The Kuwaiti Digest is a quarterly magazine published by the

Kuwait Oil Company (K.S.C.) since 1973.

The Kuwaiti Digest invites newspaper, magazine and trade journal editors to reprint or otherwise make use of articles or illustrations appearing in this issue. Material should be credited and a copy mailed to the Kuwait Oil Company.

Editor-in-ChiefSaad Rashed Al-Azmi

Deputy Editor-in-ChiefSami Al-Juhaim

Correspondence concerningThe Kuwaiti Digest should be addressed to:Editor-in-Chief, Kuwait Oil Company (K.S.C.)Information TeamP.O. Box 9758Ahmadi 61008, KuwaitTelephone: 965-2398-2747Facsimile: 965-2398-1076E-mail: kocinfo@kockw.comor visit the KOC homepage athttp://www.kockw.com

3SPE Heavy Oil Conference

Contents

SPE International Heavy Oil Conference & ExhibitionKOC CEO Wins “Man of the Year” Award

Kuwait Flow Measurement Technology ConferenceThe Establishment of the Kuwait International

Petroleum Research CenterHealth Information Management System

The Inauguration of the Real-Time Drilling Decision CenterThe Port Operations Team

Process Safety Management in West KuwaitAbdaliya Nature Preserve’s Bounties

Life After Harvard Business School“Zero Disposal To Pits” Goal Achieved

KOC Attends ADIPEC 2014Hi-Tech

Health: Food PoisoningTravel: Visit Tasmania

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8 20KOC CEO Wins “Man of the Year” Award Inauguration of the RTDDC

The colder months of another Kuwaiti winter are upon us. While some decide to brave the near-freezing temperatures at campsites throughout the country, others remain warm inside the comfort of their homes, waiting to venture out into the world only when the sun is at its highest. No matter what your preference, one thing is clear: Kuwait comes alive during the winter. People are out and about, our empty deserts begin bustling with activity, and all across the country flowers are in bloom.

As KOC welcomes in a new year, I would like ev-eryone to look back on 2014 and reflect on some of our Company’s many successes. In the pages that follow, readers will learn much about some of the major activities our Company has been engaged in over the past few months. From international con-ferences to the opening of new facilities at KOC that will help us fulfill the objectives of our 2030 Strategy, I am proud to say that our Company has been working hard in the drive toward greater production that is safer, more efficient and envi-ronmentally sound.

Our lead story for this issue sheds some light on the recent International Heavy Oil Conference & Exhibition. I encourage our readers to spend some time with this story and learn more about the im-portant role our fields in North Kuwait will have for Kuwait’s future production goals. Another major story puts our CEO, Hashem Hashem, in the limelight. As many employees throughout the

Company know, our CEO was the recipient of the very prestigious “Man of the Year” award, which he humbly regarded as an honor to be shared with everyone here at KOC.

Also in the pages that follow are stories that cov-er recently completed projects, such as the Real-Time Drilling Decision Center, and projects that are currently in the pipeline, such as the Kuwait International Petroleum Research Center. Both of these projects are exciting new ventures that will do much in the way of creating added value for KOC and our employees, and I would also like to add that the commendable efforts of all employees involved in the execution of these projects has not gone unnoticed.

In addition to the aforementioned topics, this issue of The Kuwaiti Digest details a number of other initiatives and programs that everyone at KOC can be proud of. I encourage everyone to read about and share these stories with their colleagues, but more importantly, I encourage all employees to re-dedicate their time and effort to KOC so that our Company may emerge stronger than ever over the coming year. It is only through your hard work and dedication that the goals of our 2030 Strate-gy will become a reality for the betterment of our Company and the State of Kuwait.

May Almighty Allah’s assistance guide our efforts as we move KOC forward into the future.

Letter fromthe Editor

Saad Rashed Al-AzmiDeputy CEO

(Administration & Finance)

SPE InternationalHeavy Oil Conference & Exhibition

The SPE International Heavy Oil Conference & Exhibition took place recently inside the Al-Dorra Ballroom of the Mangaf Hilton. The exhibition portion of the three-day event also took part at the Hilton inside a tent that was constructed specifically for the occasion. The event, which featured the participation of more than 665 attendees from 110 companies from approximately 30 countries, was organized by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and held under the patronage of His Excellency Dr. Ali Saleh Al-Omair, Minister of Oil and Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs.

Nizar Al-Adsani, Chief Executive Officer of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, deliv-ered the conference’s opening remarks on behalf of the Minister of Oil. In his address to the audience, Al-Adsani maintained that the focus of the SPE International Heavy Oil Conference and Exhibition would touch on topics surrounding the efficient ex-traction of heavy oil. This topic, he said, represented a very important issue for not only Kuwait, but many other International Oil Companies that included heavy oil in their long-term goals as well.

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"

“The global demand for energy places enormous obligations and responsibilities on us as producers. In light of this, the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and its subsidiaries, particularly KOC, has developed an ambi-tious strategy that includes the implementation of new projects for the development of our oil fields that will increase produc-tion capacity. Heavy oil plays an important role in this plan, and efforts are already underway to further develop fields in North Kuwait,” he said.

The KPC CEO went on to say that the goal of Kuwait’s oil sector was to efficiently tackle the challenges associated with heavy oil production. “In this regard, KPC and its subsidiaries are on a path that seeks to make the best use of Kuwait’s heavy oil reserves,” he said.

Al-Adsani concluded his speech by thanking everyone in the audience for attending, adding that it was his hope that everyone present would ben-

efit greatly from the contribu-tions and exchange of expertise that was set to take place. The KPC CEO then gave the floor to Emad Sultan, 2014 SPE Inter-national Heavy Oil Conference Chairman and KOC’s Deputy CEO for North Kuwait.

“Heavy oil plays an increas-ingly important role in supply-ing the needs of the global oil market,” the DCEO said, add-ing, “It’s extraction requires an unusually high level of effort and expertise to be economi-cally developed and produced.”

The DCEO then told the audi-ence that the theme of the con-ference was “Heavy Oil Innova-tions Beyond Limitations.” The event, he said, will do much in the way of bringing a wealth of information surrounding the in-novations that make it possible to achieve significant improve-ments in oil exploration, devel-opment, production and refin-ing. “Of particular interest will be presentations that touch on some of the work that is being

Heavy oil plays an increasingly important role in supplying the needs of the global oil market.

"

KPC CEO Nizar Al-Adsani addresses the audience.

presentation at the conference, the International Heavy Oil Con-ference Chairman maintained that 280 requests for papers were submitted. Of those, 44 were con-firmed, including a significant portion that were authored by KOC employees. As far as del-egates were concerned, 213 indi-viduals from KOC participated in the conference in addition to more than 50 other individuals from various K-Companies.

Following Emad Sultan’s speech, SPE President Nathan Meehan took the stage and de-livered his opening remarks. In his speech, Meehan affirmed that the total time to process heavy oil reservoirs was rela-tively long. As such, these types of projects require relatively high technical recovery factors that require long-term commit-ments. “Ultimately,” he said, “the balance of costs and prices will determine our success.”

Meehan went on to say that Ku-wait Oil Company’s 2030 Strat-egy was an example of thinking

about heavy oil for the long-term. “To achieve the stated goals, it will be vital to develop all of the identified significant heavy oil resources in a very efficient and effective manner. The same requirement is pre-sent for all other heavy oil re-source owners, and I hope that the things we learn and share over the next few days contrib-ute significantly to accomplish-ing these objectives,” he said.

The SPE President went on to say that the event would feature three days of plenary and pan-el sessions, technical sessions, knowledge-sharing meetings, poster sessions, a Technology Theater and a Kuwait Project session.

The Executive Plenary Session

DCEO Emad Sultan and Behrooz Fattahi, American In-stitute of Mining Metallurgi-cal and Petroleum Engineers President, served as moderators for the event’s Executive Ple-nary Session. Panelists included Hashem Sayed Hashem, KOC CEO, Mohammed Al-Mutairi, Kuwait National Petroleum Company CEO, Amran Marhu-bi, Technical Director of Petro-leum Development Oman and Stephane Michel, Middle East President of Total E&P.

Emad Sultan offered opening remarks and suggested that the proper application of ad-vanced technologies would do much in the way of creating efficient extraction and pro-duction of heavy oil reserves. He maintained that advanced technologies, in addition to the experience and expertise of em-ployees and partners, are key to the effective production of Ku-wait’s heavy oil reserves.

Given the industry’s future out-look, Sultan also suggested that

done for the extraction of heavy oil at very remote or challenging onshore and offshore regions of the planet,” he said.

The Conference Chairman also told the audience that more than 1,200 square meters of ex-hibition space were on hand that featured the latest in inno-vative technologies, services, equipment and tools offered by some of the industry’s most im-portant players.

In addition to the conference and exhibition portions of the event, Sultan maintained that more than 300 students from public and private high schools would benefit from the SPE Re-gional Education Day, which is aimed at educating students about the oil and gas industry. Running alongside this was a Science Teachers Workshop, which also has the benefit of introducing oil education into schools through educators.

In regard to the submission of technical papers considered for

Senior officials listen to opening remarks during the conference.

5 TheKuwaitiDigest

heavy oil will be play an increasingly important role for the oil and gas industry, which is especially true for Kuwait as it plans to ramp up production as part of its 2030 Strategy. As heavy oil plays a larger role for KOC, the challenges associated with its extraction, he said, would be able to be over-come through innovation and cooperation with KOC’s partners.

Following the DCEO’s remarks, KOC CEO Hashem Hashem delivered a brief overview of KOC’s plans for heavy oil, where careful production will play a key role. “Every drop that we produce at KOC re-quires special focus so that our finite resources are extracted in the most efficient way without waste,” he said.

“Heavy oil reserves account for some 46% of glob-al oil reserves; however, those reserves account for a small percentage of overall production, which means the challenges associated with heavy oil loom large for everyone in our industry,” he said.

“KOC began plans for heavy oil production 30 years ago, when we implemented our first pilot project. Over the years, our aim has been to grow

organically and naturally and use the best practic-es and technologies as they became available, with no rush to push for the production of our heavy oil reserves, especially since the abundance of con-ventional oil created no pressing need for this to occur,” he continued.

The KOC CEO went on to say that as the Compa-ny’s 2030 Strategy called for a significant increase in barrels produced, heavy oil would play a ma-jor part in contributing to overall production. In this regard, he maintained that KOC was making good progress in its heavy oil plans. For example, the Company’s latest steam flood pilot is due for startup next year and the construction phase of the first commercial scale production facility for heavy oil is set to begin soon. In addition, the KOC CEO maintained that the Company will continue to trial technologies that aim to keep KOC at the frontier of heavy oil extraction in order to create maximum value from Kuwait’s reserves.

As far as challenges are concerned, Hashem said that designing proper well patterns, sourcing a skilled workforce and finding innovative solutions to conserve energy and protect the environment

KOC DCEO Emad Sultan delivers his speech.

SPE President Nathan Meehan discusses the future of heavy oil.

were at the forefront. Increasing heavy oil pro-duction to 270,000 barrels by 2030, however, rep-resents a significant challenge that Hashem said can be overcome through greater cooperation from KOC’s international partners. In addition, KOC’s drive for innovative solutions to reduce costs will play an important role, as will adhering to a plan that implements development in phases that will allow for future technologies to be utilized as they become available.

Heavy Oil Challenges and Opportunities Session

The session that followed the Executive Plenary Session was moderated by Badria Farhad, Man-ager of Heavy Oil Development (NK) and touched on some of the challenges and opportunities as-sociated with heavy oil. Panelists discussed how learning to develop heavy oil fields to reach signif-icant levels of commercial production, especially if they are giant and complex, can take decades. Challenges associated with making decisions un-der high levels of uncertainty can have long-range implications for oil recovery efficiency and total cost. Panelists discussed the importance of quickly learning during the early phases of production in order to translate early findings into operations that maximize the value of heavy oil throughout the value chain.

The primary focus of the panel was a discussion that sought to discover how to identify opportu-nities and select the best ones in order to apply enhanced oil recovery technologies at very early stages of field life cycles. Pilot projects and the test-ing of technologies were also discussed.

The Kuwait Project Session

The Heavy Oil Conference and Exhibition featured 11 technical sessions that discussed elements of heavy oil production. One of the main sessions, The Kuwait Project Session, focused on Kuwait’s heavy oil upstream and downstream industry. The session touched on current and upcoming projects that KPC and its subsidiaries have in the works.

Moderators of the session included Ali Al-Mah-meed, Team Leader Exploration & Fields Devel-opment (Wafra) and Waleed Al-Khamees, Team Leader Fields Development – Heavy Oil (NK).

During the session, the moderators and panelists discussed Kuwait’s heavy oil resources, which have been identified in several geological forma-tions and are rich in volume. The development of these resources, which the panelists maintained exist above or on the flanks of existing deeper fields, is very important for the realization of Ku-wait’s 2030 Strategy.

During the session, panelists and presenters dis-cussed how two of Kuwait’s most promising pro-jects are currently in different phases of develop-ment. These projects include the heavy oil projects in the Divided Zone and North Kuwait’s heavy oil deposits that are situated in a shallow clastic for-mation.

Presentations during this session were conducted by a number of KOC employees, including Senior Process Engineer Mohammed Al-Barazi and Res-ervoir Engineer Mishary Al-Subaihi, who present-ed information about the development of heavy oil in North Kuwait and West Kuwait.

SPE Regional Honors and Awards

The SPE Regional Honors and Awards Ceremony took place alongside the conference and exhibition portions of the event. The SPE Regional Awards recognize members who contribute exceptional service and leadership within SPE, as well as mak-ing significant professional contributions within their technical disciplines at the SPE regional lev-el. Regional Awards also allow SPE to recognize a larger group of individuals who contributions stand out among their peers.

Two individuals from KOC, Noha Najem, Senior Systems Analyst and Project Manager, and Maria Capello, Consultant (S&EK), were recipients of the SPE Professional Award under the Service category.

About the Society of Petroleum Engineers

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) is a not-for-profit professional association whose members are engaged in energy resources development and production. SPE serves more than 124,000 mem-bers in 135 countries worldwide. SPE is a key re-source for technical knowledge related to the oil and gas exploration and production industry and provides services through its publications, events, training courses, and online resources.

Advanced technologies, in addition to the experience and expertise of employees and partners, are key to the effective

production of Kuwait’s heavy oil reserves.

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KOC CEO Wins“Man Of tHE YEar” AWArd

During the event, which served as the awards cer-emony and official book launch for the 2014 Ku-wait edition of The Oil & Gas Year, Gilles Valen-tin, Managing Partner and Editor-in-Chief of the publication, took the stage to deliver his speech and present the book before honoring KOC CEO Hashem Hashem as Man of the Year. In addition to the Man of the Year award, KOC was also pre-sented with an award for Upstream Collaboration of the Year, which it jointly shared with Shell.

“We at the The Oil & Gas Year truly believe that Kuwait sits on top of the world, not only because of its enormous reserves, but because of the excit-ing projects that are underway at every level of the industry,” Valentin said.

“Every segment of the market here is represented by a world class project. From the world’s largest seismic survey, which covers one quarter of the country’s territory, to innovative solutions for up-stream work and development calls for 19,000 new wells, Kuwait is making progress in all aspects of the oil and gas industry. Jurassic Gas Field devel-opment, in addition to Kuwait’s untouched off-shore potential, can change the country’s gas pro-duction and consumption profile,” he said.

Valentin went on to commend Kuwait for some of the projects the country has initiated, such as the Shigaya Solar Project and Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port. The Oil & Gas Year Editor-in-Chief conclud-ed his speech by underscoring his belief that the future of Kuwait’s development will rely on fur-ther cooperation with experienced partners from around the world who can lend their expertise to Kuwait’s ambitious projects.

KOC CEO Hashem Sayed Hashem was recently named Man of the Year by The Oil & Gas Year, a publication that features an exclusive series of annual reports dedicated to global energy executives. The event, which was held at the Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel, was attended by a number of senior officials from KOC and a range of leading figures from the oil and gas industry in the region and throughout the world.

Following Valentin’s speech, The Oil & Gas Year announced that KOC CEO Hashem Hashem was selected as the recipient of their Man of the Year Award. The CEO was invited to the stage, where he was presented with a commemorative plaque before delivering his speech.

“In accepting this award today, I am representing the thousands of people at KOC who have worked hard to achieve outstanding results over the past year. This is in recognition of their efforts and com-mitment. I have provided a spark, a small light that has shown the direction, and they have taken the brave steps forward to make the impossible happen,” the CEO said.

Hashem went on to say that despite difficulties faced over the past year, such as interruptions in power supplies that put undue stress on the Com-pany to deliver on production targets, KOC man-aged to overcome the challenges. “Tough challeng-es bring out the best in people,” he said. “It was amazing to see how every part of our Company united behind the initiatives to restore us to our threshold promises.”

From the world’s largest seismic survey, which covers one quarter of the country’s territory, to innovative solutions for upstream work and development calls for 19,000 new wells, Kuwait is making progress in all aspects of the oil and gas industry.

"The CEO told the audience that KOC will face ever-increasing com-plexities concerning future develop-ment of Kuwait’s oil fields. These complexities will require the Com-pany to apply innovative solutions in the field of enhanced oil recovery, and it will require KOC to make fur-ther investments in projects related to heavy oil development in North Kuwait.

“The past year has also brought a number of very notable and exciting accomplishments,” Hashem said. “Delivery on gas targets surpassed all expectations, planned drilling was exceeded, gas flaring continued to be reduced and a brand new oil discovery was made in the western part of Kuwait. In addition, Ku-waitization goals exceeded targets as KOC hires more local talent while more contracts were awarded to lo-cal companies,” he said.

The CEO then elaborated on how KOC planned to increase reserves through its early adoption of En-hanced Oil Recovery (EOR) tech-niques. Apart from increasing re-serves, the CEO maintained that some EOR techniques have the po-tential to increase the efficiency of extraction by decreasing the burden on water handling and power re-quirements. “These are exciting op-portunities for the future, and we have the clarity of vision today to open the doors early,” he said.

Hashem then addressed the implica-tions that the end of “easy oil” will have on KOC.

“Our fields are maturing. They are changing and it is not enough to barely keep up with this change. We need to think several steps ahead and we need to think very differently. How can we refresh our

Delivery on gas targets surpassed all expectations, planned drilling was exceeded, gas flaring continued to be reduced and a brand new oil discovery was made in the western part of Kuwait."

KOC CEO Hashem Hashem is pictured receiving the “Man of the Year” Award.

9 TheKuwaitiDigest

thinking? How can we empower our organization for the new future? When can we let go of the hab-its of the past and embrace a changing future with fresh, energetic minds that are ready to open new doors and meet the challenge of our 2030 Strategy? There has never been a better time for change than now,” he said.

“It is with great pleasure that I accept this award and once again acknowledge those in KOC who con-tinue to stand beside me, hand in hand, with eyes pointed towards a new future,” the CEO concluded.

Following the Award Ceremony at the Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel, the CEO was presented with a surprise party at the Main Office. The sur-prise event included a cake and honorary plaque, which was presented to the CEO in the presence of KOC employees and senior officials. This was fol-lowed by the screening of a video presentation that highlighted some of the CEO’s work throughout the Company.

About The Oil & Gas Year:

The Oil & Gas Year reports cover more than 30 oil-rich markets and feature interviews with key stakeholders in the international energy industry, in addition to in-depth articles, anal-yses and resources. The Oil & Gas Year books present a clear picture of the global hydrocar-bons industry and its associated sectors, from banking and finance to midstream and down-stream. Strategic roundtables, book launches and networking events bring government and industry stakeholders face to face to dis-cuss dynamic and evolving business environ-ments. From the leaders to the leaders, The Oil & Gas Year is the Who's Who of the global energy industry.

The event culminated with a surprise reception for the CEO at the Main Office.

The Kuwait Flow Measurement Technol-ogy for Oil and Gas Conference took place recently at the Mangaf Hilton. The event, which was sponsored primarily by Kuwait Oil Company, focused on technology related to hydrocarbon flow measurements and fea-tured the participation of a range of inter-national representative from the oil and gas industry.

Event organizers behind the Kuwait Flow Measurement Conference maintained that the specialized conference would be the pre-mier event for discussions and information related to measurement technology that is utilized by the oil and gas industry. Before the start of the conference, officials from KOC upheld the importance of hydrocarbon flow measurement technology, which they said has the potential to have an impact on both the environment and economy. Staying

Kuwait Flow Measurement Technology Conference

ahead of flow measurement technology, they maintained, was therefore important for both KOC and the State of Kuwait.

The Master of Ceremonies and Chairman of the Technical Committee, Senior Loss Engi-neer Rashed Al-Marri, welcomed the audi-ence and visiting delegations before intro-ducing Hasan Bunain, DCEO West Kuwait, who delivered the conference’s opening re-marks. Other DCEOs in attendance included Ismail Abdullah, DCEO Corporate Services, Saad Al-Azmi, DCEO Administration and Finance, Jamal Jaffer, DCEO Planning and Commercial and Esam Al-Houti, DCEO Ma-jor Projects and Technical Services.

“As chair of this event, I am honored to wel-come you all to this conference, where you will find professionals from national and international oil companies, manufacturers,

DCEO (WK) Hasan Bunain during a tour of the exhibition hall.

11 TheKuwaitiDigest

research institutions and engi-neering companies,” Bunain said. “This conference will serve as an excellent opportunity for everyone involved to learn more about the newest technologies related to flow measurement in the oil and gas industry, in ad-dition to creating openings for future business opportunities.

Hasan Bunain went on to say that the conference’s fo-cus would be on the practical application of measurement technology while also cover-ing the latest developments and field experience within the industry. In addition to the speakers and panel discus-sions, Bunain reminded the audience that the conference also featured an exhibition space where the latest techno-logical innovations and ser-vices related to measurement technology were showcased. Exhibitors included compa-nies such as Krohne, Emerson, Dynamic Flow Computers, Swinton Technology and Hon-eywell, among others.

Following Hasan Bunain’s speech, the floor was given to David Beckman, the retired

Senior Vice President of Mar-keting at Emerson. Beckman, who traveled from his home state of Iowa to be at the con-ference, served as the event’s keynote speaker. In his speech, Beckman provided a number of examples that supported the theme of his talk, which dealt with the importance of taking risks and thinking differently.

To illustrate a point related to thinking differently and the need to take risks or do things in new ways, Beckman used a quote by British philosopher James Allen, which states, “You are today where your thoughts have brought you. You will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.” Beckman brought up this quote in order uphold his belief that it is sometimes neces-sary to think creatively and in-novate when approached with a new set of challenges. For exam-ple, Beckman maintained that old ways of thinking or process-es that may have worked in the past might not be suitable for a current set of issues.

In relation to oil and gas, Beck-man said, “The whole world has shifted in its supply and con-

sumption structure from what it was and what it will be, and we have to be ready to supply what it needs.” In order to do this, Beckman brought up his previous point that dealt with the courage and resolve that is sometimes required for man-agement and senior leadership in various companies to take risks by doing things differently than they have in the past.

Following David Beckman’s keynote address, the floor was opened for the first panel dis-cussion of the event, which fea-tured the participation of three KOC Managers and the Presi-dent of Emerson Process Man-agement, MEA. Panel discus-sion members included:

• Hamed Al-Mutairi, Manag-er Operations Group (EK)

• Mohammad Al-Otaibi, Manager Support Services Group (WK)

• Mohammad Al-Zoubi, Manager Gas Operations Group

• Dave Tredinnick, President of Emerson Process Man-agement, MEA

KOC officials discussed technical issues during the event’s panel discussion.

Hamed Al-Mutairi delivered the panel’s opening remarks and discussed the importance of flow measurement for the oil and gas industry in gen-eral and for KOC and the State of Kuwait specifi-cally. He maintained that a good understanding of flow measurement was extremely important for the measurement of production and storage fig-ures. This he, said, was important in the context of not overloading storage facilities. Metering is also critical for environmental regulations, and all engineers in the field and elsewhere should never operate under the assumption that what comes in comes out. Proper checking and maintenance of flow measurement equipment is necessary for the prevention of potential losses and environmental protection, he said.

Meanwhile, Mohammed Al-Otaibi, Manager Sup-port Services Group (WK) spoke to the audience about downstream measurement challenges. Be-cause safe and efficient flow of hydrocarbons moving downstream is responsible for the State of Kuwait’s revenue, Al-Otaibi upheld the need for accurate measurement of this material at all stages. In order to do this, and in the context of KOC’s 2030 Strategy, significant investments have been made to purchase, install and maintain new metering systems at downstream facilities. These new me-tering systems, he said, are extremely accurate and live up to the international standards that KOC’s clients require. However, one of the challenges that Al-Otaibi said needs to be addressed concerns the variance that exists in measurements of quantities reported between the ships that are being loaded and the quantity onshore. This challenge, he said, is not limited to KOC but is an international con-cern, and should therefore be a priority for discus-sion among all parties involved.

Gas flow measurement challenges was the topic of Mohammad Al-Zoubi’s presentation. The nature of gas makes it inherently more challenging than oil, Al-Zoubi maintained. If personnel are faced with a problem related to oil, operations can be temporarily shut down. Gas, however, is not as simple and some issues require flaring, which is a completely different process than anything related to oil production. On the subject of gas flaring, Al-Zoubi reminded the audience that KOC has invest-ed heavily in systems for the reduction of gas flar-ing, which so far has been a great success in terms of realized objectives for the Company. However, there is always room for improvement, and Al-Zoubi maintained that the systems associated with gas flaring reduction are constantly being calibrat-ed for improvement and greater accuracy.

The panel’s last speaker was Dave Tredinnick, President of Emerson Process Management. Tredinnick touched briefly on the challenges en-countered as a technology provider, which include the improper application of flow meters in many cases. He also maintained that the greater num-ber of measurement devices used, the greater the uncertainty can be if readings are not uniform across the board. Tredinnick also discussed the is-sue of relatively simple projects transforming into rather complex ones, not necessarily because of the required task in the field, but because of “too many hands becoming involved.” In that regard, Tredinnick maintained that sometimes the best so-lution is to be less concerned with the technology and more concerned with understanding what the problem is and the proper way to solve it through

the use of the correct system. He also discussed the importance of proper training and flow expertise, in addition to the very important issue of systems maintenance. Improper maintenance, or com-plete lack of maintenance, will lead purchasers to be shortchanged on systems that can last 20 to 30 years if properly maintained.

Over the course of the conference, other KOC em-ployees participated in discussions and presenta-tions, including Rashed Al-Marri, whose topic was “Obtaining Optimum Accuracy Using the Master Meter Method for Prover Calibration.” Nasser Al-Qallaf presented a case study from KOC titled “Gas and Liquid Flow Measurement in KOC As-sets” and Mishal Al-Anzi delivered a presentation titled “KOC’s Effort Towards Better Fiscal Meter-ing.” Divin Madakkara also delivered a presenta-tion titled “Custody Metering Systems.”

The Kuwait Flow Measurement Technology for Oil and Gas Conference took place over the course of three days and included a variety of speakers who shared their expertise in the field of flow measure-ment. From technical consultants and engineers to specialists and sales directors, the conference proved to be an excellent forum where industry figures could come together, network and learn from past experiences.

Staying ahead of flow measurement technology is important for both KOC and the State of Kuwait.

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Technology has always been at the heart of the Oil & Gas in-dustry. Companies around the world have established R&D ca-pabilities to acquire and develop new technologies to address their portfolio specific challenges. In 2003, KOC spearheaded the technology agenda, and set up a Research and Technol-ogy group, specializing in scouting and deploying world-class technologies to solve oil and gas Upstream challenges. The group has been very successful in adapting new technologies for the operations of KOC. In 2005, KPC established a Research and Development Department to set and design the R&D and Technology Management (R&D/TM) agenda, institute concerned functions and spread R&D/TM culture across all KPC subsidiaries. Consequently, in 2010, KNPC established a Research and Technology Department to be the Downstream R&T arm in scouting and deploying world-class technologies to solve oil and gas Downstream challenges.

the Establishment of theKuwait InternationalPetroleum research CenterSubmitted by the Research and Development Group

The KPC Strategic Plan envisions a complex portfolio and an ambitious growth agenda across the entire hydrocarbon value chain.

KPC has prioritized the establishment of KIPRC as one of its key R&T 2030 strategic initiatives.

The KPC Strategic Plan envisions a complex port-folio and an ambitious growth agenda across the entire hydrocarbon value chain. These complexities and growth objectives require unique technologies to be developed to address particular needs of the oil and gas sector in Kuwait. Hence, in April, 2005, the Strategies and Organizational Structures Com-mittee of the Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC) di-rected KPC to establish a research center reporting to the highest authority in KPC. Morerover, the de-sire of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait to establish a Center of Excellence in Research, Development and Technology for the Oil industry has empow-ered and strengthed the SPC direction and vision to establish Kuwait International Petroleum Research Center “KIPRC”. KIPRC will become an R&D/TM Center of excellence that will acquire existing tech-nologies and develop new ones. KIPRC technology focus would be in the following areas:• Production and refining of heavy oil

• Growing and producing non-associated gas

• Segregating crude streams

Drivers toward the Establishment of the Kuwait International Petroleum reseach Center (KIPrC)

• Enhancing oil recovery through secondary and tertiary methods

• Enhancing refining capacities

• Supporting domestic and international integrat-ed refining and petrochemical operations

• Growing downstream petrochemical specialties and diversified chemicals

• Identifying sophisticated technical capabilities

• Operating in a continuously safe and clean en-vironment

Kuwait International Petroleum Research Center (KIPRC) Incubation at KOC

Following the wish of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sa-bah, KPC took the initiative to establish the Kuwait International Petroleum Research Center (KIPRC) and assigned it to KOC. KPC has prioritized the establishment of KIPRC as one of its key R&T 2030 strategic initiatives. KIPRC will serve the R&D and technology management needs of the Oil & Gas

15 TheKuwaitiDigest

sector of Kuwait. To deliver this initiative, the KOC R&D Group has been mandated to incubate KIPRC and manage the design of KIPRC Operat-ing Model, design and deliv-ery of the R&D/TM program for K-Companies, oversee the design and construc-tion of KIPRC R&D/TM facilities and build the inter-nal capabilities to deliver on the mandate. Although in-cubated at KOC, the KIPRC initiative is built upon close collaboration between KOC R&D and multiple cross-subsidiary entities. KNPC R&T has been collaborat-ing closely with KOC R&D to drive the KIPRC efforts. Specifically, on the Down-stream front, KNPC R&T has been involved in driving the Downstream technology management agenda. KOC R&D is also collaborating with KGOC to integrate the upstream technology agenda in WJO and KJO operations.

In line with the Operating Model design, KPC R&T and KOC R&D roles have been updated to clearly reflect KPC’s corporate responsibili-ties and KOC R&D’s mandate for KIPRC. Going forward, both groups will continue to play a key role in shaping KIPRC, focusing on their re-spective areas as highlighted below until the KIPRC Project reaches the steady state status:

KPC R&T Key Focus KOC R&D Key Focus• Define and implement R&D / TM

policies and guidelines in coor-dination with concerned depart-ments in KPC (e.g. HR Policy, Financial policy, etc.)

• Set strategic directions for R&D/TM activities and ensure cross-subsidiaries synergies as well as strategic alignment of Technology Roadmap with KPC long term Strategic Directives

• Coordinate and support KPC Performance Management depart-ment to set high level KPIs and monitor its performance against targets

• Oversee completion of the existing KPC R&D projects and transfer project findings to KOC R&D post completion

• Develop R&D/TM strategic plan in collaboration with K-Companies and in line with KPC's strategic directives

• Develop the R&D and Technology Roadmap for the Oil & Gas sector in Kuwait

• Execute R&D and technology strategic plan (including Transfer of Technology)

• Conduct R&D activities for K-Companies

• Establish and manage R&D strate-gic technology alliances relevant to meet the R&D and Technology pri-orities for Kuwait oil & gas sector

• Develop R&D / TM capability and knowledge capture

• Oversee design and construction of KIPRC facilities

The Governance of KIPRC

The KOC R&D Group’s mandate can be sum-marized into three key objectives.

1. Design and construction of KIPRC facilities.

2. Development and enactment of KIPRC’s operating model.

3. Formulation and execution of an R&D/TM roadmap for the oil and gas sector in Ku-wait. Exhibit 1 presents the organization structure of the group.

Exhibit 1. R&D Group Organization Structure

To move forward with KIPRC, the R&D group ensures cross-subsidiary coordination. Specifically, KOC R&D group is collaborat-ing closely with KOC R&T and KNPC R&T on the delivery of the R&D/TM roadmap. The leadership of the K-Companies have established a Higher Steering Committee, Project Management Office and Work-ing Teams with representation from KPC, KOC, KNPC, KGOC, PIC and KUFPEC (see Exhibit 2). In addition to utilizing K-Companies capabilities, R&D Group is drawing the expertise of world renowned professionals, including professors from renowned universities/institutions. Strat-egy& (formerly Booz & Company), a global leader in management consulting, is also supporting the team on overall project management and execution.

Exhibit 2. KIPRC Governance Structure and Representation

Progress on the Implementation of KIPRC

To date, the team achieved progress on each of the defined objectives. An overview of the execution plan and timeline is provided in Exhibit 3. Land was secured and a feasibility study with statement of requirements were completed and approved with regard to the KIPRC facility. Work is ongo-ing in selecting the architectural firm for KIPRC. In terms of the roadmap, subject matter experts across the different subsidiaries were engaged to develop a 5-year R&D/TM roadmap for the oil and gas sec-tor. Implementation of the roadmap is underway.

The operating model of KIPRC has been de-signed by the team based on the experiences of regional and international oil companies, oil field services providers, and academic institu-tions. Concrete progress has been made so far, but there is still much to be accomplished.

KIPRC is the result of an exciting effort of great importance. Success will require diligence, per-severance and commitment to excellence across

the board. In the meantime, for any queries or to share your thoughts, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Planning & Support Team at KOC R&D group.

Exhibit 3. High Level Plan and Timeline

We look forward to provide you with further details on the progress of KIPRC in the near future.

The operating model of KIPRC has been designed by the team based on the experiences of regional and international oil companies, oil field services providers, and academic institutions.

17 TheKuwaitiDigest

The Health Information Management System (HIMS) Division is one of the key divisions at Ahmadi Hospital. The division is dedicated to the improvement of healthcare quality and safety through the best use of proven, cost-effective infor-mation technology and management systems.

Established in 2006, the core functionality of HIMS is to acquire, analyze and protect digital and tra-ditional medical information vital to providing quality patient care. With its highly trained profes-sionals, it offers the latest in healthcare informatics technology applications based on carefully studied healthcare workflows across the hospital. This is a vital pillar of the daily operations management of health information and electronic medical records.

HIMS has helped Ahmadi Hospital become a pio-neer in Kuwait by replacing traditional (paper-based) medical records with electronic medical records. This was done through the introduction of a sophisticated Hospital Information System (HIS) in 2008. Since then, the system grew stronger by integrating more applications and incorporating more workflows, which has taken Ahmadi Hospi-tal one step closer to a paperless environment.

An Overview

A submission from the Medical Group

Health InformationManagement SystemHealth InformationManagement System

Dr. Khaled Al-Suwailem, Chief Medical Support Services Officer, explains the HIMS vision:

“Our vision is to provide optimum, advanced, comprehensive, timely and cost effective health-care informatics services built on state of the art technology solutions for Ahmadi Hospital’s healthcare providers and all oil sector employees and their dependents,” he said.

Abdullah Al-Mazeedi, Head of HIMS Division, summarized the division’s objectives in three main points:

1. To ensure a high standard of medical care ser-vices rendered inside Ahmadi Hospital by facili-tating the technology needed to provide these services reliably and securely.

2. To provide a paperless environment for all healthcare providers at Ahmadi Hospital by maintaining a comprehensive Health Informa-tion System that integrates with all medical equipment used.

3. To ensure that direct patient services are offered with a high degree of satisfaction.

Services Offered by Reception

• Activate/Update the Elec-tronic Medical Records (EMR) of eligible patients and their dependents after requesting the necessary le-gal documents as per KOC Medical Treatment Policy.

• Ensure that patients are reg-istered to the appropriate healthcare providers, either through outpatient care or emergency care.

• Provide “To Whom it May Concern” letters to patients that validate their visit to Ah-madi Hospital upon request.

Services Offered by the Medi-cal Records

• Securely manage and main-tain all medical documents and reports related to the patient in physical and elec-tronic forms.

• Validate the eligibility of medical treatment at Ahmadi Hospital in accordance with KOC medical treatment poli-cies and procedures.

• Activate/Deactivate the medical records according to the official memos received

from all Kuwait Oil Sector companies.

Services Offered by Birth & Death Office

Depending on the cases re-ceived from the wards, the Birth & Death Office issues the fol-lowing notifications and forms:

• Birth Notification• Stillbirth Notification• Death Notification• Burial Permit Form• Release of a Dead Body from

Mortuary Form• Transfer to Forensic Medicine

Form• Abortion Notification• Amputated Limb Notification

Integrated Voice Response System for Ahmadi Hospital

Patients can call Ahmadi Hospi-tal’s Integrated Voice Response System (IVRS) at 238-60111 and follow the simple voice instruc-tions to:

• Inquire about future appoint-ments.

• Change/Cancel the appoint-ment date.

• Inquire about medications and request to refill them and to be ready for receiving.

The HIMS Division is com-mitted to providing the best healthcare informatics services with the best that technology has to offer. In addition, the HIMS Division has several initiatives in the pipeline that include:

• Smart Civil ID System Integra-tion across Ahmadi Hospital.

• KIOSK Applications for:

• Patient Self-Registration

• Issue “To Whom it May Con-cern” Certificates

• Patient Portal

Contact Us:

HIMS Division staff are avail-able 24/7 at Ahmadi Hospital’s Main Reception to answer any patient inquiries in person or by telephone.

Main Reception Telephone: 238-62251/238-62266

Email: hospital-help@kockw.com

Dr. Emad Al-Awadh Manager

Medical Group

Dr. Khaled Al-Suwailem Chief Medical Support

Services O�cer

Mr. AbdullahAl-Mazeedi

Head of HIMS

19 TheKuwaitiDigest

Under the auspices of KPC CEO Nizar Al-Adsani, KOC CEO Hashem Sayed Hashem and a number of other senior officials, the inauguration of the Real-Time Drilling Decision Center (RTDDC) took place recently at the Office Complex. The RTDDC, which has been a collaborative effort between a number of KOC Groups, is a new state of the art facility that ensures real-time monitoring of drilling data for the benefit of Teams from the Deep Drilling and Development Drilling Groups.

Noha Najem, Senior Systems Analyst from the Information Solutions - Ex-ploration & Production Team, served as the RTDDC Project Manager and delivered introductory remarks during the event. “The RTDDC is a col-laborative, strategic and technologically advanced center that KOC engi-neers can utilize for the real-time monitoring of 27 rigs,” she said, adding, “The successful completion of this project is the result of the determina-tion of more than 50 skilled and qualified experts of various disciplines who worked together for the benefit of KOC and the State of Kuwait.”

The RTDDC is a collaborative, strategic and technologically advanced center that KOC engineers can utilize for the real-time monitoring of 27 rigs.

the Inauguration of thereal-time Drilling Decision Center

The RTDDC Project Manager then invited KOC CEO Hashem Hahem to the stage, who pro-vided an overview of the new facility and discussed how its successful implementation will benefit KOC operations.

“It gives me great pleasure to formally announce that the Re-al-Time Drilling Decision Cent-er is operational and ready for business,” the CEO said. “Once again, KOC has made a major step in acquiring and utiliz-ing new technologies that will drive value in one of our most important areas of operation: drilling.”

The CEO went on to say that the RTDDC will play an espe-cially important role for KOC, especially in light of the fact that KOC’s 3,000 wells are set to double over the next 20 years. He also upheld some of the ad-vantages the RTDDC will pro-vide, such as the provision of “faster, smarter collaborative decisions” that will increase ef-ficiency and reduce operational costs.

“When the best brains in the Company are provided with real-time access to data through an interface that is capable of speedy analysis, then we have created something truly excep-tional within the Company that

takes us a step beyond our cur-rent capabilities,” Hashem said, adding that the RTDDC will make a significant contribution to KOC’s 2030 Strategy.

The KOC CEO then concluded his speech by saying he was proud of the fact that the Com-pany was making great pro-gress in the acquisition of tech-nology that aided KOC’s most important resource: its people. He then thanked the Informa-tion Solutions Team from the R&T Group, the Deep Drill-ing and Development Drilling Groups, the Corporate Informa-tion Technology Group and the Ahmadi Services Group for the valuable roles they played in turning the RTDDC into a real-ity.

Following the CEO’s speech, Fatma Al-Otaibi, Team Leader of the Information Solutions - Exploration & Production Team, discussed some of the key aspects of the Real-Time Drilling Decision Center.

“The RTDDC will make use of advanced technology, systems and communication facilities that will enable the visualiza-tion of drilling operations at the rig-site. This visualization is created by transmitting data from the rig floor, which is dis-played here at the RTDDC facil-

ity, thus allowing engineers to support rig personnel by identi-fying drilling issues before they occur,” she said.

“In addition, the new RTDCC facility will help engineers and other personnel respond swift-ly to any type of incident that occurs. It also has the added benefit of aiding them in the decision-making process by al-lowing for smoother and more efficient communication and collaboration between the rig-site and the office,” she added.

Al-Otaibi also maintained that the new facility will do much in the way of bringing consider-able added value to the Compa-ny by reducing costs, increasing well productivity, enhancing the decision-making process and creating better operational effi-ciency. She concluded her pres-entation by thanking everyone involved with the RTDDC pro-ject, and she especially thanked Ayad Al-Kandari, DCEO Drill-ing & Technology, who she maintained was the main inspi-ration behind the project.

About the RTDDC

Several years of meticulous planning have gone into the RTDDC, with the greatest chal-lenge revolving around the need for the final product to be

The new facility will do much in the way of bringing considerable added value to the Company by reducing costs, increasing well productivity and enhancing the decision-making process.KPC CEO Nizar Al-Adsani and KOC CEO

Hashem Hashem inaugurate the center.

21 TheKuwaitiDigest

something that will be able to meet the expectations and re-quirements of the end users. As such, a great deal of collabora-tion and communication has gone into ensuring that the end result is a facility that delivers quality information to the re-quired parties in a clear, orderly and efficient manner.

The technology within the RT-DDC monitors critical well sections and alerts the relevant teams when issues are identi-fied. With such advanced capa-bilities, KOC engineers will be able to identify problems before they occur, thereby averting po-tentially dangerous or expen-sive scenarios which might af-fect drilling operations.

The RTDDC includes dedicated facilities for Deep Drilling and Development Drilling Teams that allow them to monitor in real-time and collaborate with colleagues and personnel at the rigs. The implementation of new data acquisition strate-gies that permit operations to be monitored in real-time allow for the capture and retrieval of

important information. This in-cludes the use of collaboration and visualization technologies that improve the effectiveness and efficiency of technical deci-sions that must be made.

While there are many benefits the RTDDC can offer, there are also many challenges that must be overcome. Large volumes of

high-frequency data must be effectively managed and used efficiently in order to optimize operations. This, in turn, creates the need for a facility like the RTDDC to be designed based on the activities that are expect-ed to take place within. This means that the facility must be efficiently managed to ensure the adoption of truly collabora-tive operational processes.

The RTDDC facility is com-posed of two separate yet seamlessly connected physical spaces. The Deep Drilling facil-ity can house up to eight indi-viduals and makes use of the latest technologies that assist in the monitoring of deep wells. Ultra-high resolution projectors and a workstation assists em-ployees during the process. The Development Drilling facil-ity consists of two workspaces that include a main collabora-tion zone where engineers view data on their monitors and a smaller strategy meeting room whose purpose is to host col-laborative efforts and address particular challenges. In both centers, engineers will have their own workstations with two widescreen monitors that display data. In addition, the meeting rooms are equipped with a video-conferencing sys-tem where data and live video can be shared across the KOC network. Conversations can also be held with personnel on the rigs from these rooms, which also contain electronic whiteboards that can capture meeting minutes.

The RTDDC will have an impact on the way KOC employees work, collaborate and execute decisions.

KOC officials and KPC CEO Nizar Al-Adsani during the event.

What happens in the RTDDC?

Inside the RTDDC, a team of experienced personnel and ex-perts exercise real-time drill-ing workflows using the spe-cialized technology available. These workflows may typically include the following activities depending on the progress of the drilling job:

• Drilling parameters monitor-ing for each rig, such as hook-load, pressure, RPM, torque, ROP and pumps in order to perform an interactive drill-ing operation.

• Operation surveillance for challenging wells that use alarms, plots and logs to as-sist the rig teams.

• Daily reporting utilizing the real-time rig data, such as pie charts, plots and events, risks and lessons learned, as captured during the drilling operation.

• Engineering analysis and drilling optimization such as well stability, well placement, real-time hydraulics manage-ment and optimization ser-vices.

• Drill-string integrity analysis.

• Analysis of historical well plans to investigate areas of optimization.

• Cycle-time reduction involv-ing the implementation of recommended workflows.

Change is Coming

The RTDDC will have an im-pact on the way KOC em-ployees work, collaborate and execute decisions. Managing the process through which users encounter and adopt new work processes ensures a successful transition to new workflows and working prac-tices.

A custom-designed change management process has been designed to facilitate the adop-tion of real-time monitoring technologies within teams at KOC that are associated with drilling operations. Change is managed so that new proto-cols for operating within the RTDDC are defined, developed and launched as part of the fa-cility implementation. An or-ganizational change approach has been defined that addresses four work streams:

• Business Impact

• Communication and Stake-holder Management

• Business Readiness

• Training

When combined together, these four aspects will sig-

nificantly contribute towards drilling operation excellence and enable RTDDC users to experience a smooth transi-tion toward optimum effi-ciency.

In summary, the objectives of the RTDDC is to allow the De-velopment and Deep Drilling Groups to achieve the follow-ing:

• Improvement of drilling ef-ficiency.

• Reduction of “Non-Produc-tive Time” and associated costs.

• Make informative decisions during real-time drilling.

• Dynamic planning to miti-gate risks.

• Proactive identification and prevention of problems.

• Improve operational efficien-cy through better well place-ment.

• Better personnel utilization.

• Leveraging of Drilling Group personnel competencies through the capture and sharing of knowledge and in-formation.

• Collaboration of technical disciplines within the Drill-ing Groups and other Teams involved.

RTDDC Project Manager Noha Najem delivers opening remarks at the event.

TL Information Solutions (E&P) Fatma Al-Otaibi

addresses the audience.

23 TheKuwaitiDigest

Engineers, geologists, geophysicists and operators. These are all job titles that every KOC employee is familiar with. But what about Captains? Bring up this title to some employees throughout the Company and they may tell you they have no idea about KOC’s marine activities. The reality, of course, is that terms like “Captain” and “Pilot”, which many people associate with flying, are used at KOC in reference to the hardworking individuals of the Port Operations Team who navigate some of the largest seafaring vessels the world has ever seen. In the pages that follow, The Kuwaiti Digest aims to shed some well-deserved light on a team of individuals who work around the clock to ensure that Kuwait’s most precious resource is delivered safely and efficiently to customers from around the world. Port Operations Team Leader Lafi Al-Murtaji, Captains Mohie El Din Zakaria, Mohammad Al-Ajmi and Falah Al-Ajmi took time out of their busy schedules to provide us with the information in this article.

The Port Operations Teaman Overview

Often overlooked in the journey of oil is the role that KOC employees play at the ports, which is where the Port Operations Team comes in.

Everyone knows that KOC is responsi-ble for the exploration and production of Kuwait’s hydrocarbon resources. For many, however, little thought is given to the question of what happens after the oil comes up out of the ground. Most un-derstand that oil is then stored at one of KOC’s massive tank farms or delivered to the refineries. But what about delivering Kuwait’s production to the international market? Often overlooked in the journey of oil is the role that KOC employees play at the ports, which is where the Port Op-erations Team comes in.

In order to better understand the role the Port Operations Team plays, a brief over-view of some of the important titles is nec-essary:

Port Captains: Captains are responsible for the administration of operations, Team planning functions, future development projects, specialized marine studies and marine consultancy. In addition, Captains perform Port Authority functions related to the governing of maritime laws and Company regulations.

Harbor Masters: From their position in-side the Control Tower, the Harbor Mas-ters are responsible for the scheduling of all port operations in coordination with KPC, KNPC & Equate, ensuring the safe navigation for vessels through the Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS) in their jurisdiction and ensuring the securi-ty of the harbor. In addition, Harbor Mas-

ters are responsible for the enforcement of KOC’s maritime regulations.

Pilots: Pilots perform the very crucial function of navigating all types and sizes of vessels through Kuwait waters, to and from the loading terminals, with the assis-tance of appropriate tugs and boats. This process starts when the KOC Pilot boards the vessel near the port limits, then takes control of the navigation of the vessels and directing it to the assigned berth. In addition, Pilots act as the loading master at SBMs and ensure that the vessels are safely moored at the terminals.

Now that we have a basic understanding of some of the important titles that make up the foundation of the Port Operations Team, a brief overview of the Team’s over-all functions is necessary. The Team is pri-marily responsible for, but not limited, to the following functions:

• Berthing & Unberthing: When oil tankers approach KPC terminals, it is the responsibility of the Team to place Pilots on board those vessels and safely maneuver them to the terminals. The Port Operations Team is also respon-sible for maintaining monthly and an-nual statistics of operations.

• Marine Income: Port Operations are one of the only few functions of KOC which generate income by performing berthing and other marine services, by way of charging Port Dues, Light Dues, Navigation Charge, etc.

25 TheKuwaitiDigest

• Associated Marine Func-tions: In addition to the core marine activities, the Port Operations Team is associat-ed with preparing the ports, channels and navigational aids for visiting vessels as well as maritime security, in line with international codes and regulations.

• Consultancy: To provide spe-cialized consultancy to KOC Groups and all third parties in Kuwait related to any ma-rine projects and maritime activities.

• Responding to all Marine Emergencies: The Port Op-erations Team is the Incident Controller when responding to any marine emergencies within the port limits, such as marine oil spills, ground-ing of vessels, search and rescue, firefighting from the sea, etc. Under the RECSO Agreement, the Port Opera-tions Team will also provide assistance and support to GCC Countries for marine emergencies throughout the entire Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

rally, experience is something the Port Operations Team looks for during the hiring process. Experience, however, is not the final answer or requirement, as all Pilots who join KOC must go through a rigorous training and testing process before they are entrusted with the responsibil-ity of independently berthing vessels.

A comprehensive process exists from the recruitment to com-missioning stage within the Port Operations Team procedures. “First of all, we look for appli-cants who are duly qualified as Master Mariners (Foreign Going),” Al-Murtaji explained. “The next most crucial attribute is the applicant’s experience. He must have served as a senior officer on an oil tanker and/or as a pilot at a tanker port. The interview is also a very rigorous process which includes a theo-retical examination.”

After joining KOC, the appli-cants training process starts with a short training and initial professional test before they are confirmed in KOC service. This is followed by placing them in

A Complex Job

In regard to Port Operations, Team Leader Captain Lafi Al-Murtaji discussed the berthing and unberthing operations that KOC Pilots engage in at various terminals. All the visiting ves-sels are berthed at various ter-minals depending on their size, draft and cargo requirements. The product vessels and some of the smaller crude vessels are berthed at the designated berths on the on-shore terminals. However, many crude vessels that visit Kuwait are so huge that they can only be accommo-dated at the off-shore SBM ter-minals (Single Buoy Moorings). The SBMs are loading terminals in the shape of huge floating buoys that are permanently an-chored offshore with the help of six mooring chains. These serve as mooring points for vessels and load the crude by connect-ing the manifolds with floating hoses.

Berthing and unberthing op-erations are delicate and com-plex jobs that require extremely careful maneuvering by pilots to ensure safe execution. Natu-

a tugboat so that they may better understand the tug’s capabilities and limitations. The tug training is concluded after another professional test and appointment for a short period as an independent Tug Master.

“After the tug training the next stage of develop-ment is progressing towards “Onshore Pilot” sta-tus. This involves completing a specified number of jobs, three trade tests as well as a complete the-oretical examination. Even at the end of all these stages of testing, the Port Operations Team may realize that the new Pilot does not meet KOC’s standards and decide not to continue. This is be-cause safety and quality of operations are our top priorities, and only the most competent and capa-ble are accepted.” he said.

The final stage of development for the new Pilot takes him through a similar training and testing process for offshore, LNG carriers and STS (Ship-to-Ship) operations, before he is commissioned as a “Full Tonnage Pilot.” The complete development process normally takes around two years after join-ing KOC. A further operational period of two years is a prerequisite for him to be granted a “Training Pilot” status.

Working Around the Clock

During our interview, Captain Mohie El Din Za-karia, mentioned that the Port Operations Team works around the clock in shifts, to ensure unin-terrupted exports of Kuwait’s production. “On an average, the Port Operations Team handles about 2,000 vessels a year, which is 2,000 in and 2,000 out. The size of the vessels that make use of our ports vary from as small as 5,000 tons deadweight to 456,000 tons deadweight – which includes the largest ships in the world. To put it into perspec-tive, some of these Ultra Large Crude Carriers (ULCCs) can load three million barrels of oil in a single parcel - approximately a full day’s worth of Kuwaiti crude production,” he said. The average time from arrival of a vessel to departure is about 36 hours. However, the larger vessels can take up to 48 hours.

Efficiency, of course, is imperative for the Port Oper-ations Team. The schedule of visiting vessels is avail-able beforehand, and the Harbor Master plans the various operations in coordination with KPC and the terminal owners to ensure zero delays to operations.

Safety as a Priority

“The Port Operations Team operates at the high-est standards of safety and quality,” stated Captain

Mohammed Al-Ajmi. “But the Port Operations Team believed there is always room for improve-ment. That is why, beginning a few years ago, the Port Operations Team began the major effort of updating procedures and identifying areas for im-provement so that it could attain certification with the International Standard for Pilotage Organiza-tions (ISPO), which it successfully achieved in April of 2014.”

“We put together a Working Group of some of our most senior members in order to achieve this tar-get,” Al-Ajmi explained. “We worked hard every day towards developing management objectives including safe practices in port operations, es-tablishing safeguards against risks, documenting safety practices, improving training processes and procedures needed to administer port operations, and implementing effective arrangements for com-munication with customers in order to fulfill all of the necessary requirements of the ISPO Standard.

In the end, of course, the Port Operations Team obtained ISPO certification and became the first pilotage organization in the Middle East, Asia and Africa region and only the 14th port in the world to achieve it. “This is something that everyone here at the Port Operations Team is very proud of,” Al-Ajmi said.

Winning the Seatrade Maritime Award

Along with the success of obtaining the ISPO cer-tification, the Port Operations Team celebrated another victory after it successfully captured the 2014 International Seatrade Maritime Award in the Safety and Quality category. The award is given to companies that excel in safety and quality im-provement initiatives. Excellence in technical and procedural improvement, which reduce hazards and risks, are the main areas that are observed. Judges also look for evidence of growth and ad-vancement in several aspects of the initiatives, in-cluding investment in human element that leads to enhancement in the safety culture of the company and reduction of lost time accidents.

Al-Murtaji rounded off the interview by remind-ing us of the huge responsibility that the Port Op-erations Team carries for functioning around the clock, in any weather or operating conditions. The Team is aware that Kuwait’s continued production and export is fully dependent on the Team’s staff ensuring uninterrupted operations throughout the year.

27 TheKuwaitiDigest

Integrity Management

The goal of asset management is to effectively manage corporate assets in order to gain maximum value, profitability and returns while safeguarding personnel, the community, and the environment. A true Asset Integrity Management program incor-porates design, maintenance, inspection, process, operations, and management concepts, since all these disciplines impact the integrity of infrastruc-ture and equipment. The benefits include:

• Improved safety, risk reduction and better effi-ciency.

• Compliance with Company and local rules and regulations.

• Maximizing Reliability, Availability and Main-tainability (RAM) of equipment.

• Enhancing plant performance and profit.

• Reduction in maintenance and inspection costs.

• Improving personnel safety and performance.

Process Safety Management (PSM) Objectives at KOC

KOC, like other oil and gas companies, has initi-ated the Process Safety Management System in order to effectively manage potential hazards and risks associated with process systems and opera-tions. The PSM System is intended to reinforce and complement the HSE Management System and

Process SafetyManagement inWest KuwaitHSE (WK) Team Leader Ahmed Qabazard recently sat down with The Kuwaiti Digest to discuss elements of KOC’s Process Safety Management (PSM) and Integrity Management Systems. The HSE Team Leader, who recently attended the 9th Annual Asset Integrity Management Event in Aberdeen, Scotland, spoke in detail about what KOC is doing to improve safety and efficiency while minimizing safety hazards throughout the Company’s facilities.

standardize the effort to assure that all facilities (including wells and pipelines), are designed, con-structed, operated and maintained in an inherently safe manner.

While all oil and gas facilities carry the risk of potential hazards, Qabazard maintained that his Team’s area of operation carried additional chal-lenges because of its remoteness.

“West Kuwait is unique when compared to other KOC assets for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is remote. Secondly, production in West Kuwait faces the additional risk of dealing with reservoirs that carry high H2S content, which makes the crude toxic and sour. Naturally, dealing with such haz-ards requires more precautions because of the ex-pectations of higher risks,” Qabazard said.

In addition to the remoteness of its location and the hazards associated with H2S, facilities in West Kuwait must also deal with the general opera-tional risks associated with all oil and gas facilities. “These risks,” Qabazard said, “include the actual handling of oil and gas, dealing with compressed and pressurized equipment, and utilizing sensitive process parameters that control the separation of oil from the gas and water from the crude oil.”

“The risks are operational, which always involves the human element. Minimizing those risks is done by analyzing the dangers which are exposed to the human operator and then to the production opera-

HSE TL Ahmed Qabazard.

tion parameters and facility as a whole, in addition to analyzing the dangers on the long-term lifespan of the facility itself by considering corrosion, deterioration, and breakdown of equipment,” the Team Leader said.

Elements and Details of Process Safety Management

Element 1: Ownership and Accountability. Defines the PSM Account-ability structure of KOC, including the appointment and roles and responsibilities of the Engineering and Technical Authorities.

Major Deliverable: PSM Steering Committees and Working Com-mittees set up in each Directorate of KOC. West Kuwait Directorate has been unique in setting up separate PSM Working Committees in Fields and Export and Marine Groups due to the varied nature of activities.

Element 2: Assessment and Continuous Improvements. Defines a Performance Management process within KOC and subjects PSM to audits to ensure planned arrangements are in place.

Major Deliverable: A basket of KPIs have been developed related to each Element and selected KPIs (typically 16 every year) are followed for compliance. The progress against these KPIs are tracked by the PSM Steering Committee on a quarterly basis. One PSM System Au-dit is done every year.

Element 3: Data Management and Documentation. Generate docu-ments related to PSM including documents on Strategy, KPIs, Proce-dures and Records and ensure that they are available, accurate and readily accessible.

Major Deliverable: PSM Manual developed. Basket of KPIs docu-mented. Various procedures developed and documented.

Element 4: Hazards and Risk Management. Systematically identify hazards within the facilities arising from normal and abnormal op-

erations and eliminate/con-trol/mitigate the hazards such that residual risks are As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP).

Major Deliverable: Developed Safety Risk registers. Devel-oped a register of Safety Critical Equipment.

Element 5: Protective Systems. Design, document, install, in-spect and maintain the Protec-tive Systems related to the fa-cilities and ensure that they are kept in service to prevent excur-sions outside the design limits and provide adequate protec-tion to people and assets.

Major Deliverable: Program of inspection, testing and mainte-nance of the protective systems including Safety Overrides, PSVs, and Instrumentation at-tached to the shutdowns/ trips of facilities that are carried out periodically.

Element 6: Facilities Design and Construction. New facilities de-sign, including modifications to existing facilities, are devel-oped so as to manage risk at the source, to consider the best avail-able technology and practices to manage integrity and prevent long-term degradation for the planned lifecycle of the facility.

Major Deliverable: A proce-dure on Inherent Safety in De-sign was developed and designs for the construction of facilities to ensure inherent integrity and maintainability is in place.

Element 7: Operations and Maintenance. Facilities are op-erated within safe design limits, maintained, risk managed at source, and best available tech-nology considered including practices to manage integrity and prevent long-term degra-dation for the planned life cycle of the facility.

29 TheKuwaitiDigest

Major Deliverable: Operating and Maintenance Procedures developed.

Element 8: Management of Change. Maintain a Manage-ment of Change (MOC) system for temporary and permanent changes to technology, equip-ment, operations and organiza-tion to ensure continued integ-rity and safe operation.

Major Deliverable: A robust MOC system is in place and the system ensures that changes are systematically reviewed for potential hazards and that the risks are managed before the change is implemented.

Element 9: Incident Investiga-tion and Prevention. Investigate all incidents related to Process Safety/Integrity Management and/or near misses to identify the root causes and the spe-cific actions to prevent a recur-rence. Investigations shall in-clude: Major Incidents (MIAs) and High Potential Incidents (HIPOs), uncontrolled releases, unexpected failures of materi-als, equipment or structures, ac-celerated rates of damage, and excursions outside safe design limits.

Major Deliverable: Robust In-cident Investigation system in place.

Element 10: Emergency Man-agement. Develop, maintain and practice emergency re-sponse plans that are based on the full range of identified hazards and risks. These plans need to reflect the potential for escalation. Effective manage-ment systems mitigate against the likelihood of major inci-dents, however it is essential that robust emergency response and management plans are de-veloped to manage potential incidents.

Major Deliverable: Emergency Response Action procedures devel-oped for the facilities.

Element 11: Competency Assurance. Competencies and qualifica-tions required for staff that can impact the integrity of operation of their facilities are defined. Staff shall be assessed to verify competen-cy and identified gaps shall be closed within an agreed timeframe.

Major Deliverable: Under implementation in the initial stages.

KOC at the 9th Annual Asset Integrity Management Summit

The 9th Annual Asset Integrity Management Summit in Aberdeen, Scotland highlighted the robust integrity practices that seek to im-prove efficiency and extend the life-cycles of facilities. It covered key topics including mature assets, high-level process safety manage-ment, and human factors. The event is Europe’s leading asset integ-rity management event. In addition to case studies, panel discussions, roundtable topics and joint presentations, an informal reception at the end of the day was organized to enable participants to further en-hance the opportunity to discuss challenges, experiences and solu-tions with industry peers. The summit was created and developed for individuals and teams working in HSE, General Asset, Asset Integ-rity, Operations, Production, Maintenance and Corrosion in oil and gas operations.

Managing Process Safety in the Oil and Gas Sector has become ex-tremely challenging in view of the complexity of this subject. As an industry leader, KOC is working to manage Process Safety Manage-ment (PSM) requirements effectively.

Ahmed Qabazard, TL HSE (WK) presented a paper during the event that discussed how KOC is attempting to achieve reliability and op-erational excellence through asset integrity management principles. The paper focused on the work done in the field of PSM in West Ku-wait in specific, and at KOC in general. PSM has been a comparatively new endeavor at KOC, with WK being the pioneer in implementing PSM with the requirements laid down therein. The paper discussed

the structure of KOC’s PSM, which is comprised of the various elements and procedures that are developed and implemented in a proactive man-ner. The paper also focused on the formation of Integrity Management (IM) Committees, as a part of PSM requirements, supported by guidance and leadership of the Senior Management of KOC and West Kuwait Directorate.

The methodology of formulating the Key Perfor-mance Indicators (KPIs) related to integrity manage-ment, which is a measure of the process safety man-agement in WK, was also included in the paper, in addition to the tracking and completion processes.

The highlights of the presentation made during the Conference are discussed below for the larger ben-efit of KOC employees:

Integrity Management – The Genesis

• As a part of Risk Management in KOC, a Risk Matrix was developed for all KOC operations and activities in 2005. The Risk Matrix weighs the Risk Severity-levels against the Manageability.

• It was concluded that most of the Integrity Man-agement related activities/operations were in the High Risk Severity Zone with a Medium to Low Manageability. One of the key evaluation inputs of the Risk Matrix module were types of incidents and their details that occurred at KOC. Thereafter, a structured Integrity Management (IM) Program was developed and implemented at KOC.

• Integrity Management approach was divided into two parts: Pipeline Integrity Management System (PIMS) and Facility Integrity Manage-ment System (FIMS).

• IM Index was developed and driven by the measurements of Baskets of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) earmarked for each element.

• Two exclusive committees (Management and Implementation Levels) were formed for effec-tive execution and results.

• Development of an IM System led the way to create an inclusive Process Safety Management (PSM) process, which is in the emerging stages of implementation.

• Simultaneously, KOC also worked extensively in enhancing the Occupational Health & Safety Standards and PSM requirements by imple-menting proactive initiatives such as Safety Ob-servations and Conversations (SOC) Program, encouragement in reporting Near Miss Incidents

and Hazardous Conditions, and incentivizing employees in their annual Standards of Perfor-mances (SOPs) based on their Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) related contributions.

• Various advantages were gained subsequent to the IM implementation phase, which included enhancement of the safety culture and reduction of incidents.

Way Forward and Challenges

• KOC’s HSE Vision, Mission and Policy encom-passes a provision of high industry standards to assure a safe and healthy work environment at the Company.

• PSM has been rolled out at KOC over the past several years and its implementation is being developed and improved upon accordingly.

• The major challenges at KOC in general and WK in specific include the safe delivery of various Major Projects in West Kuwait, including de-sign, construction and commissioning of new facilities, and upgrading existing oil and gas fa-cilities such as Gathering Centers, Gas Booster Stations, Transit Pipelines, Manifolds, Injection Wells (Water/Steam/CO2), Water Injection and Disposal, etc.

• Efforts are being undertaken to ensure imple-mentation of PSM standards and applications in new projects, as well as in upgrading existing facilities.

• Close monitoring of PSM and IM - KPIs, for their substantive delivery and continuous im-provement will ensure lowering the PSM-relat-ed risks, and henceforth reduction/mitigation of work-place incidents.

• Improved HSE culture in the Company will also go a long way in enhancing the PSM and IM de-livery over a period of time.

KOC, like other oil and gas companies, has initiated the Process Safety Management System in order to effectively manage potential hazards and risks associated with process systems and operations.

31 TheKuwaitiDigest

Omar Sadeq, Operations Group Manager from West Kuwait, recently spoke with The Kuwaiti Digest to highlight some of the exciting accomplishments that are being made at the Abdaliya Nature Preserve. In addition to the protection of a wide range of native plants and animals, the Abdaliya Preserve now serves an entirely new purpose that some around KOC may not know about. That purpose, Omar Sadeq explains, is the production of thousands of kilos of dates from palms that have been planted in Abdaliya.

abDalIYa naturE PrESErvE’S bOuntIES

The Harvest

The most recent harvest from the Abdaliya Nature Preserve’s palm trees has been an excit-ing accomplishment for all in-volved with the project. How-ever, what is more exciting is the way this year’s harvest has been distributed.

“I’m very proud of our staff in West Kuwait,” Sadeq said. “They have worked very hard and gone above and beyond the call of duty in order to ensure we made the most of this year’s harvest. From the actual har-vest to the packing, design and distribution plans, they have turned this initiative into some-thing that everyone at KOC can be proud of.”

Last year’s first harvest was a success and a good test run that provided a picture of the poten-tial of the preserve. However, this year’s harvest was a resounding triumph, both in terms of yield and distribution. Because the harvest this year was larger, more dates could be distributed. Natu-rally, the majority of the bounty went to charitable organizations, both inside and outside Kuwait.

Proper care was selected for the design of the boxes the dates were distributed in, and because the quantity was so great, there was plenty to go around after sufficient amounts were distrib-uted to charities. Employees and shift workers from West Kuwait received their share, as did other employees throughout KOC. Quantities were even set aside for KPC and the Governor of Ah-madi, who commended KOC for its charitable and environmental efforts.

Spirit of Volunteerism

While the actual harvesting of dates in Abdaliya requires a considerable amount of plan-ning, preparation and work, it is not exactly part of KOC’s core operations. This means that the majority of the work that has gone into the project has come purely from a personal sense of duty by the employees in-volved.

“We truly are lucky and ex-tremely blessed to have such a remarkable group of individu-als contributing to this cause in West Kuwait,” Sadeq said. “They are talented, they are

this year’s harvest was a resounding triumph, both in terms of yield and distribution.

Packaged products ready for distribution.

33 TheKuwaitiDigest

driven by a personal sense of initiative, and their potential knows no bounds. Their willingness to volunteer their own personal time to this project serves as an inspiration to everyone here at KOC, and I could not be more proud of their contribu-tions and efforts.”

Sadeq made sure to point out the spirit of volun-teerism in West Kuwait is not simply limited to the harvesting of dates. In fact, that spirit is extended to some interesting and unexpected areas. As an example, consider the “Dhub Statue.” For those who don’t know, a “Dhub” is the Kuwaiti term for a native lizard that can be found in Kuwait’s des-erts. The statue that has been erected in its honor was carefully pieced together from recycled scrap metal by employees who believed this resilient lo-cal lizard deserved recognition. The monument to the lizard, believe it or not, is currently under consideration by officials from the Guinness Book of World Records for consideration as the largest model of a desert animal ever created.

In addition to harvesting dates and constructing monuments, staff from West Kuwait have also worked together to create and publish material that details some of the plants and animals that call the preserve home. Their most recent project is a calendar for 2015 that includes photographs and information about some of the wildlife present in West Kuwait. On top of this, some of KOC’s most personalized mementos are created by West Ku-wait staff. These mementos, which are often made out of wood and engraved with KOC’s logo, are given away as souvenirs to delegations that visit the preserve.

Future Plans

The West Kuwait Operations Group Manager up-held that he and his staff will continue to work harder than ever to uphold KOC’s commitment to Health, Safety and the Environment. In this regard, Sadeq maintained that the Operations Group is, as always, ready and willing to share best practices

Dates being harvested at the Abdaliya Nature Preserve.

with other Teams throughout the Company who may benefit from their knowledge and expertise.

Sadeq also asked everyone at KOC to look forward to new initiatives and announcements from West Kuwait. Important news, he said, will soon be re-vealed about an environmental project that is cur-rently being worked on.

While Sadeq was happy to discuss the achieve-ments that have been made in West Kuwait, he was also determined to place emphasis on the im-portant role that KOC’s Management has played by allowing staff from West Kuwait to express their creativity and innovative abilities through environmental projects. “I would like to express my sincere gratitude to KOC’s Management for the extremely supportive role they have played,” he said. “Without their support, we would not be able to experience these great accomplishments that everyone here at KOC can be proud of.”

About the Abdaliya Nature Preserve

The Abdaliya Project began as an initiative to clean up and preserve an area in West Kuwait that covers some three million square meters. Over the years, the area that the preserve now covers was severely affected by waste that had been left be-hind by campers. In 2011, the area was fenced off and preparations were made to restore life to the area. Work was coordinated in close cooperation with the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources, who were instrumental in aiding KOC in the effort to bring life back to the desert.

Initial work began on an area that covered ap-proximately one million square meters. Pools, lakes, and a system of water networks were con-structed in order to create a habitat for birds and plants. Palm trees were provided by PAAFR, who also helped KOC secure 20,000 plants from 30 different varieties. In the first year alone, migra-tory birds and flamingos began to settle in areas throughout the preserve.

In 2012 and 2013, the borders of the preserve were expanded to include another 1.5 million square meters. Today, the preserve has become a favor-ite location for schools to visit as a destination for field trips for students. It also serves as an extreme-ly valuable site for bird watchers and those inter-ested in plants that are native to the local environ-ment. KOC also utilizes the preserve as a location to receive visiting delegations and highlight the Company’s environmental efforts.

The majority of the work that has gone into the project has come purely from a personal sense of duty by the employees involved.

35 TheKuwaitiDigest

lIfE aftErHarvard Business sCHool

Eisa Al-Maraghi, Reservoir Management Team Leader at the Planning Group, recently completed the

Harvard Business School (HBS) General Management Program in Boston Massachusetts, where he

was able to gain valuable knowledge and information regarding general management and leadership

skills. The General Management Program at HBS included perspectives from a diverse group of in-

dustries that included commercial banking, energy, investment management, retail and more. In all,

39 industries from 35 countries were represented, with both senior functional managers and general

managers with recently acquired or significantly expanded leadership responsibilities participating.

In a recent interview with The Kuwaiti Digest, Al-Maraghi answered a few questions related to the program’s objectives, his experiences at Harvard, and how the program helped him become a more successful leader at KOC.

What is the objective of the HBS GMP Program?

Harvard Business School’s General Management Program is a program that runs for five months and focuses on executive leadership development and a baseline for general managers in strategy, in-novation, marketing, finance, negotiation and mac-roeconomics. This is delivered through a combina-tion of remote assignments and onsite experiential learning at the Harvard Business School campus. The onsite component consists of the Harvard case study method and is combined with group exer-cises, personal introspection and leadership style coaching. The program has five modules for both on and off-campus.

What is a typical day on the HBS campus like?

A typical day for me on the Harvard Business School campus began with 7 am living group dis-cussion activities (living groups consisted of eight other individuals I lived and worked with). This was followed by three classroom case discussions or exercises. Afternoons are reserved for living group or individual project work. In the evenings, I prepared for the days that followed by reading three case studies, totaling 50 pages on average. The days ended with living group discussions that often went on until midnight.

In all, we studied 106 cases during the program, which is about 2,100 pages worth of reading mate-rial; however, this excluded “B” cases and supple-mental articles. We also spent 150 hours in class as well as 100 hours in living group discussions dur-ing Modules 2 & 4 (on-campus).

37 TheKuwaitiDigest

How has GMP made you a better leader?

I now have a better understanding of business tools and how these can complement my technical skills in order to be a stronger, more well-rounded and effective manager. I am also a more self-aware individual with a deeper sense of how I can con-tribute better to the organization. I can also take on more challenges now and feel confident that voicing my views will lead to better results for our business.

How did GMP affect your approach to leader-ship?

As a leader, your first instinct is to provide an-swers. At HBS, however, you learn to think first before asking the right questions - even if these are difficult questions. This is something you can put into practice right away.

How has the GMP Program affected your day-to-day work?

One major revelation for me was in the area of people management. GMP made me more aware of the fact that we all tend to speak more than we listen. Even if we have a good point to make be-cause of our strong views, that approach can be problematic because we risk shutting down those who have valuable perspectives to share but aren't as vocal.

How did your living group impact your GMP ex-perience?

The GMP experience has provided me with eight additional family members for life. Beyond friend-ship, the living group helped me understand team dynamics and how to give and receive feedback. The peers in my living group offered feedback that I would not have been able to get from anyone else.

How would you summarize the program’s value?

GMP gave me a platform on which I can continue to build for the rest of my life - a foundation of skills, to be sure, but also a way of thinking and a set of values.

What did you learn about yourself as a leader?

Throughout your career you see leaders with many different styles and values and wonder whether your own approach is right or wrong. I am more confident now that I am on the right path and can

As a leader, your first instinct is to provide answers. At HBS, how-ever, you learn to think first before asking the right questions.

Eisa Al-Maraghi (center) is pictured in a group photo at Harvard.

deliver more value to KOC and embrace new challenges as they arise.

What lessons did you take away from the program?

GMP taught us the value of re-flection, and the need to make time and space for it. It is es-sential to get out of your daily routine each week, to step back and take a broad view of what you and your team are doing - to consider your priorities and make sure they are aligned with the rest of the Company.

How has GMP prepared you to address new challenges?

The impact of studying so many cases is that you understand that there are many different ways to approach a situation. You have to diagnose the prob-lem correctly, determine what needs to happen, and then de-velop the "how" to accomplish it. There is no short cut to the "diagnose-what-how" process.

Will you recommend the pro-gram to your colleagues?

Yes. As a Team Leader, the ben-efits gained by completing the program have been entirely positive. I will encourage my colleagues to pursue the same if given the opportunity.

Finally, I would like to express my appreciation to my superi-ors for giving me this opportu-nity to participate in such a pro-gram. I also would like to thank the Training & Career Develop-ment Group for continuously looking for ways to improve the quality of training and staff development. I also extend my appreciation to my Team, the Reservoir Management Team, for taking on additional respon-sibilities while I completed my training program. I also would like to thank my family, who

have always been supportive of me in all of my endeavors.

About Eisa Al-Maraghi:

Eisa Al-Maraghi joined Kuwait Oil Company in 1996 as a Res-ervoir Engineer in the Fields Development (WK) Group. He is now the Team Leader of Res-ervoir Management in the Plan-ning Group, where he manages the Company’s hydrocarbon reserves and Enhanced Oil Re-covery (EOR) activities at KOC. In addition, Al-Maraghi also serves as the Committee Secre-tary for the Reserves Manage-ment Committee (RMC) and KOC Enhanced Oil Recovery Steering Committee (KOC EOR SC).

About Harvard Business School:

Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University. HBS offers a full-time MBA program, doc-toral programs and a range of executive education programs. The school was founded in 1908 and is consistently ranked among the foremost business schools in the world.

TL Al-Maraghi during a group discussion at

Harvard.

39 TheKuwaitiDigest

All effluent water in NK is now treated and dis-posed of safely.

As part of efforts to live up to the Company’s HSE obligations, Emad Sultan (Deputy Chief Executive Officer - NK) recently announced that the North Kuwait Directorate has achieved an environmental milestone by successfully implementing the “Zero Disposal to Pits” effort.

KOC officials maintained that this recent achieve-ment in North Kuwait is important because it safely and effectively disposes of effluent water that is associated with the production process. The “Zero Disposal to Pits” effort involves col-lecting effluent water and safely disposing the material in designated injection wells. Before the injection process begins, the effluent water is treated through new and specialized Water Treat-ment Systems and a new Water Center in North Kuwait.

It should be noted that the “Zero Disposal to Pits” project in North Kuwait is the culmination of ef-forts by a variety of teams from the Company that implemented the project in phases. Through their work toward a common goal, the Company is now proud to announce that it has successful-ly achieved its stated objective of eliminating the need to dispose of effluent water in pits in North Kuwait.

“Zero Disposal to Pits”Goal achieved

This achievement was a cooperative effort that required detailed planning and integration, well drilling and completions, new flowline instal-lations, modifications and additions to existing Gathering Centers. It was sustained with the re-cent Major Projects commissioning of a central ef-fluent water re-injection facility.

About Kuwait’s Water Resources:

Kuwait is an extremely hot and arid country that lacks any freshwater lake or river system. Even the country’s groundwater supply is mostly saline, with only two relatively small areas in the coun-try being tapped for their groundwater supplies. Rainfall in the country on average varies between 75mm to 200 mm per year. However, rainfall in Kuwait is extremely unpredictable – as little as 22mm of rain may be measured one year while the next it may be significantly higher.

DCEO (NK) Emad Sultan.

KOC employees working in the field at North Kuwait.

KOC recently participated in the Abu Dhabi In-ternational Petroleum Conference and Exhibition (ADIPEC 2014), which took place under the patron-age of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates. ADIPEC 2014 was hosted by the Abu Dhabi Na-tional Oil Company (ADNOC) and supported by the UAE Ministry of Energy and the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce.

KOC’s delegation was headed by Deputy CEO (NK) Emad Sultan, who was accompanied by a number of other senior officials and employees from vari-ous Groups. The KOC delegation was also accom-panied by Minister of Oil Dr. Ali Al-Omair and KPC CEO Nizar Al-Adsani.

During the event, National Security Adviser and Vice Chairman of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Hazza’ bin Zayed Al Nahyan, visited the Company’s booth during the exhibition portion of the conference.

KOC employee Mohamed Badr Abdullah, an Engi-neer from the Fields Development Group (NK) ob-tained a significant achievement during the event by winning the Young ADIPEC 2014 Conference Engineer Award.

The participation of KOC at the conference, which is regarded by many oil and gas professionals as one of the three most important global events in the industry, is part of the Company’s strategic com-mitment to be a visible actor in regional and global

KOC Attends ADIPEC 2014forums and take advantage of development oppor-tunities and the exchange of experiences they offer.

In a speech he made during the event, H.E. Abdulla Nasser Al-Suwaidi, Director General of ADNOC, said, “It is through initiatives like this that we are able to bring the best and brightest minds to share the most sophisticated technologies, latest research, and expertise. This dissemination of knowledge plays a pivotal role in the development and pro-gress of the energy sector. ADNOC is determined to continue supporting this success, and we look for-ward to more success at ADIPEC 2015.”

Meanwhile, Ali Khalifa Al-Shamsi, ADIPEC 2014 Chairman and Strategy & Coordination Director at ADNOC, said, “This remarkable achievement reflects the tireless efforts of all stakeholders in-volved. We would like to thank every individual and entity that has played an important role in the success of ADIPEC 2014, from the organizers and supporters, to the participants and all those who at-tended. This extraordinary accomplishment would not have been possible without their support and contribution.”

About ADIPEC

ADIPEC 2014 attracted more than 1,600 exhibiting companies this year at 21 international pavilions. It witnessed the participation of more than 60,000 pro-fessionals in the field of oil and gas, and about 6,500 delegates and 600 speakers from 111 organizations in 37 countries.

A group photo of the event’s participants.

41 TheKuwaitiDigest

Officials involved with the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) say that the enormous in-strument is on track to start observing the heavens in 2024. The E-ELT will feature a light-collecting surface that is 128 feet (39 meters) wide, and of-ficials from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) said the telescope has been greenlit for con-struction on top of Cerro Armazones in Chile's Atacama Desert. The E-ELT will search for planets orbiting other stars. This will include not only the discovery of planets down to Earth-like masses, but also the direct imaging of larger planets and possi-bly even the characterization of their atmospheres. Furthermore, the E-ELT's suite of instruments will allow astronomers to probe the earliest stages of the formation of planetary systems and to detect water and organic molecules in protoplanetary discs around stars in the making. By probing the most distant objects the E-ELT will provide clues to understanding the formation of the first objects that formed: primordial stars, primordial galaxies and black holes and their relationships. Studies of extreme objects like black holes will benefit from the power of the E-ELT to gain more insight into time-dependent phenomena linked with the vari-ous processes at play around compact objects.

World’s Largest Telescope Approved for Construction

A new method of haptic feedback has been in-vented by a team of researchers at the University of Bristol's Department of Computer Science that uses ultrasound to visualize the unseen. Ultra-sound produces an effect known as acoustic radia-tion force, which produces a physical effect - the scattering and absorption of the acoustic wave. By observing how sound behaves when it hits an ob-ject, the shapes of objects can be extrapolated. It's also possible to focus complex patterns of ultra-sound in such a way as to cause air disturbance. It is this property of ultrasound that the researchers have tapped to create 3D haptic shapes in mid-air. Users can feel those air disturbances on the skin. Moreover, those patterns can be formed into 3D shapes. The research, led by Dr Ben Long and col-leagues Professor Sriram Subramanian, Sue Ann Seah and Tom Carter, could change the way 3D shapes are used. The new technology could enable surgeons to explore a CT scan by enabling them to feel a disease, such as a tumor, using haptic feed-back. By focusing complex patterns of ultrasound, the air disturbances can be seen as floating 3D shapes. Visually, the researchers have demonstrat-ed the ultrasound patterns by directing the device at a thin layer of oil so that the depressions in the surface can be seen as spots when lit by a lamp.

Researchers Develop 3D Shapes that can be Felt

Hi-Tech

Researchers and scientists from the University of Toronto and IBM Canada’s Research and De-velopment Center said they have invented a new way to spray solar cells onto flexible surfaces, which they call “SprayLD.” The spray uses mi-niscule light-sensitive materials known as colloi-dal quantum dots (CQDs) and represents a major step toward making spray-on solar cells feasible. Solar-sensitive CQDs printed onto a flexible film can be used to coat many types of irregularly shaped surfaces, from patio furniture to an air-plane’s wing. A surface the size of an average car’s roof wrapped with CQD-coated film can produce enough energy to power three 100-Watt light bulbs or 24 compact fluorescents. Before this recent invention, it was only possible to incorpo-rate light-sensitive CQDs onto surfaces through batch processing - an inefficient, slow and expen-sive assembly-line approach to chemical coat-

Chinese scientists have recently developed a wafer-level LED chip that is capable of producing more than 150 Watts of light output. This level of output from a single chip makes applications for LEDs in high power lighting from stadiums to runways fea-sible, and the researchers maintained that they have long-term plans for new ways to light buildings and cities. The team was comprised of individuals from the Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiangneng HuaLei Opto-Electronic Company and several Universities in China. Members from the team maintained that in single chip assembly, integrated circuits are created on a wafer substrate as normal, but are then assem-bled without being separated from the wafer. This approach allows the creation of LED chips with areas a hundred times larger than the highest-power LED chips previously produced. The team hope that the WL-LED they have produced may prove to be the first step towards low-loss light distribution technologies and a very high-power central light source. They expect that much larger chips will be developed over the next decade, up to the size of whole 8-inch diameter wafers, allowing light outputs in the tens of kilowatts.

Spray-On Solar Power Developed

Chinese Scientists Develop 150 Watt lED

ing. SprayLD blasts a liquid containing CQDs directly onto flexible surfaces, such as film or plastic, like printing a newspaper by applying ink onto a roll of paper. This roll-to-roll coating method makes incorporating solar cells into ex-isting manufacturing processes much simpler. In two recently published papers, scientists be-hind SprayLD showed that their method can be used on flexible materials without any major loss in solar-cell efficiency.

43 TheKuwaitiDigest

Food poisoning (microbial foodborne illness), is a common illness which affects millions of people throughout the world every year. Approximately 20% off all cases of diarrhea are likely due to food-borne disease; however, most individuals are able to recover from foodborne illnesses without the need to consult their doctor.

Food can lead to illness in a number of ways. Con-tamination with microbes or chemicals, allergies to foods, and even overeating can cause illness. How-ever, in a majority of cases, microorganisms are the primary culprit behind foodborne illness. Some of the most common microorganisms that cause food poisoning include the following:

Submitted by Dr. Eshaq Ahmad Al-Kandary, PhD, Molecular Microbiology, Ahmadi Hospital

AN OVERVIEW

Norovirus. This infection is the most common foodborne illness. It is often acquired when in-fected food handlers contaminate the food they are preparing. Norovirus is extremely infectious and easily passes from person to person. Symptoms of this illness usually begin 24 to 48 hours after ex-posure and can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. Most cases resolve without medical treatment.

Salmonella. This is also a very common type of foodborne illness. Many types of Salmonella ex-ist, including subspecies that cause typhoid fever and gastroenteritis. Salmonella is common in the intestines of animals and reptiles and can be

Health

found in many environments. When food is contaminated from the environment or from contact with animals, it can make humans sick when they consume the food. Contami-nation can occur on a farm, during food processing or be-cause of cross-contamination (transfer from raw meat to salad) in the home. Most cases of Salmonella are due to either cross-contamination or under-cooking raw meat or poultry products or contamination of fresh produce.

Escherichia coli. This is a com-mon cause of food poisoning and diarrhea. Infection with E. coli can occur when food or wa-ter becomes contaminated with bacteria from infected feces. Some types of E. coli infection can be very serious.

Hepatitis A. This virus is trans-mitted through foods con-taminated by an infected food handler or from raw shellfish. Symptoms do not usually ap-pear until 15 to 50 days after infection, which can make it dif-ficult to determine the source of infection.

Listeria monocytogenes. Lis-teria is a bacterium that is found in unpasteurized or contaminated milk, soft cheese and other dairy products. It can also be found in contami-nated meats and seafood. Gas-trointestinal symptoms usually develop within 24 hours and include fever, watery diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, headache, and pains in joints and mus-cles. A much more serious in-fection, known as listeriosis, may occur one to three weeks later if the bacteria invade the bloodstream. Listeriosis usual-ly affects pregnant women, the elderly and those with weak immune systems.

In addition to the common mi-crobes listed above, there are more than 200 various microbes that have the potential to cause food poisoning.

Causes

Several of the following factors can increase your risk of devel-oping food poisoning:

• A weakened immune sys-tem. The immune system plays a major role in pro-tecting against foodborne illness, so when your im-mune system is weakened, you become more vulner-able. Your doctor should be able to determine whether you have a weakened im-mune system.

• Improper food storage or handling. Leaving pre-pared food at room tem-perature for more than two hours or improperly cook-ing or reheating food in-creases the risk of food poi-soning. Never eat expired food.

• Cross contamination. Cross contamination occurs when contaminated food touches another piece of food, or when food is exposed to a contaminated surface, such as a counter or cut-ting board. Keep foods like meat, poultry, and raw fish separate from foods that will not be cooked, such as salads.

Anyone handling food should wash their hands after using the bathroom, changing diapers, or handling pets or animals. It is easy to pass microbes from hands to food.

Neurologic symptoms are less common and may include blur-ry vision, dizziness or tingling in the arms. Sometimes the most

life-threatening problems occur several days after the start of intestinal symptoms. This can include kidney failure, menin-gitis, arthritis and paralysis, de-pending on which microbe you have been exposed to.

Symptoms

Symptoms of food poisoning depend on which microbe you eat. Symptoms can appear hours after food is ingested or may not appear until days or weeks later. Common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea and fever.

Treatment

Antibiotics are not usually needed or recommended but may be used for some types of food poisoning. In most cases, symptoms resolve quickly and no special treatment is neces-sary. In people with persistent diarrhea and/or vomiting, in-travenous fluids may be needed to prevent dehydration.

Prevention

It is almost impossible to com-pletely avoid exposure to mi-crobes that cause food poison-ing. However, the following precautions can be taken in or-der to decrease the chances of acquiring a foodborne illness:

• Do not drink unpasteurized milk.

• Raw fruits and vegetables should always be washed thoroughly.

• Eat cooked and perishable food as soon as possible.

• Avoid cross contamination.

• Wash hands and all utensils thoroughly after exposure to raw meat, fish and poultry.

• Thoroughly cook raw food.

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Here at The Kuwaiti Digest, we believe Kuwait’s winter months are worth staying in the country for. The scorching hot summer is but a distant memory at this point, and by January Kuwait is actually cold, though quite pleasant in the daytime sun. However, we understand people’s penchant for travel, especially if you are someone who be-lieves in chasing an endless summer. So, why not consider a trip to somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere? Our travel highlight for this issue is Tasmania, the continent of Australia’s only island state.

Tasmania is Australia’s smallest state, both in size and by population. With about 500,000 residents, you won’t find the hustle and bustle on this small island that you might find in cities like Sydney or

Visit tasmania Some of the last temperate rain forests in the Southern Hemisphere are found in Tasmania.

Melbourne. If it’s a quiet trip you want, with lots of nature and wildlife to explore, Tasmania just may be the place for you this winter – or should we say summer? Travelers to the Southern Hemisphere should take note that seasons are reversed in op-posite hemispheres!

Places to Go

Tasmania is truly a trekker’s dream. It is the most mountainous state in Australia, with its tallest mountain, Mount Ossa, rising to 5,305 feet. The island state is also densely forested, and conser-vationists may rejoice in learning that a great por-tion of Tasmania’s land is protected inside national parks. Some of the last temperate rain forests in the Southern Hemisphere are found in Tasmania.

Travel

Tourist destinations are located throughout the island, and the only trouble you’ll have is de-ciding on a final list of places to go. One of Tasmania’s most popular destinations is the Bay of Fires, which is located be-tween Eddystone Point and Binalong Bay. Bay of Fires is popular with locals and visitors alike because of its sandy white beaches, clean blue water and red rocks. Many who travel to the Bay of Fires come home and proclaim it is one of the most beautiful wonders of the world. Go if you enjoy boat rides, fish-ing, bird watching, swimming, surfing or simply walking along the beautiful coastline.

Other natural wonders that are worth a visit include Cata-ract George, Cradle Mountain,

Wineglass Bay, the Hastings Caves and Mole Creek Karst. If the natural wonders of Tasma-nia seem a bit overwhelming, or if you simply want to know more about the island’s natural history, consider visiting the na-tional parks and speaking with Tasmania Park Service guides. They offer tours and are ex-cellent sources of information about everything related to the island.

Port Arthur may appeal to his-tory buffs as it is the best-pre-served convict site in Australia. Tours of the facility are offered where visitors can see the ruins of the penitentiary, barracks and guard towers. Salamanca Place is a popular destination in the city of Hobart. Lined with sand-stone buildings that were built

Bay of Fires is popular with

locals and visitors alike because of its sandy white beaches, clean blue water and

red rocks.

A great portion of Tasmania’s

land is protected inside national

parks.

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in the early 1800s, Salamanca Place is home to coffee shops, restaurants, bookshops, fash-ion boutiques and art galleries. Consider visiting the Salaman-ca Market, which takes place every Saturday. Vendors there sell everything from handmade goods and antiques to fresh fruits and vegetables.

Things to Do

Tasmania is one of the best places in the world for out-door activities. If you like fish-ing, consider fishing for trout in areas throughout the island. Don’t know where to fish? Get in touch with the Trout Guides and Lodges Tasmania Incorpo-rated (TGALT) who will pro-vide you with safe and profes-sional fishing tours.

Feel like walking? You may be interested in something called a bushwalk, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Special walking tracks, such as the Overland Track and South Coast Track, were made espe-cially for people who like long

walks. Be careful what you get yourself into, as some of the walks begin at starting points in remote locations where you have to fly in by aircraft. Some of the walks can take up to six days, so go prepared. Reserva-tions are often necessary when making use of the tracks.

Other things to do in Tasma-nia include bicycle touring and mountain biking, scuba diving, off road tours, wild life adven-tures, scenic flights, hang glid-ing, kayaking, surfing, rock climbing, swimming, whitewa-ter rafting and a host of other outdoor activities.

Wildlife

Of course, no mention of Tasma-nia is complete without includ-ing a bit of information about the Tasmanian Devil, which is as iconic to Tasmania as the camel is to Kuwait. The Tasmanian Devil, which is found nowhere else in the world but Tasmania, is a car-nivorous marsupial that is about the size of a small dog. It most certainly lives up to its name, be-

cause despite its small size, this black furred, muscular animal is capable of extreme speeds and endurance, and many are sur-prised to learn that it can also swim across rivers with ease and climb trees. Perhaps the most disturbing characteristic of this animal, however, is its unbeara-bly loud and disturbing screech, which can be heard across long distances throughout the island. There are about 15,000 Tasmani-an Devils that remain in the wild on the island.

If Tasmanian Devils are enough to scare you away from this is-land, have no fear. Tasmania is also home to quite a few cute and cuddly animals, such as the wombat, wallaby and kangaroo.

Getting There:

Because of its relative remote-ness and small population, there are no direct flights to Tasmania from the Middle East. However, many flights fly into Tasmania from Melbourne, Sydney, Can-berra, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

Tasmania is one of the best places in the world for outdoor activities. Go if you enjoy boat rides, fishing, bird watching, swimming, surfing or simply walking along the beautiful coastline.

1958KOC tank farm

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