02

Middle East & North Africa

Share it or flare it
“A new chapter in Iraq’s
energy history”

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

The New Lens Scenarios
What might the world look like
in 2100?

The wildlife of Oman

Marine life in Arabian seas

From bullets to
the boardroom
Mark Moody-Stuart’s life in Shell

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 contents
Do you know the temperature difference
between the ice-age and today’s climate? It was
a question posed to each of us attending the Prince
of Wales’ Business and Sustainability Programme
held at Cambridge University. Not many of the
senior executives knew it was only a 5°C difference.
I could see a collective sense of urgency creep into
2
each of us. Share it or flare it
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned A new chapter in Iraq’s energy history
that the world is very close to already locking in
a minimum 2°C temperature rise this century, meaning
we could be half way to a ‘glacial age’ equivalent 8
with irreversible painful climate changes. Global levels
of CO2 emissions are increasing at the level of 35
Oil is the Gulfs Business
Joining forces to bring national drilling engineers and supervisors
billion tonnes per year. We need to reduce these
to an internationally recognized competency level
figures. Our Shell scenarios of “Mountains” and
“Oceans”, described in this issue, demonstrate,
in the absence of urgent actions, the inevitable 12
increase in our planet temperature of more than 2°C
and the importance of natural gas in the energy mix
The New Lens Scenarios
What might the world look like in 2100?
of the future.

18
I am particularly proud that together with the Iraqi
stakeholders, Shell helped conclude the foundation
of gas flaring reduction in Basrah. We have managed
to turn this into a successful joint venture, which has
The building blocks
just officially been launched. Together we have created of private business
a sustainable commercial and technical structure,
How Intilaaqah Egypt helped two brothers build a marble company
which I am sure will also make Iraq one of the world’s

22
leaders in natural gas.
I am encouraged by the increased natural
gas penetration in the MENA region, through gas
developments like those we see in Abu Dhabi,
The wildlife of Oman
or through the introduction of LNG to many countries Marine life in Arabian seas
in the region. LNG is fast becoming the “ultimate gas
pipeline”, offering speed, flexibility and cost saving
to users. In my opinion, LNG is the best solution for
26
plugging the increasing energy supply gap of the From bullets to the boardroom
region and bridging to low carbon economies. Mark Moody-Stuart’s life in Shell

I hope you enjoy this edition of the magazine.

30
Training for Kuwait’s
growing gas industry
Sour gas knowledge transfer leaves a sweet smell

JUNE 2013

WELCOME
Mounir Bouaziz
Vice President Commercial & NBD, MENA
Shell EP International
 issue 02

2 12

22 26
Cover image: Basrah Gas Company worker overlooking BGC facility in Basrah, Iraq

to contact the magazine DESIGN

Shell World Middle East & North Africa WRGQatar
Shell Exploration and Production International
PO Box 11677
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Email
Magazine-mena-uae@shell.com
Shell World Middle East & North Africa

2

Share it or flare it
A new chapter in Iraq’s energy history
As you fly into Basra airport you can see
the flares from the oilfields, burning gas like
giant Bunsen burners. One of Iraq’s most
precious resources is literally going up in smoke.
Some estimates suggest that as much as 70%
of associated gas is disappearing every day.
More than 30 years of wars, sanctions
and minimal investment have made such action
inevitable. And as the rate of oil production
increases and the country’s industry starts to
recover, flaring is only threatening to get worse.
The country has about 112 trillion cubic feet of
proven reserves, the 10th largest in the world,
but much is wasted. “Seeing the gas and liquids
being burnt every day is upsetting,” says Ali
Khudair, director general at the Iraqi South Gas
Company. “It is not just the financial waste,
but there is also the environmental impact
to consider.”
However, the formal inauguration of the Basrah
Gas Company on May 1, 2013 is writing a new
chapter in Iraq’s energy history. This Iraqi company
INNOVATION 02
is a joint venture between the government-owned
South Gas Company (51%), Shell (44%) and
Mitsubishi (5%), a multi- billion project over 25 years. “This will be
“This will be the largest gas project in Iraq’s history,
as well as the world’s biggest flare reduction project,”
the largest gas
says Mr Khudair. Gasser Hanter, managing director project in
of the Basrah Gas Company, agrees. “If everything
goes to plan, we can significantly reduce flaring
Iraq’s history”
in the next five years to seven years,” he says.
“But it’s more than that. It is our chance to make
an immediate impact to the people of Iraq by
adding gas supply for power generation.”
Iraq’s current electricity generation comes
primarily from liquid fuels: heavy fuel oil, crude oil
and gasoil accounted for 57% of generation in
2010, according to the International Energy Agency.
If gas were to be substituted for oil in Iraq’s power
generation, allowing the oil to be exported,
the implied value of this flared gas is billions
of dollars. An improvement in efficiency and
a shift from oil to natural gas would help to limit
the environmental impact of electricity generation. >>
Umm Qaser storage tanks
Khor Al Zubair storage tank
3
Shell World Middle East & North Africa
>> In the past year, gas production has
almost doubled to the 300 million cubic feet mark,
the equivalent of 1.2 Gigawatts of power that will
now be available for electricity supply. This project is
a major component of Shell’s commitment to support
rebuilding the country, for so long isolated and cut
off from the rest of the world. When negotiations
began there was not even a joint venture law in
place. “We have been working on this project for
five years,” says Laith Al-Shaher, director general
of the legal directorate of Iraq’s Ministry of Oil.
“This is a new era in Iraq to develop the gas sector.
There were many obstacles, but finally I told all my
colleagues that we had only two choices: we could
either share the gas, or flare it. I am confident that
this project will benefit everybody, especially the
people of Iraq, who deserve it most.” Gasser
Hanter says that much of the credit must go to the
Government of Iraq and particularly the Ministry of
Oil. “Without their support this achievement would
not have been possible,” he says.
The Basrah Gas Company is already capturing
associated gas from the three giant oilfields of
Rumaila, West Qurna 1 and Zubair. Already more
Edith van Dijk, Project Manager
than 250,000 man-hours have been expended
for the leased Zubair compressors
Khor Al Zubair NGL
4
on inspecting pipelines and instrumentation.
A number of related projects have already started,
like the new power plant at the Khor Al Zubair
(KAZ) gas plant, necessary so that Basrah Gas
Company does not need to take power out of
the electricity grid, compressor stations in North
Rumaila, as well as leasing compressors to reduce
gas flaring in the Zubair field. “During the first
stage of the project we are trying to repair the
infrastructure and make it work as safely as
possible while increasing the production capacity
from 300 million cubic feet a day to more like
a billion,” says Mr Oda, brownfield deputy
manager at Basrah Gas Company. “The second
phase will include an NGL extension, and then
an LPG deal.” In addition, all six major plants are
being renewed and upgraded with the help of the
original equipment manufacturers. In North
Rumaila, Iraqi welders are working days and nights
to finish an important cross-over which should bring
in more gas this summer. Edith Van Dijk, Project
Manager for the leased Zubair compressors, has
been on site for 13 weeks. “I am so keen to get
this project completed before the summer. Iraq
needs this gas.” says Edith.
 INNOVATION 02

Mr Oda says that initially everybody thought

they could do such a project without the help of
anybody from the outside world. “At first I thought
we could do it ourselves,” he says. “Then I thought
that whoever did it would ask for a lot of money,
and that they would come with a bag of solutions
and fix everything. Working with Shell, I realised
that they come with ideas and experts, but they
make you part of the solution. And it’s not just
about gas, but also safety rules that are more
important than ever before.”
The Basrah Gas Company employs more
than 5,000 staff, many of them well trained and
highly educated, but the combination of wars
and sanctions have made it difficult for them to
keep pace with the changes in gas technical
development. “I’ve got a huge amount of respect
for the South Gas Company for what they
have achieved,” says Hans Nijkamp, Shell Iraq
Chairman. “Now with the Basrah Gas Company
I’d like to think that Shell can act as a catalyst for
an injection of resources and technology transfer
to help the business become one of the most
efficient gas companies in the world.” >>

Mounir Bouaziz and Gasser

Hanter with Zubair
Compression team
Gas will generate electricity
for Iraq

5
Shell World Middle East & North Africa
>> Mr Gasser says that one of the critical
factors has been the integration of the partners.
“ Without their “There’s a lot we can learn from the South Gas
Company,” he says. “We bring in new technology
support this and a fresh set of eyes, but without their dedicated
achievement staff we couldn’t have achieved what we have so
far.” Shell is helping to introduce standards that
would not have are identical to those of its most advanced plants
anywhere in the world. Shell selected about
been possible” 200 staff from around the world to join this
project. Management was particularly struck by
the number of Iraqis who had been living abroad
who were keen to return to their country and be
associated with the new venture.
Khaled Muttar is a 34-year-old economist
who has been working at the South Gas Company
for six years, before transferring to the joint venture.
Construction works on Khor
Al Zubair storage tank
Umm Qaser storage tanks
6
The holder of a master’s degree from Basrah
University, he is already enjoying the training
he received in Dubai. “We are learning from
the exposure to other cultures,” he says.
“Investment like this is a kind of civilization.” He is
working in the team of Christiaan van der Eijk,
a strategy and portfolio manager at the Basrah
Gas Company, seconded from Shell. Mr van der
Eijk has been working on the project since 2008.
“This is a unique project in terms of scale and
size in the Middle East for Shell,” he says. “It’s
clear that everybody was very keen on it
happening, but it was very complex. I’m enjoying
working with a team, training them in commercial
thinking and how to use economic tools.”
There are still many challenges for Iraq
to overcome. Its infrastructure is frail, security
 INNOVATION 02

remains an issue, and the bureaucracy is often

112
mind-boggling, but successfully developing the
country’s hydrocarbon potential will fuel its social
and economic development. For Mounir Bouaziz,
Vice President Commercial MENA & NBD at Shell,

trillion
the launch of the company is the culmination of
more than 12 years’ work. “We have been working
with Iraqi’s for many years on Country’s Gas
Master Plan, but I fondly remember my first visit cubic feet of
to Baghdad in 2008 and our first steps to establish
a presence in Basrah. In the early days we were proven reserves
like pioneers. It’s been many years of hard work
for a lot of people to establish the foundations
of Basrah Gas Company, and it feels great it’s
finally happening.” n

A gas flare in Iraq

7
Shell World Middle East & North Africa

Oil is the Gulfs Business

Joining forces to bring national drilling engineers and
supervisors to an internationally recognized competency level

Senior Training Advisor

Eleonora Lichtenecker with
Emirati engineers preparing
for Round 1 & 2 exams

Ali Mubarak Al Braiki

drilling supervisor and
student Mohamed Hussein

For the past 40 years oil drillers wanting

to work at Shell have been posed a daunting set
of questions such as: “What is the principal
measurement of safety performance used within
Shell?” or “What is the weight of the casing string
in mud?” or even: “If shallow gas can be present
in the area where we are drilling, we usually
drill a pilot hole. Explain why.” These are just
a sample of the many questions in the impressive
course textbooks for Shell’s Round 1 and Round 2
qualifications for becoming a Drilling Supervisor.
Over the past 40 years more than 2,500
drillers have completed the exams. But now this
program has come to Abu Dhabi: in a room in
a hotel just off the Corniche, a group of mainly
Emirati engineers are hunched over exam papers.
The mood is quietly expectant. Every now and then
somebody asks for a piece of paper or a glass of
water. Eleonora Lichtenecker, a Shell Senior Drilling
Engineer, has been seconded to the Abu Dhabi
Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) as

8

Senior Training Advisor for Drilling – implementing
the Shell Round 1 & 2 program. “Here our guys”
she says proudly “are in the final stage of preparing
for the exams. They presently have ten straight days
of mock examinations before they will sit for
the real one.” Up to now, a total of 11 candidates
from ADCO and NDC have passed Round 1
in Egypt, while 9 are currently preparing for Shell
Round 1 and Round 2.
Within a couple of weeks they all will be
taking the exams that will determine their future
in drilling. It will be the first time that the Shell
Round 1 Exam is held in the city of Abu Dhabi.
Once they have successfully completed Round 1,
they go back to their job for further practical
experience and training. After a year or two,
they return to the classroom to complete Round
2. This program is the equivalent of a master’s
degree. Consequently, the successful Round 2
candidates can either write a thesis with the help
of tutors at the Robert Gordon University in
INNOVATION 02
the United Kingdom, or work for a minimum
of one year as a drilling supervisor, and receive
the industry-wide highly regarded Shell Round 2
Certificate, which confirms that they are 100%
competent to supervise drilling operations.
“Round 1 is not just about learning things,
but also about being able to do things quickly,”
Eleonora continues. “If something goes wrong,
you need to be able to work under pressure to
correct it. Round 2 takes us to another level and
confirms the experience you have gained.”
Most of the work for Round 1 has to be done
in the candidate’s spare time. Thus, it is quite
a commitment for every individual, but a commitment
of the company as well. Ms. Lichtenecker sums it up:
“ADCO is very dedicated to the Shell Round 1 &
2 accreditation program.” Actually, ADCO
“My first teaching
is so serious about the training that any career experience here was
progression in ADCOs Drilling Division now
depends on having the qualifications of Shell
amazing – and even
Round 1 and 2. >> a bit humbling”
9
Shell World Middle East & North Africa
“What I am trying to
do here is to bring
to the UAE people
what people in other
countries are doing”
10
>> “My first teaching experience here was
amazing – and even a bit humbling,” she says.
“The students were great, they decided on their
own that they simply all had to pass as One Team
– in ADCO we call it FARIIQ WAHAD. The group
consisted of four drilling engineers (three ladies),
two drilling supervisors, and one rig manager.
All 7 of them succeeded – it was simply fantastic.”
“And one of them was outstanding as a team
member”, Eleonora continued. “He was eager,
alert, brimming with energy, and actually made
sure that the group achieved its goal: Ali Al Braiki.
Normally, Round 1 coaches are seasoned,
experienced Senior Well Engineers, but in this case
I decided to ask Ali if he would be interested in
coaching the following groups. His enthusiasm and
open personality would allow him to engage his
peers and seniors in a unique way.”
Ali Al Braiki, a 26-year-old UAE National
Drilling Supervisor at ADCO, passed Shell Round
1, enhanced some of the study material, and is
now helping train other UAE National engineers
for the Shell Round 1 in English and Arabic,
while preparing for his own Shell Round 2 exam.
“What I am trying to do here is to bring to the
UAE people what people in other countries are
doing. We will now take the Round 1 courses
here, we are training people from the region, and
I am sure the results will be good,” he says.
When asked what made Ali decide on his
present career, he thought for a moment before
presenting his well-thought-out statement:
 INNOVATION 02

11
Ali Mubarak Al Braiki
reduces tyre air pressure
to drive in the desert

passed
Round 1
“Well, Oil is the Business of the Gulf”.“Every day
you get new information, it is exciting,” he declares.
“I enjoyed the experience very much. Shell has
got a great program going, and the training
9 preparing
for Round 1& 2
is first class, really amazing. It is a huge amount
of information that Shell has delivered into our
brain. There has been a big contrast between
the real work and theory. Shell is teaching us
the ‘WHY’.”
Mr. Al Braiki has been moved to ADCO’s
rig expansion team when he is not involved in
coaching. Thus, he will combine the classroom
with the drilling rig. “I love being on the rig,”
says Ali passionately. “It’s real life, the people
are great, and I feel like we are doing some
good for my country.” n

11
Shell World Middle East & North Africa

The New Lens

Scenarios
What might the world look like in 2100?
Future Energy 02
Shell World Middle East & North Africa
Wim Thomas, Shell’s chief energy adviser,
a former reservoir engineer and naval architect
by training, sees his role in the company as that of
a time traveller. He goes to the future on a regular
basis – and reports back. “We try to explore
the future so that when you get there it doesn’t
feel unfamiliar,” he says.
His team of 15 people is based in The Hague,
perhaps not the most obvious place to engage in
future travel. But there’s nothing new about it: Shell
has a 40-year history of using scenario planning
to explore possible future landscapes and aid
strategic decision-making. The latest publication
continues a tradition of sharing summaries of
the scenarios to contribute to the public debate
about possible ways to tackle some of society’s
long-term challenges. “Our scenarios always start
from the present with plausible, multiple pathways
into the future. They take into account various
trends and expert views, and use quantification
to paint a picture of how the energy future may
evolve. To do this, we use an in-house ‘world
energy model’ that covers some 100 countries and
regions and is rooted in history and econometrics
– but it also has many forward looking policy levers
capable of shaping alternative futures, rather than
simply extrapolating the past. This is contrary to
most other models around. Once you have the
scenario story, you can explore how policy
14
changes can impact the energy system,” he says.
His team has recently released two different
scenarios of how the world will develop in the 21st
century. The New Lens Scenarios look at trends in
the economy, geopolitics, social change, energy
and for climate as far ahead as 2100, underscoring
the critical role that government policies could play
in shaping the future by actions now. One scenario
sees cleaner-burning natural gas becoming the most
important energy source globally by the 2030s
and early action to limit carbon dioxide emissions
by widespread deployment of carbon capture and
storage. The other sees solar power becoming the
top source by the 2070s, but with slower results in
addressing the threat of climate change. “We call
the two scenarios Mountains and Oceans,” says
Mr Thomas. World’s
The Mountains scenario imagines a world
of more moderate economic development in which population
policy plays an important role in shaping the world’s
energy system and environmental pathway.
heading toward
Cleaner-burning natural gas becomes the backbone
9.5 billion
by 2060
of the world’s energy system, in many places
replacing coal as a fuel for power generation
and seeing wider use in transport. >>
 Future Energy 02

“Our scenarios
always start
from the present
with plausible,
multiple pathways
into the future”

15
Shell World Middle East & North Africa
>> A profound shift in the transportation
sector sees global demand for oil peaking in
about 2035. By the end of the century, cars and
trucks powered by electricity and hydrogen could
dominate the road. Technology to capture carbon
dioxide emissions from power stations, refineries
and other industrial installations becomes widely
used, helping to reduce CO2 emissions from
the power sector to zero by 2060. Another
factor is the growth of nuclear power in global
electricity generation. Its market share increases
by around 25% in the period to 2060. With these
changes to the energy system, greenhouse gas
emissions begin to fall after 2030. Nevertheless,
emissions remain on a trajectory to overshoot the
target of limiting global temperatures rise to 2
degrees Celsius.
In contrast, the Oceans scenario projects
a more prosperous, volatile world with an energy
landscape shaped mostly by market forces and
civil society, with government policy playing a less
prominent role. Public resistance and the slow
adoption of both policies and technology limit
the development of nuclear power and restrict
the growth of natural gas outside North America.
Coal remains widely used in power generation
until at least the middle of the century. Without strong
support from policymakers, carbon capture and
storage struggles to gain momentum. This slow
uptake is the main reason electricity generation
becomes carbon-neutral some 30 years later
in the Oceans scenario than in the Mountains
scenario. Higher energy prices encourage the
development of hard-to-reach oil resources, as
well as the expansion of biofuel production. Oil
demand continues to grow through the 2020s
and 2030s, reaching a plateau after 2040.
Liquid fuels still account for about 70% of road
Wim Thomas
16
passenger travel by mid-century. High prices also
spur strong efficiency gains and the development
of solar power. By 2070, solar photovoltaic
panels become the world’s largest primary source
of energy. Wind energy expands at a slower pace,
due to public opposition to large installations of
wind turbines. Elevated demand for coal and oil,
a lack of support for CCS and less natural gas
development outside of North America contributes
to about 25% higher total cumulative greenhouse
gas emissions than in the Mountains scenario as
a renewable route is preferred.
“These scenarios show how the choices made
by governments, businesses and individuals in
the next few years will have a major impact on
the way the future unfolds,” says Peter Voser,
Shell’s Chief Executive Officer. “They highlight
the need for business and government to find new
ways to collaborate, fostering policies that promote
the development and use of cleaner energy, and
improve energy efficiency.”
The scenarios look much further into the future
than most other outlooks and highlight some
surprising possible developments. Both see global
emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) dropping
to near zero by 2100. One factor is increasing
use of technology that takes CO2 out of the
atmosphere, for instance by burning biomass
to produce electricity, and then storing emissions
underground. Although the Oceans scenario sees
a dramatic increase in solar power, it also envisions
greater fossil fuel use and higher total CO2
emissions over the century than the Mountains
scenario, which will likely have more impact on
the world’s climate. However, both scenarios show
that without further immediate and more impactful
actions, global warming will exceed the 2 degree
Celsius threshold at which there is now a consensus
that the world would face irreversible and
detrimental climate changes.
“A policy change in a big country like China
affects the rest of the world,” says Mr Thomas.
“The idea of these scenarios is they give you
a glimpse of how the future might develop.
With scenario thinking, you have explored the
future already. We are looking for signals and
signposts, that is what we monitor.”
Mr Thomas’s team also looks at how the
markets and policy can change the energy mix.
For example, if governments decide to bring in
a carbon price, that will suppress coal use,
and raise the relative attractiveness of gas and
renewables. However, the price of coal may
come down in response, and then other countries
without carbon pricing could say now that coal
is cheap, we’ll use less gas and renewables,
negating the Climate Change gains made
elsewhere.This illustrates the requirement of
a coherent worldwide action. “This happened
last year, gas became cheaper in the US so
people used less coal in US and shipped it to
Europe instead, raising CO2 emissions there.”
he says.
With the world’s population heading toward
9.5 billion by 2060 and the rapid growth of
emerging economies lifting hundreds of millions of
people out of poverty for the first time, the scenarios
project that world energy demand could double
over the next 50 years. Mr Thomas is aware that
not all the assumptions in the scenario planning
will come to pass, but at least when unexpected
events unfold, Shell will be better prepared to
meet them.
To explore Mountains and Oceans in more
detail, download Shell’s New Lens Scenarios
at www.shell.com/scenarios. n
 Future Energy 02

“ The idea of these

scenarios is they
give you a glimpse
of how the future
might develop”

17
Shell World Middle East & North Africa

The building blocks

of private business
How Intilaaqah Egypt helped two
brothers build a marble company

On the eastern outskirts of Cairo is a marble market. Large brightly

painted lorries gather in a dusty lay-by by the main gate of Shaakel
Teaban – literally ‘snake pit’ in Arabic – with giant blocks of stone on
their trailers. Some of these stones weigh up to 35 tonnes. They look
like the building blocks of an unfinished pyramid.
Ramiz George, one of the founding partners of Marble Masters,
a 25-year old with an engaging smile for everybody, is inspecting
some of the pieces on offer. He asks one of the drivers to clean off
the marble so he can take a closer look. Then he announces himself
satisfied, and agrees to buy it for about 10,000EGP ($1,434).
“We buy about 12 of these blocks every day,” he says.
Mr George set up his business nearly two years ago, just a couple
of months after the revolution. He had been working for another marble
company, but had ambitions to set up on his own. He managed to get
himself enrolled with Intilaaqah, a Royal Dutch Shell social investment
programme that aims to help young people in the Middle East and
around the world explore the option of starting their own business as
a real and viable career option. Its objective is to provide support and
access to guidance to young entrepreneurs. Young is defined specifically
in each country of programme operation, but is usually between
the ages of 18 and 32. Intilaaqah Egypt was launched in 2004 with
the aim of helping young Egyptians start their own businesses and
to acquire the skills and resources required to take their ideas from
dreams to reality. Since then more than 550 successful small enterprises
have been set up and supported while approximately 5000 Egyptians
including at least 200 disabled Egyptian youth (deaf & mute and
movement disabilities) have been trained. >>

18
 Social Investment 02

View from a crane

at the marble factory

Ramiz George and Milad

George, brothers and founding
partners of Marble Masters

Worker preparing the blocks

before moving to the factory

Block of marble being sliced

up at the marble factory

19
Shell World Middle East & North Africa
Trucks parked at the marble
market with marble blocks
for sale
20
>> “It was a week long course,” he says.
“The training I was given was invaluable. They taught
me the importance of getting to know my customer,
and also to travel abroad to get new customers.
They showed me how to approach customers,
how to study a market. They gave me advice without
which I would not be in business today.”
With a budget of just $2,500 he travelled first to
Sudan, then to Hungary, the Czech Republic and
Austria. “First I had to tell them to trust in me and
the company, then how to use our products,”
he says. “From the knowledge I gained on the course
I was able to penetrate new markets. After one month
I started to export, our first shipment was a container
to Sudan. We received a deposit of $2,600.”
The block of stone that he has bought is transported
to the yard, where it will be prepared, cut, polished
and packed. Each 10 square metre block can
make up to 350 square metres of marble surface.
Overseeing the production is his older brother
Milad. He explains why he left his own job to join
Ramiz. “He’s my younger brother,” he says. “I wasn’t
thinking of leaving my job when he left to set up his
own company, but I have to support him and also
I saw the opportunity.” To help finance the company’s
growth the brothers raised capital wherever they
could. “I even sold my wife’s gold jewellery,”
says Milad. The brothers, together with a third
business partner, are leasing three stockyards,
but they have bought land and built a new crane.
When we visit it sits idle, waiting for the government
to supply the licence for the electricity connection.
“How long will that take?” asks Milad. “We hope
two to three months, but it is not in our hands.”
The brothers, while lamenting the lack of power,
are busy expanding into other markets. “My next trip
is to Algeria, Morocco, then Qatar,” says Ramiz.
“The Middle East is a good market for marble,
they use lots of it. For big projects they look for
cheap material, and our prices are as competitive
as anybody’s.” One of the reasons for wanting
to develop their premises is so they can control
the quality of their production more closely.
They already employ 15 people, and are planning
to expand this. “If we have our own machines we
can monitor the output more closely,” says Milad.
“But each of those gang-saws cost about
$260,000 each. We are also going to buy our
own polishing machine.”
The brothers may not be building something
that will last as long as the pyramids, but with
the help of Shell’s Intilaaqah initiative, they are
building a thriving export business. n
 Social Investment 02

Truck driver sprays water on

marble to show its true colours

“Take their ideas from

dreams to reality” Crane moving blocks of marble
around the storage facility

10 square
metre block
makes up to
350 square
metres of marble
surface

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Shell World Middle East & North Africa

Sweden

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Norway

Denmark

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 Biodiversity 02

The wildlife of Oman

Marine life in Arabian seas

Robert Baldwin is not the sort of man you would

normally associate with a multi-national company.
When I meet him at a hotel in Muscat, he looks like
he’s just leapt from a surfboard. He is wearing shorts
and a Hawaii shirt. His hair is curly and windswept.
He has in fact come from his study, on his bike,
which could account for the hair. “I travel by car
as little as possible,” he says.

Baldwin, who is originally from the UK, has lived in Oman since 1988.
He was studying environmental science at Manchester University and there
was a volunteer programme that sent students to Oman for fieldwork.
“It was the beginning of a love affair,” he says. “I’ve been here ever since.
The initial attraction was that it was so unexplored, that there were so few
people working in the field I was interested in. I wanted to understand
a part of the world that had a lot of unanswered questions.”
Oman may not be an obvious place for a marine biologist but there
is a surprising number of marine species in Arabia. Getting that fact out
to the world is one of the reasons Baldwin began to work with Shell.
“ Shell has a long “We worked together on a book called Whales and Dolphins of Arabia,”
he explains. “I approached them and said I was really keen to do this book,
history here and I wanted to put the Arabian region on the marine-life map, to show the world
helped to develop that Arabia has 21 species of dolphin, about a quarter of the world’s species.
I wanted to involve an international company that might be interested in
the nation, which an environmental theme.”
It was the beginning of a long collaboration between the two that
is something people continues to this day. “Shell did the translation and we worked together
are proud of” on the content of the book. Shell was very much involved in the development
of the content and the environmental message in it. It was great fun and
shows how a big company can support an individual like me in his aims.
During my interaction with Omani people I noticed that they respect Shell
and when I tell people the books are for Shell it opens doors for me.
Shell has a long history here and helped to develop the nation, which is
something people are proud of. As a company it has contributed positively
Russia where it can and it tries hard to mitigate the negative effects of its work,
but like all of us it could do more.” >>

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Shell World Middle East & North Africa
>> The collaboration on Whales and Dolphins
of Arabia was such a success that Baldwin and
Shell went on to produce two more books together.
“The next one was called Marine Life of the Arabian
Seas and covered everything from algae to sponges
to turtles and whales. It is more of a coffee table
book and tracks the story from lower marine life to
higher marine life. In a sense we progressed from
quite a narrow subject to a much broader one.”
With their third book Shell and Baldwin took
on even more, incorporating land as well as sea life.
Exploring Oman the Natural Way is a guidebook
with a difference. “We wanted to create a book
that enabled people to enjoy the outdoors and
the wildlife here but at the same time to do so in
a responsible way,” says Baldwin. “We help them
to maximize the experience of nature, but in a way
that doesn’t disturb nature. So, for example, the book
tells you how to watch a turtle and how to get close
to a turtle without disturbing it. It talks about how
to select a campsite, what to do with your rubbish
and even how to interact with locals here, as well
as how to behave if you’re at sea with a group
of dolphins. The key message is that by following
a code of conduct you will get more out of your
experience and also feel better about leaving
Arabia has
21 species
of dolphin,
about a quarter
of the world’s
species
24
the environment intact.” Because the book
incorporated the great outdoors on land as well
as marine life, they enlisted the help of two other
environmental experts; Graham Hornby to write
about the mountains and Gareth Whittington-Jones
to cover the deserts.
Baldwin would very much like to roll out one
or all of the books to other Arabic countries such
as the UAE, all the while holding down his ‘day
job’ as a marine conservationist for the Sultanate
of Oman, a job he is passionate about. “I fell
into marine preservation really by wanting to know
more about the species I was studying. For example
when I arrived here in 1988 we were aware
of around a dozen of the species that live here,
and it was very surprising to find them here as there
is no polar connection, it’s a quirk of biogeographic
nature, related to the southern ocean whales,
they seem to have stumbled on enough food here
to stay on.”
The big challenge for Baldwin now that he
has identified the various species is to protect
them. “You have a situation with a massively
increasing population which puts a lot of pressure
on the environment, and a lot of money. Baldwin
says he has mellowed slightly over the years.
 Biodiversity 02

“Getting the balance right is the big challenge,”

he says. “When I first came here I was an ardent
environmentalist challenging everything. But I now “ You’d be hard pushed
realize it has to be hand in hand, because if you
go head to head the environment usually comes to find a nation as
off worst.
He now spends much of his working day
friendly as the Omanis,
staring at a computer screen analyzing data and it is a lovely place
writing reports, although he stresses the need for
more fieldwork in order to make informed to live”
decisions. “There is still a huge dearth of baseline
information that needs to be collected if we are
going to understand the environment better,
whether for tourism of fisheries or conservation,”
he says. “But I am happy here, you’d be hard
pushed to find a nation as friendly as the Omanis,
it is a lovely place to live. You can be among
whales in ten minutes from the wonderful coastline.”
He just needs to work hard to maintain that
coastline. “The problem is that a natural harbour,
while it’s great for turtles, will also make a good
port,” he says. “But there are normally many more
good environmental solutions than people realize,
we all have to do our bit. ”What can we do?
“Recycle this magazine,” says Baldwin and gets
back on his bike. n Robert Baldwin

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Shell World Middle East & North Africa

From bullets to
the boardroom
Mark Moody-Stuart’s life in Shell

Sir Mark Moody-Stuart

Sugarcane Blossoms

Sir Mark Moody-Stuart’s illustrious career with

Shell was almost over before it really began.
He was working as a geologist in Oman when
his party came under attack. “In 1967, I was
travelling with three other geologists including my
French co-worker and as we were getting ready
to get into the helicopter there was a guy on
the mountain who shot at us. One colleague got
a scratch on his leg and the helicopter pilot got
a hole in the book he had been reading,
but otherwise we were unharmed. I tease
my Omani friends that they nearly finished off
my career.”
Sir Mark is an extremely pleasant, easy-going
character. He seems to hold no rancour towards his
assailant. Instead he is rather amused. “He wasn’t
very far away and I said to a friend of mine who
is in the army that he must have been an appalling
shot because at that range I could have hit us.
He asked me what kind of noise the gun made
and I told him it made a hell of a bang. He said
that is a Martini Henry rifle, which fires big balls
but is only effective at very close range.
You certainly wouldn’t want to get hit by one.”
Sweden
Since His Majesty Sultan Qaboos took over,
Russia Oman has become one ofNorway the most secure andFinland
peaceful countries in the world.
When he was growing up, the former Shell
Chairman was hoping to go into what would
Denmark

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Ukraine

perhaps have been a safer career. He wanted
to run a sugar plantation. Born in Antigua,
the sixth child to a family working in the sugar
industry parents, his father asked him one day
what he wanted to do. “I want to do what you
do,” he replied. “I want to run a sugar plantation.”
“This way of life is going to be over,” his father told
him. “Go and do something else useful instead.”
Sent from Antigua to England to school,
the young Moody-Stuart developed a fascination
for nature and geology. He remembers cycling
around Shropshire looking for interesting items and
taking them along to the Geological Museum in
London to be identified. “One time I took a piece
of what I thought was red siltstone, I showed to
a research student and asked him to confirm what
it was. ‘It is very like a piece of siltstone,’ he told
me. ‘But it’s actually a piece of brick.’” He did
point out that in fact on one corner of the piece
you could see a piece of the letter L from London
Brick Company.
Sir Mark was not put off by the experience
and he read geology at Cambridge, from where
he joined Shell in 1966, working initially as
a geologist in Spain, Oman and Brunei. His career
at Shell is well documented. Among other things,
he lead the North Sea exploration teams in the
1970s, worked in Nigeria and Turkey and was
chairman and CEO of Shell Malaysia, appointed
INterview 02
Group Managing Director in 1991 and Chairman
in 1998. In 2005 he retired from Shell, but still
retains extremely strong links with the company,
as well as strong views on how big businesses such
as Shell need to proceed to succeed in the future.
“I have lived in 10 countries and visited operations
in another 30 or so,” he says. “Global companies
operate more or less the same across the world.
What makes the difference is good governance.
In, for example Oman and the UAE, you are blessed
with wise and fast acting leadership, which is
essential, because you need government
frameworks to guide the creativity of the market.” >>
“ We need an intelligent
approach to energy
and that’s not going
to happen unless
governments take
action to support
long-term
environmental goals”
27
Shell World Middle East & North Africa
>> Sir Mark is passionate about the environment
and the responsibility big businesses and governments
10
have to provide the best possible future for, among
others his “twelve and a half grandchildren”.
“We need an intelligent approach to energy and
I have lived in that’s not going to happen unless governments take
countries and action to support long-term environmental goals.”
He acknowledges that government regulation
visited operations is unpopular, but adds that it is essential at times,
30
in another and can be hugely beneficial in the long run.
He cites a personal example of London in the 1950s.
“I lived in Kensington with an elderly aunt,”
he says. “All of London was coal fired, you couldn’t
see where you were going and you almost choked
to death when you went outside. In 1956 the Clean
Air Act was passed, which banned coal in London,
forcing people to turn to cleaner fuels. My elderly
aunt thought it was the end of the civilized world,
because it is very difficult to toast crumpets in front
of a gas fire. But three years later she was very
Sir Mark Moody-Stuart’s journey
England
Turkey
Spain
Antigua
Nigeria
28
grateful for the cleaner air and better health
enjoyed by everyone.”
When asked what the highlight of his career
has been he says “the highlight has always been
to see the contribution of oil and the oil industry.
If you fly out of Oman for example and you look
out of the window you see all those lights and
you think every one of those lights has been lit by
our industry and by PDO”.
Sir Mark is married to Judy and together
they have four children. They met at Cambridge
University. “Judy was reading natural sciences
and she fortunately did a little bit of geology so
I met her in the geology laboratory,” he says.
“Back in the 60s the ratio of men to women was
about 18 to one so competition was quite stiff.”
Judy and Sir Mark dedicate much of their
spare time to helping others. “My wife and I are
fortunate in that I am of the generation who has
a very good pension from Shell,” he says. “If you
Oman
Brunei
Malaysia
 INterview 02

look at where we have tended to spend it has

often been in what I call slightly unpopular causes,
Route 39 heading north east
so not major charities who have fund-raising arms, to Hayma
but helping people who cannot raise money easily.”
These causes include charities supporting restorative
justice and addressing the sources of violence in
society. “Solving problems through restorative
justice brings enormous payback to society as
a whole,” he says. “We also support quite a lot
of people who come out prison. If someone is
actually going in the right direction, this is crucial.
When they come out of prison they can’t even
open a bank account. You need an address for
the past three years to open an account and if
you put HM Prison somewhere they don’t like it!”
Holidays are often spent in Turkey, a country
he and his wife have grown extremely fond of,
up to the point of learning the language. “That’s
my relaxation,” he says. n

Al Hajar Mountains near

Muscat, Oman

The sinuous curves of the Wahiba

Sands Desert in Oman
Abandoned Omani mud
brick home

“ I want to run a sugar

plantation.” “This way
of life is going to be
over,” his father told him.
“Go and do something
useful instead”

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Shell World Middle East & North Africa
Training for Kuwait’s
growing gas industry
Sour gas knowledge transfer leaves a sweet smell
One word best typifies Shell’s commitment
to Kuwait: “Training”. The Enhanced Technical
Service Agreement (ETSA) between Shell and the
Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) is helping to unlock
Jurassic Gas from North Kuwait fields. Covering
a landmass almost a fifth of the size of the country
and containing an estimated 1% (according to
the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA))
of the world’s total natural gas reserves, Jurassic
Gas is vital to Kuwait’s energy needs.
Cleaner and cheaper to use than fuel oil,
natural gas is increasingly replacing oil as an
alternative to use in electric power plants. However,
with rising energy demand, the country faces power
shortages during the long summer months when
electric consumption reaches its peak. At the moment
this gap is met via LNG imports, but soon it is
hoped this will be met by North Kuwait Jurassic
Gas supply. But how best to exploit this potential?
The Jurassic Gas Project is both complicated
and challenging to access, due to complicated
geological formations, difficult reservoir conditions
and complex gas compositions. The wells reach
depths of around 15,000ft targeting conventional
and tight and shale reservoirs. In addition the
reserves contain high levels of toxic hydrogen
sulphide known as ‘sour gas’, which needs to be
30
separated and safely treated before engineers can
process it.
Under the terms of the agreement, a set of
technology solutions and capabilities is being
implemented in a number of areas, providing KOC
with direct access to Shell’s proprietary technology.
The knowledge transfer is progressing through
a number of streams, including day-to-day coaching,
providing some 40 KOC employees a unique
opportunity to learn via a “paired and coach”
approach with Shell experts.
How does it work in practice? Maren
Kleemeyer, a Shell coach, has been supporting
Bashar Al Qadeeri, geophysicist a KOC geologist,
for four months helping him with a seismic
interpretation and seismic inversion project.
“Bashar is based in our office, which significantly
improves the quality of the coaching, as we often
can arrange support by the most suitable and
knowledgeable colleague from our staff on
the specific work task,” says Maren Kleemeyer.
“The third-party software tools we use to do the
interpretation and inversion are also available
to Bashar in KOC, therefore he can take his
completed work back with him and make most
effective use of the results of the study.”
The arrangement seems to be working well.
“The main objective of this attachment was
to improve and enhance my skills in seismic
interpretation by learning different tools and
techniques helping me to understand both
qualitative and quantitative seismic interpretation.”
says Bashar Al Qadeeri. “During my stay in Shell
I’ve had a good chance to deal with high level
seismic interpretation and seismic inversion experts,
in addition the work environment was really
healthy with perfect communication between team
members and I’ve got all the support that I need
to cover all the tasks in my work flow time line.”
On the job training is considered more
effective versus ‘old fashion’ classroom training.
The duration of the attachments to Shell have
been on average 4-5 months, while the on the
job coaching of Kuwaiti nationals in Kuwait has
been on average 1 year. “I gained a lot from
the experience,” says Abrar Hajjeyah, KOC
Petroleum Engineer in Kuwait. “I am well trained
on IPSM modelling and how to use the software.
It really was a great opportunity for me.”
Developing the expertise to unlock the
technically challenging North Jurassic Gas will
not only help creating greater levels of economic
growth but also help providing a highly skilled
workforce for Kuwait’s growing gas industry. n
Innovation 02

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