food healthier or at least less unhealthy, here are a few practical tips.

• Use lean red meat, skinless poultry, or fish for burger patties.

• Replace fatty and creamy cheese with low-fat varieties such as mozzarella, ricot-ta, and Parmesan

• Use low-fat cooking methods such as baking or grilling when preparing burgers, fries, chicken, or fish

• Serve fast food with fresh fruits, and add vegetables (such as tomato slices, cucumber slices, carrot strips, or lettuce)

either on a sandwich or as a side dish• Select low-calorie drinks such as wa-

ter flavored with lemon or other fruit and/or mint. Drink unsweetened fruit juices in small amounts, vegetable juice, or low-fat or nonfat milk.

• Avoid salt. To add flavor, try herbs, spices, lemon, or vinegar. Limit salty pick-les or dressings. Use sliced vegetables in-stead.

• Use healthy oils such as corn, canola, or sunflower in small amounts. Avoid but-ter, animal fat, or ghee.

• Use whole-wheat flour for pizzas and sandwiches. Avoid white flour.

• Read the labels on fast foods. (You may be shocked.)

Heart friendly beef burgers are made of lean beef and served on whole-grain bread that is topped with vegetables that add fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxi-dants. They can be served with baked fries or potato wedges.

ingredients • ¾ kg of lean beef (750 grams), minced• 1 whole egg, beaten • 1 tablespoon (15 grams) Tabasco sauce• 1 tablespoon (15 grams) Worcestershire

sauce• ½ teaspoon black pepper, ground• ½ teaspoon salt, as desired • 6 wholegrain burger buns, cut in half• 120 grams (4 ounces) low-fat cheese

(enough slices to make cheeseburgers for those who want cheese)

condiments• 6 tablespoons mustard • 6 tomato slices (60 grams each)• 6 thin slices onion• 6 washed and dried lettuce leaves • 6 tablespoons ketchup preparation• Mix minced lean beef with Worcester-

shire sauce, Tabasco sauce, beaten egg, salt and pepper

• Divide mixture into six portions shaped

into patties around 10 cm round and 1/5 cm thick

• Refrigerate for 30 minutes• Heat a nonstick frying pan to medium

temperature, and grill burger patties until thoroughly cooked (about five min-utes per side)

• Remove patties from pan, increase the heat to high, and toast the burger bun halves until browned

• Place patties on buns, and top with a slice of cheese (for those who want a cheeseburger) and grill until cheese be-gins to melt (do not over melt)

• Top burger with condiments and top-pings of choice

Yield6 servings Fat and Calorie Content• Calories per serving: 300• Fat per serving: 5 grams• Carbohydrates per serving: 15 grams

Cold weather challenges many to main-tain a healthy body weight and perform regular exercise as many of us want to stay indoors and consume comfort foods and sweetened hot beverages.

It is, however, important in the winter to maintain the healthy lifestyle and well-bal-anced eating habits you adopted in the summer. In addition to that, here are a few food tips specifically for the cold weather.

• Consume an adequate amount of fruits and vegetables (minimum five serv-ings a day) to provide your body with the required nutrients to support your immuni-ty to fight infection in winter, in particular vitamin C and beta-carotene.

• Include foods rich in probiotics (good flora found in intestines) such as fer-mented dairy products (low-fat yogurt, labneh, or Actimel, as these also support the body’s ability to fight infection

• Nuts are good for your brain and body, but consume them unsalted and in mod-eration (30 grams to one ounce per day) due to their high caloric content. Baked chestnuts are a healthy winter treat that have fewer calories (100 grams of baked chestnuts have around 130 calories).

• Keep active indoors, and consider outdoor exercises when possible as sun-light enhances the secretion of serotonin, which reduces the body’s urge for sweets

and sugary drinks, in addition to benefiting your body organs

• Avoid dehydration in winter by drink-ing an adequate amount of fluids per day (eight cups per day to keep the body’s or-gans hydrated and functioning well).

well-beingcaring for your health and wellness

Dr. Gulrez Ansari

consultant ophthalmologist,Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare (JHAH),Al-Hasa Health Center

work history• 2017-present: Consultant ophthalmolo-

gist, Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, Saudi Arabia

• 2015-2017: Consultant ophthalmologist, Queen’s Hospital, Romford, East London, U.K. Special interest in medical retina. Participated in clinical trials and was the college tutor overseeing the training of the registrars in rotation in our depart-ment.

• 2014-2015: Consultant ophthalmologist, Falkirk Community Hospital, Falkirk, Scotland

• 2014: Consultant ophthalmologist, King’s College Hospital, London, U.K.

• 2013-2014: Consultant ophthalmologist, Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, Exeter, U.K.

education and training history• Medical School:

- 1997: Bachelor of Medicine, and Bachelor of Surgery, India

• Residency: - 2000: Master of Surgery ophthalmology,

India • Education:

- 2013: Specialist Registration by The General Medical Council, U.K.

- 2006: Membership of The Royal College of Ophthalmologists, London, U.K.

- 2004: Fellowship of The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, U.K.

quote“I’ve conducted nearly 3,000 cataract

surgeries during my career, and nearly 100 in Dhahran. I have just conducted my first at the Al-Hasa Health Center. I am excited to be able to offer this procedure locally for the benefit and convenience of my pa-tients.”

LEGAL DISCLAIMER: All health and health-related information contained in this Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare Company material is intended to be general in nature and should not be used as a substitute for a visit with a health care professional. The advice is intended to offer only a general basis for individuals to discuss their health and medical conditions with their health care provider. Your health care provider should be consulted regarding matters concerning the medical condition, treatment, and needs of you and your family.

tips for a healthy winter

caring profile

Learn more, read more, and stay connected:To learn more about our latest updates and health

news, download our latest issue of the JHAH Wellbeing Magazine by visiting www.JHAH.com > News and Articles.

Stay connected to JHAH:Visit our website at www.JHAH.com and follow us

on our social media channels to be informed about our most up-to-date news:

• Twitter: @JHAHNews• Instagram: @JHAHNews• Facebook: Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare • LinkedIn: Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare (JHAH)• YouTube: Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare (JHAH)For suggestions or comments, email

Layal.Khatib@JHAH.com.

by Ghada al-Habib and Dr. Basem Futa

make fast food healthy

Heart Friendly Beef Burger

healthy recipe

the arabian sun February 6, 2019

11company news

spotlightSaudi Aramco, through its wholly owned subsidiary Saudi Aramco Technologies, last week signed a Joint Development and Collaboration Agreement with Axens and TechnipFMC to accelerate the development and commercialization of the company’s Catalytic Crude to Chemicals (CC2C™) technology. Among those integral in helping bring the agreement to fruition include, sitting (from left) Jean Sentenac, chairman and CEO of Axens; Ahmed O. Al-Khowaiter, Saudi Aramco chief technology officer, and Stan Knez, TechnipFMC president of Process Technologies. Standing (from left) are Ammar A. Al-Nahwi, manager of the Saudi Aramco Research and Development Center (R&DC); Ibrahim A. Abba, chief technologist with the R&D research team; Mohammed S. Al Ghamdi, manager of the Chemicals Business Coordination and Support Department; Sami M. Barnawi of Chemicals Technical Support and Operational Excellence; Saleh Dossary, director of the Growth Project Division in Chemicals; Musaed S. Al Gharmi, R&DC team leader; Khalid S. Al-Otaibi, general supervisor Downstream in the Process and Control Systems Department; Kwadjo S. Adusei-Poku, Saudi Aramco Law; and Abdennour Bourane, R&DC project leader.

Engineering Services (ES) recently hosted a service awards ceremony in the honor of 60 employees who completed 25, 30 and 35 years of service with Saudi Aramco. Abdullah O. Al-Baiz, vice president of ES, congratulated the employees for their impressive service record, and said Saudi Aramco’s gratitude for their loyalty and dedication. Al-Baiz emphasized ES will retain a relentless focus on safety, whether at home, the office, on the highways, or in the field, and underlined that safety is the single area where both ES and Saudi Aramco at large cannot, and indeed will not, comprise, irrespective of how the market or our business performs. The awards were distributed to employees by Ahmad A. Al Sa’adi, senior vice president of Technical Services, and Al-Baiz. Awardees included: (35 years) Hussain Abukabbos, Habeeb Al-Jamaan, Mohammed Al-Ghamdi, Yousuf Qanber, Saeed Al-Yami, Saleh Al-Saleebi, Saleh Al-Rajeh, Sami Al-Khalifah, Khalid Al-Zahrani, Mohammed Hassan, Riyadh Qanber, Mohammed Al-Nuwaiser, Mohammed Al-Ghamdi, Awad Al-Zahrani, Tahir Ibrahim, Zaid Al-Khalid, Khalid Al-Lubli, Ghalib Al-Hashim, and Adil Al-Habeeb; (30 years) Salem Al-Huraish, Khalaf Al-Anazi, Mohammed Al-Fahaid, Saad Al-Qahtani, Nadia Al-Ruhaiman, Nassir Al-Shammary, Mubarak Al-Ghubari, Omar Al-Meshabi, Abdullatif Al-Saadoun, Saeed Al-Qahtani, and Hatim Al-Thaqafy; (25 years) Meshari Al-Shaikh Mubarak, Husam Sendi, Metaeb Al-Utaibi, Haitham Khushaim, Majed Al-Mutairi, Mohammed Al-Mulhim, Rami Dabbousi, Mohammed Al-Mehthel, Mahmoud Al-Sabban, Eyad Al-Khateeb, Nassir Al-Subaiey, Abdullah Al-Ghamdi, Sami Al-Ghannam, Mohammed Assiri, Ismael Alami, Hamad Balhareth, Ahmed Al-Zahrani, Mohammed Al-Wohaibi, Khalid Al-Dossary, Falah Al-Zawahemah, Maan Al-Mulla, Noaman Al-Fudhail, Esam Al-Sayed, Subhi Al-Aama, Saleh Al-Qahtani, Tariq Al-Hindi, Osama Al-Nahash, Ali Al-Gallaf, Ali Al-Zayer, and Fahad Al-Qahtani.

Aramco Chemicals recently recognized the service of employees from Chemicals Joint Ventures and HR Support Services who have worked with the company from five to 30 years. Awards were presented by Olivier G. Thorel, executive director of Chemicals, and Basil Al Ajmi, manager of Chemicals Joint Ventures. Those recognized for long-term service were Hamad Al Yami (30 years), Mohammad Al Tayyar (20 years), and Laiju Joseph (20 years). Alvaro Leitao, Alexander Kruglov, Irfan Ciputra, Fawaz Al Nasser, Faisal Al Juhani, Wejdan Al Monayan, Lulwa Al Sharhan, Abdullah Al Abdulkarim, Mohammad Al Otaibi, Mohammed Al Khathami, Ali Al Hashem, and Mohammed Al Subaie were all recognized for five years of service to the company.

Participants, organizers, and esteemed guests of the Yanbu’ Refinery Department pose for a photo following the 2018 Health, Safety, Environment, and Energy (HSEE) Conference and Exhibition in Bahrain. The conference was designed to place a higher focus on HSEE by exchanging knowledge, experiences, best practices, and lessons learned.

pg 6

Participants, organizers and guests pose for a photo following the three-day Refining and Petrochemicals Seminar at the Technical Exchange Center in Dhahran. Sponsored by the Process and Control Systems Department, the seminar featured the theme “Using the Best Technologies to Prepare for the Future of Refining and Petrochemicals,” and was attended by more than 130 participants from Saudi Aramco and its domestic and international joint ventures.

pg 8

Some of the 50 students who recently visited Drilling and Workover’s Well Control School in Dhahran pose for a photo following the event. The event sought to give the young females from Dhahran Ahliyya School and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals insight into what it is like to be a drilling engineer.

pg 5

February 6, 2019 the arabian sun

12 company news

making connections, Aramco student shares his volunteering experience in South Africa

At 20 years of age and in his final year of study at the University of Manches-ter (U.K.), Turki A. Almathami is proving to be an asset to the company in more ways than one.

While many students in the College Degree Program for Non-Employees (CD-PNE) strive for academic excellence, Al-mathami has already achieved this, and been named best chemical engineering student in his year group for two con-secutive years.

Above all, his most profound moment while out of Kingdom did not come in Manchester — a place he considers a second home — but in Muizenberg, South Africa, a coastal area near Cape Town where he spent part of his summer volunteering alongside fellow CDPNE participant Manaf A. AlJasser.

With guidance from his front-line ad-viser at the Aramco U.K. Professional De-velopment Unit, Almathami, a commit-ted volunteer in his spare time, spent his summer holiday teaching English, math, and science at a local school set inland from Muizenberg’s sandy shoreline.

“I’ve always found value in ‘giving back,’ and teaching is something I enjoy, but South Africa opened things up far more because of seeing what life is like for those living on the other side,” he says.

making connectionsAlmathami’s allocated school is one of

the poorest in the surrounding area. He was placed with a class of 10-year olds, assisting with their day-to-day curricu-lum, and it is where he began making those important connections.

“Before we began teaching, the or-ganization that had arranged our place-ment emphasized our ability to connect with the children,” he said. Indeed, vol-unteering and the connections it brings are vital for a school that has little re-sources to call upon, even for student lunches, which are sparse.

“Their school meals are minimal, often just bread … yet, the children are some-how so appreciative. It made me realize how materialistic the world can be and how we in other parts are never satis-fied, compared to children here (in Mui-zenberg), who have next to nothing,” Almathami said, adding that the small-est of acts, whether it be simply reading to them or accompanying them to the beach, were met with the utmost grat-itude.

school as a safe zoneHe was also informed that different

and sometimes surprising behaviors from the children were to be expected, given the difficulties some of them have al-ready been through at a young age.

“There were children who had lost parents to gang related violence, oth-ers to drug addictions, and those whose lives continue being damaged by both,” Almathami said.

“So teachers do try and keep the kids in school as long as they can, as it can often simply be the safest place for them,” he continued, noting that it isn’t just safety that makes the school vital to young lives — it’s also attentiveness.

“You can actually feel it,” he said. “Giving a hug to one of the children can

change their whole day. They are just so happy, because many are missing affec-tion they don’t receive in other places. It’s these things that are the most diffi-cult realization.”

Indeed, the surrounding disparity that was visible while teaching at the school was something Almathami remains acutely aware of.

“South Africa is a beautiful country, but like many destinations, when you visit on vacation, you only see the beau-tiful places. Even in Muizenberg, you can see the beaches with their restaurants and literally a few kilometers away are areas that feel like a different world.”

He underlined how very basic living standards such as access to water, or sheltered places to sleep, are in short supply, noting, “These things you are aware of through the media, through the internet, but witnessing it firsthand, it really hits home.”

an international network of volunteers

Joining him at the school were volun-teers from all over — fellow students, working professionals taking time out, and even retirees still keen to give.

“It was great to engage with similar minded people from all over, including Spain, the U.S., and Australia, who had all come here with a sense of purpose,” Almathami said.

“And for me, building a strong person-al connection with the children — to the point where they leave you messages or ask how long you are staying for — it’s these small connections that had the greatest personal effect,” he added.

Almathami admitted that the entire experience resonated with him deeply,

which is why he recalls his time in South Africa so vividly.

“Considering the often harsh back-grounds where they came from, it defi-nitely made the experience worthwhile,” he said.

volunteering: an opportunity to change your perspective

“I would certainly say to people around me that if you have the free time, just try something similar, as it changes perspec-tives, and helps you develop as a human being,” Almathami said, emphasizing how he has become far more apprecia-tive in his day-to-day activities and con-tinues valuing his experience.

While Almathami has previously vol-unteered in the Kingdom — including raising awareness about major medical issues such as cancer — South Africa re-mains his most significant undertaking. “It was those one-on-one connections with the children, becoming deeper as time went on, that was the most import-ant thing to happen. And I’m still con-nected,” he said.

“I still exchange messages with the teaching staff I worked with and given the chance to volunteer again, I would want to return to Muizenberg, picking up where I left off,” he added.

Almathami’s t ime in South Afr ica speaks directly to the company’s value of Citizenship, which includes giving up time and resources in support of people and causes who are less fortunate. In-deed, Saudi Aramco across all of its lo-cations, including Europe and the U.K., remains committed through its students as well as employees to supporting good causes, underlining our role as a corpo-rate global citizen.

Turki Almathami, a Saudi Aramco student finishing up his studies in the U.K., poses with children at a local school in Muizenberg on Cape Town’s coast in South Africa. Almathami spent his summer holiday teaching English, math, and science at the school, but the biggest lessons he learned were from the students themselves.

by Muazzin Mehrban

13communitythe arabian sun February 6, 2019

a day escape to unexpected

Qatif — You never know when an ad-venture can start. Some time ago, my husband and I were invited to a friend’s home, and as we had no time to research our day trip destination, we were surprised by the people, the city, and its fascinating past. Welcome to unexpected Qatif.

Only 30 minutes from Dammam, Qatif is a real oasis area. Trees abound, and lush, green vegetation can even be seen from the highway. Its rich agricultural soil pro-duces rice, fruits, and vegetables. Agricul-ture has long been part of the landscape and livelihoods of families here.

traditional breakfast, traditional market

It was still early in the morning when we were invited to a traditional restaurant for a typical breakfast. Colored tapestry and big cushions greeted us, with single fami-ly rooms available upstairs, and light blue sofas downstairs. We were immersed in an ancient scenario, able to relive the daily chores of the past and see many of the antique collectible objects on display.

The breakfast was huge, with a big tray of tasty lentils, falafel, shakshuks (scram-bled eggs with tomatoes and spices), and labneh — all served with hot, fresh bread. The tea with black dried lemon, kept warm by the candles under traditional tea-pots, also hit the spot.

From there, we proceeded to the tradi-tional weekly souq known as the “Thurs-day Market,” which now takes place on Saturday — a remnant of the former cal-endar in the Kingdom.

Qatif bustles with transactions from ear-ly morning onward, with street vendors

by Chiara Ciampricotti Iacoangeli

roaming the area and a wide range of goods available, including fresh fruits and vegetables, dried fruit, spices, folk hand-crafts such as baskets and pottery, fresh fish, birds, clothes, antiques, and much more. The display of birds startled us, as it was strange to our eyes to see traders selling wild raptors.

a break for a bathNext up, we traveled to Abu Loza’s Bath,

a historic Turkish bath. Outside, a visible dome evokes the style of a traditional hammam. The bath features sulfur mineral spring water, and although the exact ori-gin of the establishment is unknown, it is considered to date back to the 3rd century.

The hammam takes the name from the water spring Ain Abu Loza, where people used the water to cure skin diseases and knuckle pains. The water spring was dug by the Canaanites, and the majority of the customers who used the bath were pearl

hunters and people living in the Qatif Cas-tle, who were mostly traders.

Today, the hammam is under the super-vision of the Saudi Commission for Tour-ism and National Heritage, but it struggles with potential deterioration and depletion of water. Inside there are two sections di-vided — one reserved for men, who were able to sit around the big well where the water came up, and the other squared room dedicated to women only. It was connected through a small canal to the well to let the water come in.

the art of QatifThe welcoming bath keeper shared with

us old, faded photos of Qatif, hearkening back to a time when the community was a much livelier center of action, full of beau-tiful mud and clay brick buildings where much of the trade took place.

The bath keeper also led us to a private art exhibition done by his brother, a place that left us astonished. We were honored to meet Muneer Al-Hejji, a local and inter-nationally recognized artist who has pop-ularized Saudi culture through his work. He grew up with his family in the old area of Al-Qatif Castle on the shores of the Arabian Gulf. The doors, windows, walls, and architectural features of the building around the town were carved using tradi-

The traditional architecture, carrying through the ages, still holds firm on the Qatif skyline, from the old castle (left), the old buildings (center) and Abu Loza’s Bath (right), which is believed to have been in business since the 3rd century. Today, Abu Loza’s Bath is under the supervision of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage as it struggles with potential deterioration and depletion of water.

The breakfast was huge, with a big tray of hot bread and a variety of other morning treats, while the restaurant featured a variety of traditional art elements along the walls.

14 communityFebruary 6, 2019 the arabian sun

tional Arabesque designs. In fact, Al-Hejji preserves a collection of amazing pieces that belonged to his family in the past.

Being surrounded by this Islamic aes-thetic and symbolism, a deep emotional attachment was cultivated. These vivid im-ages and emotions would later prove to be a great source of inspiration for Al-Hejji, as some of his art pieces portray his roots in the landscapes and his heritage through different colors, materials, and motifs.

Even though he slowly moved to ab-stracts, he has created many amazing works of art. I suggest to have a virtual tour of the local area through the artist’s eyes. You will be able to imagine the place and the people that lived there. Before leaving, Al-Hejji showed us his biggest, most colorful painting where he illustrates the start of the pilgrimage season.

In the month before Hajj, the kids get a basket made of palm tree fronds filled with seeds. They sing a song about go-ing to Makkah — hopefully the following year. Parents leave their children behind at home while they do their pilgrimage, and the children get so excited to see them returning home. The children throw their baskets into the sea to make a wish.

on to Tarut IslandEventually, we arrived at Tarut Island

through one of the two causeways that connect it to Qatif. The small isle is com-posed of many villages (including Dareen, Al Zoor, Al Rabieia, and Al Deyrah) and is considered one of the most ancient sites that were inhabited by humans. It is also one of the oldest areas along the Arabi-an Peninsula, as the island played a sig-nificant role in trade activity for the en-tire Arabian Gulf region. It was a central trading point between Mesopotamia and along the coastal areas in the east of the Arabian Peninsula.

Its strong relationships with many of the urbanized areas along the region were well-known. Archaeological finds indicate that the island has been inhabited since 5,000 B.C., and it was later home to peo-ple from the civilization of Dilmun, Akka-dians, Assyrians, and Persians. Even later,

it was under the control of the Persian Em-pire and the Islamic Empire, was colonized by the Portuguese, and made part of the Ottoman Empire.

Tarut CastleLocated at the top of a hill, Tarut Cas-

tle has an oval-shaped irregular inner plan that covers a total area of no more than 600 square meters, surrounded by a wide wall constructed with sea mud, gypsum, and Fourosh rocks. It is surprising to notice many recognizable shells in this mixture.

It had four towers in total, but one was destroyed during a battle. There used to be a spring beside the castle called “Ayyin Aloudda” (the big spring), which was the main source of water for the castle. In its courtyard is a rectangle with a central deep well, which is believed to have been used to store provisions during the times of attack.

There is no consensus on what the ori-gins of this castle were, though it was like-ly rebuilt between 1515 and 1521. Some archaeologists suggest that it was built by

Works such as this by Qatif artist Muneer Al-Hejji have helped popularize Saudi culture.

Visitors to the port are taken by these eyes painted in graffiti style on a bench while taking in the beauty of the bay.

the residents of Qatif and Tarut to protect them from Portuguese attacks, though some researchers say the castle was built by the Portuguese to protect themselves from Turkish attacks.

Regardless, they were forced to hand it over in 1559 and withdrew from Tarut Island to Awal Island (now a part of Bah-rain). Tarut Castle was built on ancient

ruins from the rise of the Dilmun civiliza-tion.

mangroves and farewellIt was a pleasure to get lost in narrow

streets in the middle of the old city of Ta-rut, with its heritage buildings and tradi-tional houses. We enjoyed a lunch of fresh grilled fish, and later traveled across the bay to view a beautiful mangrove forest.

Mangroves are commonly known as salt tolerant trees and adapt to life in harsh coastal conditions such as those found in Tarut. This area has many creeks and back-waters with mangrove swamps and sever-al salt marshes.

I could have stayed there for a long time watching the birds drinking in the waters around the island, their reflections captured by the play of lights dashing on the surface of the blue waters. At day’s end, we walked along the sea front next to the port, full of old wooden boats used for fishing.

Children played on the lawns, an over-flowing horse-drawn cart brought by a group of people as the music of a nearby ice cream truck sang out to the children to come and enjoy a treat.

Sitting down on a bench set up in the direction of the port, we were taken by eyes painted in graffiti style on the bench as we joined them in looking out at the bay, thinking about how much the glori-ous past of the city we managed to feel now was a part of us.

After breakfast, it was time to enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells of the Thursday market, which is now held on Saturdays. The market features all kinds of people and goods, including fresh fruits and vegetables, dried fruit, spices, folk handcrafts such as baskets and pottery, fresh fish, birds, clothes, antiques, and much more.

15communitythe arabian sun February 6, 2019

movies

NOTE: Movie schedules are subject to change. To avoid disappointment, call 875-FILM (3456), check the

mycommunity app, or visit http://reclibraries for the most up-to-date movie schedules.

JoudJoud is an unconventional meditation on the cycle of life — but in reverse. Set in Saudi Arabia, the film challenges viewers to look below the surface of everyday experiences and contemplate its Arabic title, translated as “generosity in the face of scarcity.”

Feb. 6, 9, 11, 12, 13

Feb. 7, 8

7:30 p.m.

8:30 p.m.

Ithra movies

Dhahran

Ithra Heroes AdventureEngaging children’s animations that integrate science, technology, engineering, art, and math.

Feb. 6, 9, 11, 12, 13 10:30 a.m.

The Unseen EnemyUnseen Enemy is a feature-length documentary about the threat of epidemics in the 21st century and what we can do to fight them.

WasatiBased on true events that happened during a play in Riyadh 10 years ago. The play was called “Wasati bela Wastiah,” which roughly translates to “A Moderate Without a Middle-Ground,” where a group of extrem-ists attacked the theater and the play was shut down.

Abbas Ibn Fernas at the Energy ExhibitChildren will be invited to learn more about Arab scholars from the Golden Age through interactive stories and experiments.

Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s ReturnSoon after her return to Kansas, Dorothy Gale finds herself whisked back to Oz to save her friends Scarecrow, Lion, Tin Man, and Glinda from the Jester — the younger brother of the Wicked Witch of the West.

Feb. 7, 8, 9 Feb. 7, 8

Feb. 7, 8, 9

Feb. 6, 11, 12, 13

Feb. 7

Feb. 8

Feb. 9

Mission Kathmandu: The Adventures of Nelly & SimonQuebec City, 1956. Nelly Maloye, an ebullient novice detective, accidentally crosses paths with Simon Picard, an ambitious research assistant in anthropology at the local university.

Feb. 6, 7, 8, 9,

11, 12, 13

5:45 p.m.

MicrotopiaMicrotopia explores how architects, artists, and ordinary problem solvers are pushing the limits to find answers to their dreams of portability, flexibility, and creating independence from the grid.

Feb. 6, 9, 11, 12, 13 4 p.m. 1:30 p.m. 4 p.m.

5:45 p.m., 6:45 p.m.,

7:45 p.m.

5 p.m.

5 p.m., 7 p.m.

4. p.m., 6 p.m., 8 p.m.

4. p.m., 6 p.m.

Najmah

Abqaiq

‘Udhailiyah

animation, comedy

adventure, sci-fi

Gnomeo and JulietJames McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Michael Caine

Pacific RimIdris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi

Feb. 6-9

Feb. 6-9

Feb. 6-9

Feb. 6-9

5 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

5 p.m.

8 p.m.

G

PG-13

XXX: Return of Xander CageXander Cage is left for dead after an incident, though he secretly returns to action for a new, tough assignment with his handler, Augustus Gibbons.

Max 2: White House HeroMax is assigned to the White House while Charlie, the secret service dog, is on maternity leave. He meets TJ, a 12-year-old boy, who is the president’s son. Due to his father’s high profile, he is trying hard to fit in and lead a normal life.

family, adventure

Max 2: White House HeroZane Austin, Francesca Capaldi, Lochlyn Munro

6 p.m.Feb. 7-8 PG

action, adventure

6 p.m.Feb. 10 PG-15

Big news for the big screen! Recreation Services is now providing recently released movies at the Dhahran theater in King’s Road Park. Even more good news — the movies will be updated on a weekly basis! Find the latest schedule posted on the library’s webpage, (http://reclibaries/), at the library’s front desk, on MyCommunity App, and on bulletin boards within the community.

Feb. 10, 13

Feb. 10, 13

5 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

Feb. 10, 13

Feb. 10, 13

5 p.m.

8 p.m.XXX: Return of Xander CageVin Diesel, Deepica Padukone, Nina Dobrev, Samuel L. Jackson

in cinema Energy Exhibit Theater

16 this and thatFebruary 6, 2019 the arabian sun

For most people, fast food is the antithesis of healthy eating. But one can take steps to make it healthier, as detailed in this edition’s well-being page by Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare.

see page 11

healthy fast food?

Alaa A. Al Othman has been known to go to great lengths to get a great image, and such was the case when he traveled to Finland last year to photograph the aurora borealis. Al Othman used his Nikon D750 camera with other special tools to capture the Northern Lights’ remarkable colors against this serene Finnish backdrop. Al Othman lives with his family in Dammam and works in Dhahran as head of the Eastern Region Joint Ventures Portfolio Division. He has been with the company 22 years.

Northern Lights over Finland

Dhahran Model United Nations travels to IstanbulA group of 26 students and three adult

advisers from the Dhahran Middle School traveled to Istanbul, Turkey, earlier this school year to debate the impacts of glo-balization at the 12th annual Junior Model United Nations (JMUN) Conference.

what is Model UN?Model United Nations (MUN) is an in-

teractive simulation-based experience for students from age 10 to university. Its goal is to develop an individual’s skills in public speaking, research, and negotiation within the context of real-world issues facing the international community.

Leadership is another major component of the program. All conferences and de-bates are organized and monitored by stu-dents, as adult advisers merely play a sup-porting role.

Conferences are organized into commit-tees such as the Security Council or Human Rights Council. Individual delegates are then expected to speak using parliamenta-ry procedures to represent the interests of U.N. member countries or nongovernmen-tal organizations (NGOs).

Drafting a resolution (an action state-ment) that addresses global issues facing our world today is the goal of the commit-tee’s work. Therefore, MUN members must not only understand several complex global

issues, but also be able to articulate the po-sition of their country or organization.

“MUN is one of the best extracurricular activities a school can offer,” said Dhahran MUN adviser Timothy P. Longua. “The con-fidence, skills, and knowledge gained here open the door to a whole new world of possibilities.”

“Globalization: Creating a Common Lan-guage” was the theme of this year’s JMUN conference, which was hosted by Hisar School, a private K-12 international school.

Dhahran students were assigned to rep-resent Pakistan, Turkey, and The Nether-lands on such committees as The General Assembly, Special Assembly, The Human

Participants in the Dhahran Middle School’s Junior Model United Nations program prepare for their next big event. The club looks to continue to offer enriching and life-exchanging experiences such as the JMUN conferences to students for years to come, facilitating opportunities for young people to discover their voice and reach their maximum potential.

by Michael Rucki

Right Council, and The Advisory Panel. Debate topics included seeking tax re-

form as a course to reducing global income inequality, the issue of drug trafficking in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbe-an, and the situation in the Gaza Strip.

at a crossroadsIn addition to participating in the dynam-

ic JMUN conference, the Dhahran student team also had an opportunity to explore historic Istanbul. Seeing the sights and sounds of the ancient metropolis allowed students to make authentic connections to world history and geography. For many of the students, pursuing the old-world streets

of the city gave them their first taste for travel without their parents managing all of the details.

“I feel as if I have gotten mature and pos-itive,” said eighth-grader Aishwarya Chan-drasekaran. “(The trip) also helped me find out where I stand when it comes to being alone and making decisions on my own.”

All of the 26 delegates found the overall experience noteworthy.

“(The conference) taught me to be more open, and I am more comfortable talking in front of people,” said seventh-grader Anna Hursan.

Another seventh-grade student, Maryam Farooqi, added: “I have learned how to be a better speaker ... grown intellectually about the issues that face the world. These trips are so incredibly helpful to me.”

“I started to realize the problems that our world is facing and how formal you have to be in a conference,” said Dhahran eighth-grader Tara Abuyazid. “I changed from not knowing anything to now having to know the world and the problems.”

what next?The JMUN Istanbul conference was

the third international experience for the club in the past two years. This year, the club hopes to host a Saudi Arabian Inter- Kingdom Association Model United Na-tions.

17the arabian sun February 6, 2019

The Arabian Sun is a weekly publication issued free of charge by the Corporate Communication Support Department for Saudi Aramco employees.

North Admin Building, Room AN-1080, C-05A, Dhahran, Saudi ArabiaTelephone (013) 876-0374 Email: publishing@aramco.comISSN: 1319-156XArticles may be reproduced provided The Arabian Sun is credited.

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Articles and coverage can be requested through the com-pany’s CRM system.Correspondence may be addressed to the editor, North Admin Building, Room AN-1080, C-05A.

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