In the West Kazakhstan Oblast, Karachaganak Petroleum Operating B.V. is developing a field that is one of the world's largest crude hydrocarbon reserves.
KPO Controller for Government Relations and Corporate Affairs Nurzhan Kamalov spoke on how the president’s assignment is being implemented and the outcomes of last year, plans and future prospects.
”If you talk about building up Kazakhstan's participation in the project, the main points of this purposeful work are clearly stated in the Main Production Sharing Agreement. Programmes have been developed for sustainable development and nationalisation of staff. Since this is a very important issue, I will cite some numbers and facts”.
“Over the previous decade, local companies received orders to provide products and services to the amount of more than two and a half billion dollars. For the first 11 months of this year, the share of Kazakhstan's participation in our contracts was 59%, an amount 16% higher than the commitments made by the consortium and agreed upon with Kazakhstan”.
“Currently, 2,400 Kazakhstan companies are registered in the KPO database. 800 of these correspond to pre-qualification requirements and have the right to participate in competitions. The consortium of foreign companies invests trustworthy amounts of money into development of staff qualifications”.
“This year, 34 workers from contractor companies underwent such retraining. Plans exist to organise additional seminars. With the concerned ministries and departments plans have been discussed for Kazakhstan's participation in the project for the future”.
-Kazakhstan is successfully resisting external challenges and continues to develop during the world crisis. The goal is to mitigate its negative effects. How ready is Karachaganak to participate in this united effort?
”Taking this situation into account, in late November a tripartite memorandum of cooperation was signed at KPO. The signatures on the document include those of the Minister of Labour and Social Protection of Kazakhstan Berdybek Saparbayev, the Akim of the West Kazakhstan Oblast Baktykozha Izmukhambetov and Director General of Karachaganak Petroleum Operating B.V. Roger Fox”.
“The purpose of this important document is to strengthen cooperation between the company and the Republic of Kazakhstan for social responsibility and safety. It will guarantee the protection of the rights of the company’s work team. I consider this event to be an important stage in the implementation of KPO’s social initiatives”.
-Nurzhan Suhanovich, the situation on the hydrocarbons market is not an easy one. What has this past year meant for the consortium?
“One important event was the ISO 14001 certificate, which confirms the compliance of production activity to requirements of international environmental standards. This is a significant achievement, considering the fact that Karachaganak is not only large, but also a technically complicated field”.
“Obligations relating to the protection of the environment are one of the company’s main priorities. It is enough to say that the rate of gas utilisation has come closer to an absolute value, and now is at 99.65%. This is practically the entire volume extracted”.
“It was at Karachaganak that technology was applied for the first time in the world for the reverse injection of gas into the field. The associated gas is used as fuel. Environmental policy in the future will also be aimed at minimising the manmade impact, and the gradual improvement of environmental performance is quite predictable and balanced”.
-Taking care of nature is of course, important. This is in the same area as labour protection and safety, especially at such a large field.
“And therein, the outgoing year for our team was marked as an achievement that can be regarded as symbolic. At the Production Safety Leadership Forum held in Geneva in October, KPO was awarded a prestigious international prize -- the DuPont Safety Award”.
“This award is given for the improvement of working conditions and reducing injuries in the workplace. I should state we won among 34 international companies. Besides, in the field of production, KPO took an unprecedented step aimed at improving road safety”.
“Driving staff is monitored strictly, and timely engineer servicing of motor transportation, and advanced staff training. Also a special programme has been successively developed and implemented to promote road safety for the children of Burlin region, which is located near Karachaganak”.
“Another advance was a new record. The KPO Labour team has worked for more than 20 million man-hours without time losses, which is the result of strict compliance on the part of all safety units, and equal demands are made for the staff of the main operator and contractors”.
“Our goal is risk management, and ultimately the organisation accident-free production. An important part of its achievement is prevention, which means every expert in the workplace should know the rules of safe conduct and needs to follow them and efficiently resolve any problems”.
-Could you comment on the recent production stoppage at the field?
“This was connected with the regular maintenance schedule. All planned work has been completed ahead of the approved schedule, and it involved a series of required maintenance measures. To speak using everyday language, while avoiding special terminology, the hydrocarbon production system, its collection, primary processing interior pipelines is a complex, interrelated "organism". Modern, expensive equipment needs timely care. An enormous amount of work was completed. All those involved coped successfully with this quite technically difficult task”.
“It is important to say that through the implementation of international standards in conformity with ISO 14001 management inspections were conducted at all sites simultaneously in the area of labour protection, safety and environmental protection”.
- Today, social responsibility for business is the demand of the time. What kind of contributions has KPO made to the social reconstruction of the oblast?
“Under the Main Production Sharing Agreement, KPO annually allocates US $10 million to social projects. In short, these funds are used to solve the most pressing problems. Preference is given to the development of health, education; building new sports facilities, and cultural institutions. The areas for investment are determined in conjunction with the oblast authorities”.
“But the consortium is not limited to certain agreement framework. A programme for sustainable development was created, which includes a lot of sponsorship projects also designed for the further development of partnerships with the people of Ural. These are support for the development of small and medium-sized businesses, farming, micro-credit organisations, and NGOs. It funded the construction of roads, and gas pipelines have been laid. Children get gifts for the holidays, the disabled and the poor receive assistance. An area of special attention includes the villages located along the perimeter of the field and the town Aksai, which is the administrative centre of Karachaganak”.
“Our excellent performance in this oblast has been noted by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, which awarded the company for the best social programme in 2008. More recently, KPO was awarded a bronze Paryz award in the category of "socially responsible business".
-You were elected chairman of the Kazakhstan Petroleum Association. Which of its goals is the most important one?
”The association is a collective advice and online forum, which helps to balance the interests of mining companies and the state. It brings together 60 Kazakhstani and foreign companies”.
“Today, the economic situation is changing rapidly in the world. In such difficult circumstances, especially important is a commitment to the basic principles of partnership. An undoubted benefit is gained by information exchange between the government and association member companions to improve the investment and production climate. Its significant effect makes it possible to discuss issues crucial to the energy industry collectively”.
-On the eve of Independence Day, you were awarded the Kurmet Order. The name Kamalov is well known in the country. Your father -- Suhan Maksutovich, was a renowned scholar, an excellent production organiser and a discoverer of Karachaganak. What did the field mean for you?
”This is my working biography, which began even before the arrival of the foreign investors. I have gone through all career stages, starting as an operator and master. But today is a time when you must prove your professionalism on an ongoing basis”.
“The level of the requirements at KPO has always been and remains consistently high. Therefore, I had to relearn. I obtained a diploma in London at the highest, level five, enrolling in the International Management Programme. I am grateful to my father for his dedication to the profession. I hope I will continue the work he started”.
