Aligned with the policy to develop Omani competencies
Muscat, June 2022: ARA Petroleum, a subsidiary of The Zubair Corporation, has offered a scholarship to three female employees to complete their university studies, with two of them set to complete their studies in the Sultanate and one in the United Kingdom. This is in line with the company’s policy to qualify and develop Omanis in various technical disciplines.
Dr. Omar Salim Al-Jaaidi, General Manager of the company said, “Supporting employees to complete their studies abroad comes within the policy of ARA Petroleum Company. This is aimed to develop and qualify Omani employees to provide them with technical and administrative skills, aligned with the company’s ambitious plans. Moreover, it is also part of the company’s endeavor to implement the latest international standards within the oil and gas sector as well as in the field of renewable and sustainable energy. “The company is working towards reducing and eventually eliminating its carbon footprint resulting from its operations.
ARA Petroleum is committed to its HSE Vision: “No Harm to People, No Harm to The Environment”.
Commenting on this endeavor, Abir Ahmed Al-Shuaili, Operations Process Engineer at ARA Petroleum, who is studying in the United Kingdom (UK) said, “I started my career in ARA Petroleum in November 2017, and we have always sought to make ARA Petroleum one of the leading companies in the Sultanate in the field of sustainable energy. The engineering team and the new technologies team are working together to find appropriate solutions to this challenge. This was the reason for the company’s management to send me to the United Kingdom to complete a full-time master’s degree for one year.”
“Studying abroad will help us to develop our careers, assume responsibility and self-reliance, as well as learn how to manage time and plan well. It also contributes to studying disciplines that are not available in the Sultanate, which allows us to excel and apply what we have learned at work, in addition to enhancing our self-confidence. We will strive to employ what we have acquired in science, knowledge and skills to develop work within the company through modern scientific and technological research, which is in line with the vision of ARA Petroleum.”
“Studying abroad will give me the opportunity to apply what I have learned in many disciplines within the company, including specialised positions in the field of chemistry, among others, including process development, environmental services and manufacturing. I am currently working on a graduation project, which is to convert the gases associated with oil, which are now burned, into hydrogen that can be used to produce energy in the oil fields. Through this project, the burning of gas that produces harmful substances for the environment will be stopped and will be fully utilised,” she added.
On her part, Anisa Nasser Al-Mahadhour, Petrophysicist at Ara Petroleum, Blocks 44 and 31, said: “I graduated from the College of Science at Sultan Qaboos University with a Bachelor’s degree in Earth Sciences (Geology) as a major and Business Administration as a minor in 2008. I worked for a short period during my university studies as assistant lecturer, I then joined a company operating in the oil fields for two months as a geophysicist specializing in earth sciences, and then joined training in several government ministries such as the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs and the Ministry of Oil and Gas at that time, when I worked in the areas of contracts and environmental permits. Then I joined the field with a Thai company (PTT) and was sent for six months at the company’s overseas headquarters in Thailand. I dealt with on-the-job training in the fields of geologist, geophysics and petrophysics. After that, I decided to complete my undergraduate studies with a master’s degree in Applied Earth Sciences, and my request was approved to complete my studies in this field. My choice to complete my studies in this specialty came after doing research at the university level, where it was discussed by several Officials at Ara Petroleum, given that the offered curricula correspond to the company’s work requirements. Getting a scholarship is a good opportunity, but there are many challenges that I faced as a working woman and mother of two children, including balancing work and study, but thanks to God, his success and good time management, I was able to develop a plan that helps me organize work effectively, and thank God, it helped me excel also in my field of study”.
Reem Mubarak Al-Majrfi, Technical Assistant Petrophysicist at ARA Petroleum said, “Instrumentation and control engineering is a branch of modern electrical engineering that industries need and depend on due to the tremendous growth in automation systems and the use of electronic computers in self-management of manufacturing, control and control operations, especially in the field of oil and gas, industrial processes, manufacturing industries, and medical applications.”
“I have acquired many new skills by discovering the best international experiences applied by most companies specialised in the oil and gas sector or the petrochemical sector. Its manufacturing operations include many electric motors and generators that consume electrical energy, and by joining the work, we have become familiar with how to deal with different generators and transformers,” she concluded.