A m a g a z i n e e x p l o r i n g t h e o i l a n d g a s i n d u s t r y

1402 08Ahmed Al Mandhri: by Royal appointment!

Climbing the steps to EOR excellence

Tell A Friend keeps road safety in the national spotlight

al manhal

A fount of knowledge

Issue three 2015

Taking social investment to the next level

Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) is the leading exploration and production company in the Sultanate. Producing around 70% of the country’s crude oil and nearly all its natural gas, PDO plays a vital role in generating revenue for national development.Even before the combined effects of low global oil prices and increasing complexity of hydrocarbon discovery and extraction in Oman challenged the Company, PDO had embarked upon a programme of ‘working smarter’ – with greater emphasis on safety, operational efficiency and value creation for the nation and all its stakeholders.In 2014, PDO stepped up to lead by example, delivering a string of impressive achievements across the full spectrum of its operations.

Generated 774 MW of electrical power, mostly for operations

Managed over 6,300 active oil, gas and injector wells

Established 19,500 km network of pipelines and flowlines

Raised RO 330,000 for victims of hostilities in the Gaza Strip - the largest corporate donation in Oman for the cause

KEY HIGHLIGHTSThrough Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), Marmul Polymer project delivered over 8.8 million barrels of oil during the last 4 years

Developed over 130 oil-producing fields and 14 gas-producing fields

Explored a concession area of nearly 90,874 sq km

Exploration Directorate set 10-year LTI-free (Lost Time Injury) record.

RO 7.5 millionfund for Marine Fish Aquariumand Education Centre

RO 150,000invested in vocational training for low incomewomen under Banat Oman initiative

804Omani women employees - 19 in senior positions

US$ 4.9 billionin contracts awarded to Oman-registered firms

Over

6,404Omani employees - an increase of 11%

582,000barrels of oil equivalent of gas per day

78,000barrels of condensate per day

570,534barrels of oil per day -highest oil production since 2006

25% reductionin motor vehicle incident rate

Over

RO 5.5 million committed to 12 social projects

Over

4,300jobs and training opportunities created

497wells drilled - 8 over target and6% under budget

Over

800Omanis on scholarships - vast majority fromconcession area

For more operational highlights from 2014, please download the ‘PDO Fact File 2015’ at www.pdo.co.om/Pages/Publications.aspx

Petroleum Development OmanPetroleumDevelopmentOmanPDO PDOChannel

Delivering greaterIn-Country Valuefor Oman

‘The great ambitions of nations and peoples are not achieved accidentally or by depending on others. They are only achieved by

self-reliance, hard work, creative efforts, wholehearted and responsible participation. This is what we call upon you today to achieve, for our

country and in the future.’

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said

Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) is the leading exploration and production company in the Sultanate. Producing around 70% of the country’s crude oil and nearly all its natural gas, PDO plays a vital role in generating revenue for national development.Even before the combined effects of low global oil prices and increasing complexity of hydrocarbon discovery and extraction in Oman challenged the Company, PDO had embarked upon a programme of ‘working smarter’ – with greater emphasis on safety, operational efficiency and value creation for the nation and all its stakeholders.In 2014, PDO stepped up to lead by example, delivering a string of impressive achievements across the full spectrum of its operations.

Generated 774 MW of electrical power, mostly for operations

Managed over 6,300 active oil, gas and injector wells

Established 19,500 km network of pipelines and flowlines

Raised RO 330,000 for victims of hostilities in the Gaza Strip - the largest corporate donation in Oman for the cause

KEY HIGHLIGHTSThrough Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), Marmul Polymer project delivered over 8.8 million barrels of oil during the last 4 years

Developed over 130 oil-producing fields and 14 gas-producing fields

Explored a concession area of nearly 90,874 sq km

Exploration Directorate set 10-year LTI-free (Lost Time Injury) record.

RO 7.5 millionfund for Marine Fish Aquariumand Education Centre

RO 150,000invested in vocational training for low incomewomen under Banat Oman initiative

804Omani women employees - 19 in senior positions

US$ 4.9 billionin contracts awarded to Oman-registered firms

Over

6,404Omani employees - an increase of 11%

582,000barrels of oil equivalent of gas per day

78,000barrels of condensate per day

570,534barrels of oil per day -highest oil production since 2006

25% reductionin motor vehicle incident rate

Over

RO 5.5 million committed to 12 social projects

Over

4,300jobs and training opportunities created

497wells drilled - 8 over target and6% under budget

Over

800Omanis on scholarships - vast majority fromconcession area

For more operational highlights from 2014, please download the ‘PDO Fact File 2015’ at www.pdo.co.om/Pages/Publications.aspx

Petroleum Development OmanPetroleumDevelopmentOmanPDO PDOChannel

Delivering greaterIn-Country Valuefor Oman

© 2015 Petroleum Development OmanArticles from al manhal may be reprinted without specific permission on condition that: the text be neither edited nor abridged; the magazine and Petroleum Development Oman be credited; and a copy of the reprinted article be provided to al manhal’s managing editor.

Production ManagerKarima Al Shahaibi

Graphic Design Mohammed Al Mahrazi

Design ConsultantsUnited Media Services LLC

Translation & EditingSaleh Al Alawi, Ikhlas Al Waili & Zahran Al Ruqeishi

PrinterLoay International LLC

Advisory BoardSuleiman Al Manthari, External Affairs and Communications Manager, PDOAbla Al Riyami, In-Country Value Director, PDOIntisaar Al Kindy, Exploration Director, PDODr. Saleh Al Anbouri, Ministry of Oil and GasDr. Rashid Al Maamari, Sultan Qaboos UniversityProf. Sobhi Nasir, Sultan Qaboos University

Address editorial correspondence to:Corporate CommunicationsPDO, P.O. Box 81Muscat 100, Omancorporatecommunications@pdo.co.om

Dear Readers,Welcome to the third issue of al manhal for 2015. As ever, we’ve

put together a collection of features that we hope will interest, inspire and perhaps even surprise you.

A lot of what we cover in this issue relates to PDO in the community. While PDO is of course primarily engaged in the business of finding and producing hydrocarbons, the Company takes its responsibilities as a good corporate citizen very seriously. There are few better illustrations of this than the two programmes which are revisited in this issue.

The first is PDO’s nationwide Tell A Friend road safety campaign. We covered the launch of this initiative back in 2013, and since then the campaign has taken its message countrywide. We spoke to the campaign’s leader, Munira Al Balushi, to find out what’s been happening and the impact that’s been made.

The second programme is one which we have had great pleasure in tracking over the past few issues. This is Banat Oman, PDO’s social investment initiative to provide economic opportunities for women from low-income households. The latest news from Banat Oman is the completion of another artisan training programme, this time focused on the traditional craft of cotton and wool weaving. We also have some very good news for the future of the initiative, which is revealed inside.

No issue of al manhal is complete without some focus on the business of oil and gas, so for our main feature we explore the world of enhanced oil recovery (EOR). In particular, we explain PDO’s progressive ‘staircase’ approach that ensures new EOR techniques can be scaled up while minimising the risk of failure. PDO is already considered a global leader in EOR and with the staircase approach already paying dividends this proudly held status seems sure to be upheld in future.

Our popular photo series “My Oman” continues with a look at the wonderful, UNESCO World Heritage listed Bahla Fort. PDO employee Ibrahim Al Waili is the photographer this time around, and he has captured the stunning architecture of the fort in all its restored glory.

Last, but by no means least, we have another in the recently launched “Our People” series profiling talented PDO employees. Ahmed Al Mandhri has a full-time job in PDO’s Geomatics Department but in his spare time he uses his photography and computer design skills to create wonderful artworks, several of which you can see in our feature. Ahmed has also been responsible for the design of a very special book – turn to page 14 to find out more!

We hope you enjoy this packed and colourful edition of al manhal and, as ever, if you have any comments, questions or feedback we’d love to hear from you. You can find all the relevant contact details on the opposite page.

Regards,Team al manhal

Distributed every quarter to Sultan Qaboos University, local private and government colleges, and schools.

Petroleum Development Oman

PDO Oman

Petroleum Development Oman – PDO

Contents02

0812

14

Climbing the steps to EOR excellence

Tell A Friend keeps road safety in the national spotlight

Banat Oman set for a bright future

Ahmed Al Mandhri: by Royal appointment!

18Bahla Fort

EOR PROJECTS & TRIALS

PROJECT TYPE

EOR Development

EOR Pilot in Execution

Thermal

Chemical

Lekhwair DimethylEther Waterflood

Al Ghubar S

Habhab

Qarn Alam

Amin

Amal W

Fahud

Nimr

Thayfut

Al Noor

Harweel

Miscible Gas Injection

EOR Success

4 successful EOR field developments: Marmul Polymer, Qarn Alam and Amal Steam and Harweel Miscible Gas Injection.

12 EOR pilots in execution: 7 Chemical, 4 Thermal and 1 Miscible Gas Injection

PDO’s Evolving EOR Portfolio

2014

11% 33%

2023

Marmul Polymer ASP &Produced Polymer Treatment

Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) is key to the past, the present and especially the future for PDO. We explore how the Company has developed its industry-leading pedigree by steadily climbing what it calls the EOR staircases.

PDO is a globally renowned pioneer in the enhanced oil recovery (EOR) field, noted for its courage and vision in investing huge financial and human resources in ground-breaking projects that have pushed back the boundaries of possibility in terms of producing oil and gas.

But how exactly did this relatively small player in the global energy game, from a country that ranks around 20th in the list of the world’s top oil producers, come to be recognised as an EOR champion?

Part of the answer comes from subsurface setting. The same forces of nature that bequeathed such substantial oil and gas deposits to Oman also gave the country a fiendishly difficult subsurface geology and oil properties, limiting the effectiveness of conventional production techniques.

As primary (i.e. pumping) and secondary (i.e. water flooding) methods began to be less effective at maintaining flows from maturing fields, so PDO

has increasingly had to turn to ‘blue sky’ techniques in order to meet its production commitments to the nation.

Today around 5%-10% of PDO’s oil production comes from fields where EOR techniques have been

deployed. In 10 years’ time, the Company expects this figure to have risen to the region of 30%. And it will only get higher still in the longer term.

Every field in the Company’s portfolio has now been screened for its EOR potential, and several high profile EOR projects are already under way – of which more in a

moment. Indeed, it’s fair to say PDO has captured the imagination of the global oil and gas industry, much of which is still to progress past the R&D/small-scale trial phase when it comes to the latest EOR innovations.

Accomplishing such an exponential increase in EOR activity is not something that can be achieved

One step at a time

02

Climbing the steps to EOR excellence

OUR EXPERTISE

EOR Projects

03OUR EXPERTISE

overnight. Instead PDO has a process of climbing what it calls the ‘EOR staircases’, a methodology specially developed to take some of the operational risk out of EOR implementations.

One step at a timeThe EOR staircases ensure that PDO has specific

roadmaps for maturing its EOR techniques. Progress is linear and each step is there to be trodden on, in the same way that you wouldn’t try to straddle multiple steps on a real staircase, since the result could well be a tumble.

Staircases have been devised for each of the main EOR techniques currently being deployed, namely chemical, thermal and miscible gas.

Using chemical as an example shows how the process works. Once a technology is considered ready for field use, the idea is to start off with a low-risk deployment in a field selected for its relative lack of complexity. So the Marmul field was chosen for a full-field polymer flooding project, to act as the first step on the staircase and to provide a showcase for the technologies involved.

Marmul had in fact been the site of a polymer trial

back in the late 1980s, the availability of data from which made it an even more appropriate choice. The reservoir is notable for its heavy, viscous oil, which makes water flooding less effective since the less dense water tends to filter through the rock pores without shifting the oil. In simple terms, adding polymer to the water reduces the disparity between it and the oil’s viscosity, improving the ability to sweep oil from the reservoir rock.

The Marmul polymer project was launched in early 2010, and since then some 100,000 barrels of polymer solution have been injected each day into the reservoir, with the aim of increasing daily oil production by 8,000 barrels and boosting the ultimate recovery factor from the reservoir to above 30% (from a ceiling of around 25% using conventional techniques).

With this first staircase rung successfully scaled, PDO now intends to expand the Marmul flooding operation in a move that will see daily polymer injection increase to around 500,000 barrels, thus creating one of the largest projects of its kind anywhere in the world.

Marmul is also the field where PDO is trialling a related chemical EOR technique called alkaline-surfactant-

Qarn Alam Steam Injection Plant

polymer. This works in tandem with the established polymer injection process: the alkaline-surfactant mixture helps to release oil stuck within the rock, which is then swept from the reservoir using a polymer flood.

And as a further step on the staircase PDO has also successfully launched a highly viscous polymer flood trial at its Nimr field. Nimr’s oil is of an order of magnitude heavier than Marmul’s so starting there would have been extremely challenging. But, with the learning from Marmul to call upon, PDO is confident of success, demonstrating the power of the staircase approach.

At present, PDO is still evaluating the vast amount of data it is gathering from the Nimr trial, to make sense of what it is seeing and to decide the next steps. But should the trial prove effective, there are plenty of further rungs on the chemical EOR staircase, involving more aggressive polymer deployments across the Company’s concession area.

In the area of thermal EOR, PDO has a number of techniques and applications that represent the lowest

steps on this particular staircase. One of the most advanced has been running in Qarn Alam for the past two years. Here the reservoir features heavy oil and fractured rock – in the past a nightmare scenario for producers armed only with conventional techniques.

PDO’s solution is to inject steam into the reservoir, heating up the oil so it becomes less viscous (while condensing to water in the process). The oil and water mixture then drains downwards into producing wells located at the bottom of the reservoir. This process is known as thermally assisted gas-oil gravity drainage (TAGOGD) and although it occupies the first step of the staircase it is a hugely complex and challenging project in its own right.

Not least among the challenges is the need to work out precisely how the rock fractures connect with one another, as well as with the oil bearing rock, so that steam can be injected into the most effective places.

There’s also the requirement for around 18,000 tonnes of steam every day, the production of which consumes

04OUR EXPERTISE

Gravity Flow Reed Bed

Nimr Water Treatment Project

around 60,000 cubic metres of clean water as well as a huge amount of heat. The water comes from deep-lying salt water aquifers, the contents of which are not fit for human consumption, while the heat is a recycled waste product from the electricity generation process at Qarn Alam’s power station – a resource-efficient process known as cogeneration.

Should the Qarn Alam project prove a long-term success (and early indications are good), there are several other fields where reservoir properties could support such techniques. PDO is, for instance, using learning from Qarn Alam to fast track the development of a similar project at its Habur field.

More conventional steam flooding is also becoming an increasingly important weapon in PDO’s EOR armoury. The Company’s first phase project in Amal has been running for more than two years, with good results. The knowledge gained in Amal will feature very heavily in PDO’s maturation plan for steam flooding; not least the second and third phases of its implementation within the Amal field itself.

For the third EOR staircase – miscible gas – the focus of attention has been on the Harweel cluster of fields in the south of Oman. Here PDO has put together what is probably its most ambitious EOR project to date, injecting miscible gas at ultra-high pressures into the Zalzala field, which is designated ‘sour’ as it contains significant volumes of deadly hydrogen sulphide gas.

From an engineering perspective, PDO has had to break new ground in terms of materials and technologies used, including in the manufacture of the giant compressor which generates the 500 bar (or 500 times our atmosphere) pressure required to induce miscibility. The Company is also pioneering the use of flowline pipes with outer walls that are 40cm thick so they can cope with the extreme pressures and highly corrosive fluids involved.

The next step on this particular staircase merits its own version of Neil Armstrong’s famous quote upon touching down on the moon. This is because the US$1 billion-plus Rabab-Harweel miscible gas project now under development could very fairly be described as a giant leap for the oil and gas industry.

One-and-a-half times bigger than the existing Harweel scheme, this new venture will see miscible gas injected into each of the seven Harweel oil reservoirs. It will also involve recycling sour gas in the neighbouring Rabab field to develop condensate, which is a low-density liquid hydrocarbon associated with natural gas. Production from the Rabab Harweel EOR project is expected to begin in 2019, with a target of 250 million barrels of additional production to be achieved.

Needless to say, with so much EOR activity going on, PDO has become a prime place to work for people with a desire to be at the cutting edge of the industry. As with the EOR staircases themselves, the secret to success as an EOR practitioner is all about building up experience, gaining skills and know-how in the field and with conventional production techniques, before making the step up to the highly challenging, highly rewarding world of EOR.

For budding petroleum engineers, few companies anywhere in the world can offer such unique opportunities to grow into EOR subject matter experts, people who aren’t just able to talk about theory, but have actually pulled off innovative projects in the real world. It’s something of which the Company is deeply – and justifiably – proud.

05OUR EXPERTISE

Production WellProcessing Gas Plant

Gas MiscibleRegion

OilBank

Gas Injection Well

Technology Corner

06OUR EXPERTISE

Amal Solar Steam Pilot Project

New generation EOR techniques that could be just around the corner

As explained in our main article, PDO is among the most courageous of the world’s oil companies when it comes to trying new EOR techniques and technologies.

One of the most promising of the ‘blue sky’ techniques is using foam to improve sweep efficiency (i.e. the amount of oil swept from the reservoir into producing wells). The foam in question is a mixture of surfactant and gas, usually carbon dioxide or nitrogen.

Though using foam has been on the EOR agenda for some time, it has yet to be tried in a full oilfield scenario, due to it being a relatively complex technology, both chemically and operationally. However, as with many EOR innovations, the boundaries of knowledge are being quickly pushed back as more focus is given to them.

PDO is in the process of acquiring these advanced techniques, adding them to its chemical EOR staircases for challenging fields. For example, the Company is looking closely at how foam injection might unlock reserves in tight carbonate reservoirs (i.e. reservoirs with carbonate rocks of low porosity) containing heavy oil. These do not respond well to conventional polymer flooding, but foam injection has considerably more promise, since foam is light enough to be more

easily injected into the rock, while its additional mobility also makes it more controllable than conventional polymer.

The use of solvents to enhance oil recovery has long been thought of and tested in the lab. Different solvents have been utilised, which were mainly hydrocarbon-based. In core plug experiments, almost all oil gets produced, as solvents and oil are miscible i.e. mix completely. The cost of solvents and rate of mass transfer, however, are key hurdles for major field developments.

PDO is currently investigating the use of a water-soluble solvent, which

is injected into the reservoir along with injection water. Upon contact with the oil, the solvent improves the oil’s ability to flow through the rock pores. Several experiments have been conducted in the lab using different oils, and the process has shown incremental

recoveries of up to 15% beyond water flood. Additionally, the process provides early oil i.e. acceleration when compared to water flood. Unlike many other applications, this process is equally applicable to sandstone and carbonate reservoirs and thus has a good potential.

This technique can use the same well set-up as that of an existing water flood. Minor modifications, mainly in the gathering station, will be needed to remove the solvent from produced fluids for mixing with water and re-injection.

New generation EOR techniques

that could be just around

the corner

07OUR EXPERTISE

Two years after we last featured it in the pages of al manhal, we check on the progress of Tell A Friend, The PDO-backed nationwide road safety campaign.

Summer 2015 marked the halfway point of the five-year Tell A Friend campaign, which was launched by PDO in January 2013 with the aim of doing something to curb Oman’s worrying road accident rate.

The passing of this milestone seemed the ideal moment to catch up with the campaign’s leader, Munira Al Balushi, to see how things were progressing and discover what the future holds for this initiative.

“We can measure our effect in pure numbers – such as the amount of social media followers we have accrued or the numbers of people we’ve reached with our various events. But for me the more profound impact is at a human level, in terms of the people who’ve told us we helped them to change their behaviour behind the wheel,” Munira said.

Everyone involved with Tell A Friend has their own stories of lives touched by the campaign, but Munira remembers two of her experiences which make pertinent examples.

She explained: “Travelling to one of our events I was picked up by a taxi driver and I noticed that he wasn’t wearing his seatbelt. I asked him why and his response was that ‘we don’t do that here’. I invited him to our event

and the next day he happened to pick me up om my way back to the airport. And sure enough he had fastened his seatbelt! On another occasion I remember a young man in our audience standing up and asking to become a volunteer ambassador, because what we’d said had touched him so deeply. Every one of the people like this we can reach is a potential life saved or injury averted.”

Before looking in detail at the progress of Tell A Friend since our last article (see issue 3, 2013), it’s worth recapping the campaign’s origins and its goals at launch.

Tell A Friend set out to bring about permanent behavioural change by capturing hearts and minds in a positive way; with a particular focus on younger members of society. The point of Tell A Friend is to emphasise the positive, so it forsakes gory imagery and shock tactics in favour of subtler, more heart-felt messages around keeping one’s family safe and protected.

While PDO is the campaign’s instigator, the Company has been able to secure the active support of the Royal Oman Police (ROP). A host of other voluntary groups have played their part along the way, too.

2013-2014 – the campaign goes national

When we last checked in with Tell A Friend, the campaign had enjoyed a strong beginning at the Muscat Festival of early 2013, while also launching its social media presence.

Tell A Friend keeps road safety in the national spotlight

08OUR APPROACH

09OUR APPROACH

What happened next was an appearance at the Salalah Festival, held in July of that year. Here again the team made use of its show-stopping seatbelt convincer machine, which simulates a low-speed traffic accident by sliding a rig and its occupants down a gentle slope at around 7 km/h before they come to a juddering halt against a buffer at the bottom. This amply demonstrates the forward forces a car’s occupants would face in such a situation, emphasising why seatbelts are so vital to their safety.

“The seatbelt convincer is one of our secret weapons,” Munira noted. “People cannot believe the jolt they get from a sudden stop at 7 km/h, and it really helps to change perceptions of the damage that can be done if you are involved in a road accident. I remember one time a young man gave it a try, then the next evening he was back having brought along a friend, such was the level to which it affected him.”

The third stopping point for the Tell A Friend roadshow in 2013 was the Traffic Expo, the national exhibition that is managed by the ROP’s Traffic

Safety Directorate General. There, the campaign team joined a host of other interested bodies from the public and private sectors, in what has become the Sultanate’s most important road safety event of the year.

As 2014 dawned the campaign moved to spread the word further afield, with interventions in places located away from major population areas such as Muscat or Salalah. The first such event was held in Nizwa, with a focus on two distinct groupings, as Munira explained: “We wanted to speak to women, because we know how influential Omani women can be within their families. So the daytime element of the Nizwa event was specifically

for women, and we were delighted that the hall we appeared in was totally packed out. Later that day we turned our attention to young drivers, particularly males. Here we also brought along our seatbelt convincer since we know what a powerful impact it can have.”

For the next ‘roadshow’ event, Tell A Friend pitched up in Ibri. Here the team joined forces with the

Tell A Friend Event 2015 in Wilayat Shaleem, Southern Oman

A young boy tries the seatbelt convincer

10OUR APPROACH

Oman Automobile Association (OAA), the Sultanate’s top motorsports organisation, as a means of convincing younger drivers not to race each other or indulge in ‘drifting’ on public roads.

“We had racing drivers from the OAA on hand to emphasise to the young drivers that the only place to race is on a track,” said Munira. “This is a particularly important point, because indulging in these types of activities on public roads has resulted in many injuries and deaths in recent years.”

Also taking part in the Ibri roadshow was a local road safety volunteering group, called Basna Hawadith. Speaking at the event, Salim Al Jassasi from the group commented: “It is an honour for us to join efforts with the Tell A Friend campaign. After all, our objective is the same and it is great for thoughts and efforts to be united for this noble cause of raising awareness and saving lives.”

The third and final Tell A Friend roadshow event for 2014 saw the team of volunteers travel far north to Khasab, a town on the border with the UAE. Here the biggest challenge is a blanket refusal to buckle up (it was where Munira encountered the seatbelt-spurning taxi driver referred to earlier), a habit that is influenced by similar attitudes across the border in UAE as well as by the remoteness of the area and consequently lighter traffic.

“I met a lady there who told me that she always wore her seatbelt when driving in Muscat, but never while in Khasab. This is the sort of attitude we need to change, so I sat her down and explained what happens if you are in a rollover and you are not wearing your seatbelt; pointing out that you get hurt or killed just the same regardless of where you are driving!” Munira remarked.

2015: targeting our concession areaInto 2015, and more Tell A Friend events have been

held across the country, including high-profile roadshows in wilayats Shaleem and Al Jazir in South Oman. The focus for this year is on communities in and around PDO’s 91,000 sq km concession area. Many of these towns and villages represent different worlds from the bright lights of Muscat, with the danger of rollovers on unlit and little used roads being particularly acute.

Special focus is also being given to heavy vehicle drivers

11OUR APPROACH

– including drivers of trucks and school buses – who have a big responsibility to drive safely due to the potential havoc they can cause. Omanis will not need reminding of the terrible school bus tragedy of January last year, in which a bus travelling at more than 100 km/h spun out of control, leaving three children dead and scores injured.

“We have produced two videos focusing on heavy vehicles and we – alongside other companies in Oman – are also underwriting training for school bus drivers to try to ensure that such an accident never happens again,” said Munira.

Videos have in fact become one of Tell A Friend’s most potent weapons. The campaign’s YouTube channel (youtube.com/user/Tesma3mini) has achieved tens of thousands of views since it was launched, helping to reach people that the physical roadshows cannot.

One video in particular has stuck a chord, achieving more than 50,000 views and counting. It is the story of Azzan, the young child of a PDO employee who was thrown from a car when the door unexpectedly came open, because he was not wearing his seatbelt.

“Azzan’s father bravely agreed to speak on camera, and that video has touched people very profoundly,” Munira revealed. “When we used it to launch our presence at the Muscat Festival the entire audience was in tears, and with good reason.”

Looking ahead to the second half of Tell A Friend’s lifespan, Munira sees more co-operation and collaboration as being crucial to maximising the initiative’s reach. PDO is already working more closely with other members of OPAL, the Oman Society for Petroleum Services, while forging ever closer links with the ROP and the Ministry of Education.

“As its name makes clear, we want this to be a campaign that everybody talks about. We will use every channel available to us, but most of all we will continue to rely upon the amazing support we’ve had from our volunteers inside and outside PDO. They have made Tell A Friend what it is today and we can’t thank them enough for all the free time they’ve given up, as well as their enthusiasm to learn about road safety and good driving behaviours, in order to spread that message far and wide,” Munira concluded.

12

Banat Oman set for a bright futureAs Banat Oman gears up for the next stage in its development, we take a look at one of its more colourful new initiatives, which is bringing new life to the traditional Omani craft of cotton and wool weaving.

PDO’s award-winning Banat Oman social investment programme continues to go from strength to strength, with a new long-term strategy now agreed, further external support signed up and a wave of fresh initiatives under way.

The latest artisan training programme to be completed focuses on the traditional craft of cotton and wool weaving. This has been practised in Oman for many years, and one

of the centres of the craft has long been the Ad Dakhliyah governate. No surprise, then, that PDO chose this region to locate its training centre, inviting 20 ladies from the surrounding area to take part.

The weaving process itself is highly skilled as well as being part-mechanised, since the weaver uses a special wooden loom (see photos) to create the intricate patterns of the finished items. The loom, and the trainer,

OUR COMMUNITY

13OUR COMMUNITY

were both provided by the Transformation Institute, a partner organisation to Banat Oman. The trainer spent four months teaching the ladies the skills they will need to become commercial weavers, a process that was concluded in August this year.

Once proficient, a cotton or wool weaver can make a huge variety of items, from bookmarks to greeting cards to ceremonial belts from which a khanjar can hang. Depending on the size and intricacy of the piece, weaving can take anything from a handful of days up to two weeks.

Among the new crop of weavers is Maryam bint Ahmed Al Siyabia. She commented: “I have very much enjoyed learning this new skill and I am thankful to PDO for giving me this opportunity. We are all looking forward to making the most of what we have learned to create beautiful items that Omanis and visitors to our country will want to buy.”

The ladies have already completed their first customer order: a batch of Eid greeting cards purchased by PDO. In future they will be among those to benefit from the services of an SME contracted by PDO for the specific purpose of marketing Banat Oman products. Al Hathaifa Modern Training will henceforward be taking the lead in this area, which should mean new business opportunities

for all the artisans who have graduated from Banat Oman programmes.

As al manhal went to press, the finishing touches were also being made to a new Banat Oman boutique in Al Mawalieh, wilayat Al Seeb, which has just opened; and there was more good news for the initiative with

the signing of a memorandum of understanding to extend the lease on the premises in wilayat Taqa which is home to both the Banat Oman dairy (see issue 1, 2015) and tailoring centre.

Perhaps the best news of all is that the incredibly successful Banat Oman project looks set for an even brighter future, with a new long-term strategy formulated and

agreed by PDO’s senior management. Hanan Al Rumhy, PDO’s Social Investment Adviser, explained: “The new strategy doesn’t just secure the future for Banat Oman, it also allows for an expansion of our activities. This should mean additional training programmes that will give more Omani women the skills they need to enjoy a better quality of life. We are all really looking forward to this next chapter in the Banat Oman story.”

· Follow @banat.oman on Instagram

14Ahmed Al Mandhri: by Royal appointment!

OUR PEOPLE

The latest in our series profiling talented PDO employees takes a look at a man whose self-taught creative skills have earned him a key role in a very prestigious publishing project.

Ahmed Al Mandhri could be forgiven for looking longingly at the calendar and hoping that the days pass quickly. In Ahmed’s case the wait he’s wishing away is for the print and production to be completed on a very special book, which he has been instrumental in creating.

The book will not be sold in any bookstores; instead it will be presented to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, as a mark of respect and support from PDO and its employees. “It will be both a proud and nervous day for me when His Majesty’s book arrives back from the printers,” Ahmed explained. “I feel a big burden of responsibility and I’ve worked hard to make this book something special.”

The book itself gathers together the signatures and comments from hundreds of PDO employees and their children, and includes a full transcript of the speech made by His Majesty during his visit to the Company in May 2013. Ahmed has taken care of the design and layout of the pages, which are lavishly illustrated with photos of His Majesty, while the cover features an original artwork by Ahmed.

So how did someone with no formal publishing experience, and whose professional background is in geographical information systems (GIS), secure such a high-profile commission? For Ahmed, the breakthrough also has a close connection with Sultan Qaboos. “The real red letter day for my creative ambitions was His

Majesty’s visit to PDO. The Company wanted to organise an exhibition of PDO talent to mark the first anniversary of the occasion on PDO Day, and somehow word got out that I produced ‘paintings’, using a combination of Adobe Photoshop and other computer software packages. I was asked to submit one of my artworks for the talent exhibition and everything just exploded from there!”

These spectacular artworks, a selection of which you can see on the pages of this feature, are made by manipulating text and photos to create something fresh and new, which becomes more than the sum of its parts. Ahmed remarked: “It is different to sitting down with a brush and easel, but it involves the same artistic process. And that element is crucial – anyone can teach

OUR PEOPLE

15

themselves how to use Photoshop, but to create something unique you need an artistic mind and an artist’s insight into how to use and match colours – to create the ‘wow’ factor if you like.”

Having made a splash at the first PDO Talent Day in May 2014, Ahmed has since secured a number of commissions from other members of PDO staff. He also markets his artworks directly through social media, notably the photo-sharing application Instagram.

Art is in the familyAlthough it’s taken him a

while to achieve public acclaim, Ahmed has had a lifelong passion for the visual arts. And creativity certainly runs in the family: his uncle, Yousuf Al Nahwi, is a major artist in Oman, a member

of the Oman Art Society and a regular exhibitor of work both at home and abroad. Yousuf, too, has enjoyed Royal patronage, having set the Guinness record in painting the biggest picture ever of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos. Meanwhile, Ahmed’s brother Yahya has channelled his creative juices into literature, working as a professional

author.

“I loved to paint at school, but when the time came to go out into the world of work I was pleased to be accepted into PDO’s training programme aimed at diploma level students,” said Ahmed. “Once I’d completed the four-year programme I joined the Geomatics Department, which is the area of PDO responsible for mapping the Company’s concession area.

16OUR PEOPLE

“I quickly realised that I could use some of my visual arts skills in the business graphics area of the Geomatics team, where we worked on maps but also logos and posters… in fact, most of the Geomatics posters seen around PDO’s offices at that time featured my designs.”

Ahmed then made the move into the GIS Department, the area of Geomatics that combines mapping with capture and analysis of geographical and geological data. “The analysis we do helps to refine the geological maps of the subsurface and the technical maps of our surface facilities,” he explained.

In his time within the GIS team Ahmed has created a bespoke map ordering website for PDO employees, called 4Maps. He is also heavily involved with the PDO Earth application, which works in a similar way to Google Earth but is for internal

use only. “PDO Earth is updated every day from our GIS database; users can access flyover views of rigs and other facilities, as well as finding out the shortest route between two places in our concession area. It’s a really clever and useful application,” he said.

Ahmed accepts that as his career at PDO has progressed his creative side has had to give way to the more technical aspects of his role. But he is comfortable with the change, knowing that his burgeoning artistic career outside of PDO is more than making up for it. Indeed he is in the process of completing a degree in Information Management Systems,

OUR PEOPLE

17

which he hopes to follow with a Master’s, emphasising where he sees his professional future.

He said: “My creative eye still has an impact on my work at PDO, particularly when it comes to designing the 4Maps website and making sure that the interfaces are pleasing to the user’s eye. Ultimately, I’d love to take my artistic endeavours further, perhaps staging an exhibition or even opening a gallery of my own. But that’s much more for the longer term; for now, my priority is building my career at PDO and using my spare time for my artistic pursuits.”

· To check out the photos and artworks on Ahmed’s Instagram site, visit instagram.com/aalmandhri

Bahla FortFor this issue’s ‘My Oman’ feature we focus our lens on one of the Sultanate’s most precious cultural gems: Bahla Fort. This was the first site in Oman to be listed under the UNESCO World Heritage umbrella and after a 20-year restoration it has been returned to something close to its former glory.

The photos here have been kindly provided by PDO employee Ibrahim Al Waili. They show the fort’s characteristic adobe (mud brick) walls and towers, which sit atop foundations of sandstone. Although archaeological details are somewhat sketchy, the presence of a fort on this site is believed to pre-date Islamic times. The buildings we see today were erected in the 13th and 14th centuries, when the oasis of Bahla was a prosperous trading centre, controlled by the powerful Banu Nebhan tribe.

Upon entering the fort it quickly becomes clear how well defended it must have been back in the day. Two round turrets would have been used by guards to pour boiling oil or honey onto the heads of would-be attackers, while the entrance itself comprises three separate defensive gates to hinder progress. The outer walls also contain sentry walks and watchtowers.

The fort has several distinct buildings and sections. The largest building is the citadel, or Qasaba. It has three towers and a high wall that separates it from the rest of the site. The restoration campaign has had a light touch here, with walls left unrestored on one side. The citadel affords excellent views of Bahla Oasis, too.

Visitors can also explore a number of traditional adobe houses, plus mosques, audience halls, bath houses and guards’ quarters. The area is criss-crossed by a network of falaj (water channels) which would have brought fresh groundwater from nearby wells.

If this article has whetted your appetite to visit the splendid Bahla Fort, you will find it in the town of Bahla, around 35km west of Nizwa (and about 200km from Muscat). It is open to visitors every day except Friday, from 9:30-16:30. Entry is just 500bz per person.

18OUR OMAN

18عماننا

قلعة بهالء...حيث يصافح التاريخ زواره

على العدد لهذا عمانية” “خمائل في الضوء نسلط ثمن، بأي التقدر التي العمانية الحضارية الكنوز أحد أول بأنها القلعة هذه وُتعرف بهالء. قلعة وهي أال موقع عماني يندرج تحت مظلة الئحة اليونسكو للتراث العالمي وبعد عمليات ترميم استغرقت حوالي 20 سنة،

استعادت شيئًا مقاربًا لمجدها التليد.

وال�شور التي تزين ال�شفحة التقطتها عد�شة موظف ال�شركة اإبراهيم الوائلي، وتظهر

فيها جدران واأبراج القلعة املميزة املبنية من الطوب والطني على ربوة من احلجر الرملي.

وعلى الرغم من قلة التفا�شيل االأثرية اإال اأن تاريخ وجود قلعة يف هذا املوقع يعود اإىل ع�شور

ما قبل االإ�شالم. اإن هذه املباين التي ت�شهدها اأعيننا اليوم قد مت اإن�شاوؤها يف القرنني الثالث

ع�شر والرابع ع�شر، عندما كانت واحة بهالء مركزًا جتاريًا مزدهرًا يف ع�شر النباهنة.

االأعداء وردع الهجومات �شد على قدرتها مدى لنا جليًا ي�شبح القلعة، دخول فور

اأو الع�شل املغلي يف املا�شي، حيث كان احلرا�س ي�شتخدمون برجني دائريني ل�شكب الزيت

على روؤو�س املعتدين املتوقعني، بينما يت�شكل مدخل القلعة من ثالث بوابات دفاعية الإعاقة

واأبراج ممرات على حتتوي فهي اخلارجية، للحيطان بالن�شبة اأما وتاأخريه. تقدمهم

ا�شتخدمت الأغرا�س املراقبة واحلرا�شة.

وعلى �شعيد اآخر، متتلك القلعة عددًا من املباين واالأق�شام املميزة واأكرب هذه املباين هو

احل�شن الذي يعرف بـ“الق�شبة”. وللق�شبة ثالثة اأبراج و�شور عاٍل يف�شلها عن بقية اأجزاء املوقع. ومل تكن حلملة اإعادة الرتميم تاأثري كبري عليها حيث مت ترك جدران اأحد اجلوانب

بدون اأي تغيريات. وعالوة على ذلك، فاإن القلعة تقدم اإطالالت باهية على واحة بهالء.

وامل�شاجد التقليدية الطينية البيوت من عدد ا�شتك�شاف للزوار ميكن اأنه اإىل وي�شار

والقاعات واحلمامات العامة ومقرات احلرا�س. كما تقطع املنطقة �شبكة اأفالج كانت تاأتي

باملياه العذبة من االآبار املجاورة.

واإذا ما اأثارت هذه املقالة ف�شولكم ورغبتكم يف زيارة قلعة بهالء اخلالبة، ف�شتجدونها

يف والية بهالء على بعد 35 كم غرب والية نزوى )اأو على بعد 200 كم من حمافظة م�شقط(.

وت�شرع قلعة بهالء اأبوابها لت�شتقبل زوارها طوال اأيام االأ�شبوع عدا يوم اجلمعة، من ال�شاعة

9:30 اإىل 4:30، ور�شوم الدخول ال تزيد عن 500 بي�شة لل�شخ�س الواحد.

خارج املزدهرة الفنية اأعماله باأن الإدراكه التغيري،

ال�ضركة تعو�ضه عن ذلك بقدر اأكرب. ويف احلقيقة اأحمد

املعلومات نظم يف البكالوريو�س �ضهادة اإكمال ب�ضدد

املاج�ضتري، لنيل الدرا�ضة يوا�ضل اأن وياأمل االإدارية،

حيث يرى م�ضتقبله املهني.

وي�ضتطرد اأحمد: “ال يزال لنظرتي الفنية تاأثري على عملي يف ال�ضركة، وخا�ضة عندما يتعلق االأمر بت�ضميم

اأن ا�ضتخدام املوقع مريح Maps4 والتاأكد من املوقع امل�ضاعي اآخذ اأن اأحب النهاية يف امل�ضتخدم. لعني

واملبادرات الفنية الأبعد من ذلك، رمبا تنظيم معر�س اأو

حتى فتح معر�س خا�س بي. ولكن هذا احتمال اأكرث ما

يكون على املدى الطويل. يف الوقت الراهن، اأولويتي هي

بناء م�ضريتي املهنية يف ال�ضركة وا�ضتغالل وقت فراغي

الأعمايل الفنية”.

من الفنية اأحمد اأعمال على االطالع ميكنكم •االآتي: الرابط عرب باالإن�ضتاجرام، موقعه زيارة خالل

instagram.com/aalmandhri

موظفونا

17

االمتياز لل�ضركة”.

بع�س توظيف من اأمتكن اأنني ب�ضرعة “اأدركت اأحمد: يقول مهاراتي يف جمال الفنون الب�ضرية يف الر�ضومات �ضمن اأعمال فريق

ال�ضعارات اأي�ضًا وكذلك اخلرائط على عملنا حيث اجليوماتك�س،

واملل�ضقات. يف الواقع، فاإن معظم مل�ضقات اجليوماتك�س التي ترونها

من ت�ضاميم ت�ضمنت الوقت ذلك يف ال�ضركة مكاتب حول مل�ضقة

اأعمايل”.

ثم انتقل اأحمد اإىل ق�ضم نظم املعلومات اجلغرافية، وهو املجال

من )جيوماتك�س( الذي يجمع بني ر�ضم اخلرائط مع التقاط وحتليل

التي التحاليل “اإن قائاًل: واأو�ضح البيانات اجلغرافية واجليولوجية. نقوم بها ت�ضاعد على حت�ضني اخلرائط اجليولوجية اجلوفية واخلرائط

الفنية للمن�ضاآت ال�ضطحية لدينا”.

م اأحمد وخالل عمله �ضمن فريق نظم املعلومات اجلغرافية �ضمَّ

�ضًا ملوظفي ال�ضركة لطلب اخلرائط، موقعًا على �ضبكة االإنرتنت خم�ضَّ

اأو “بي دي اأي�ضًا م�ضطلع بدور كبري يف تطبيق Maps. وهو ي�ضمى لربنامج م�ضابهة بطريقة يعمل والذي ،)PDO Earth( اإيرث” الداخلي لال�ضتخدام ولكنه ،)Google Earth( اإيرث جوجل

PDO( حتديث “يتم فقط. Earth( يوميًا من قاعدة بيانات لدينا؛ اجلغرافية املعلومات نظام

احل�ضول للم�ضتخدمني وميكن

احلفر الأجهزة علوية مناظر على

وغريها من املرافق، وكذلك معرفة

يف مكانني بني الطرق اأق�ضر

اأحمد: وي�ضيف االمتياز”. منطقة بالفعل”. ومفيد ذكي تطبيق “اإنه

املهنية حياته باأن اأحمد ويقر

�ضقل يف �ضاعدت قد ال�ضركة يف

ا�ضتلزم اأنه اإال االإبداعية، مهاراته

من الفنية اجلوانب على الرتكيز

من مرتاح فهو ذلك ومع عمله.

موظفونا

16

ولكنه ر�ضم، ولوح فر�ضاة مع اجللو�س عن يختلف هذا الفني العمل “اإن �ضخ�س الأي ميكن اإذ احلا�ضم العن�ضر هو وهذا نف�ضها. الفنية العملية يتبع

فريد من �ضيء تكوين ولكن فوتو�ضوب، برنامج ا�ضتخدام كيفية نف�ضه يعلِّم اأن

نوعه يحتاج اإىل عقلية فنية وب�ضرية فنان يف كيفية ا�ضتخدام االألوان وتنا�ضقها،

لَيحُبك تلك الديباجة الرائعة املبهرة”.

من ال�ضركة يوم يف تاألقه خالل ومن

خالل م�ضاركة فنية له يف يوم ال�ضركة االأول يف

اأعمال على بعدها اأحمد ح�ضل ،2014 مايو

يقوم اأنه كما ال�ضركة. موظفي من عدد من

خالل من مبا�ضرة الفنية اأعماله بت�ضويق

عرب �ضيما وال االجتماعية، التوا�ضل و�ضائل

تطبيق تبادل ال�ضور “اإن�ضتاجرام”.

الفن متأصل في األسرة

على الرغم من اأنه ا�ضتغرق بع�س الوقت

الأحمد اأن اإال اجلمهور، بني �ضهرة ليكت�ضب

ر بالتاأكيد يف االأ�ضرة فخاله �ضغف بالفن الب�ضري طوال حياته. واالإبداع متجذِّ

ان كبري يف ُعمان، وهو ع�ضو يف اجلمعية العمانية للفنون، يو�ضف النحوي، هو فنَّ

وممن داأبوا على امل�ضاركة يف املعار�س يف الداخل واخلارج. وحظي يو�ضف اأي�ضًا

اأكرب لوحة ل رقمًا قيا�ضيًا يف مو�ضوعة جيني�س لر�ضم اأن �ضجًّ بعد �ضاِم، بتكرمي

اأن كما اهلل. حفظه – �ضعيد بن قابو�س ال�ضلطان اجلاللة �ضاحب حل�ضرة �س مواهبه االإبداعية يف �ضقيق اأحمد يحيى كرًّ

االأدب، والعمل ككاتب حمرتف.

يف اأر�ضم اأن اأحب “كنت اأحمد: ويقول اخلروج وقت حان عندما ولكن املدر�ضة،

الربنامج يف بقبويل �ضررت العمل عامل اإىل

التدريبي ل�ضركة تنمية نفط ُعمان املخ�ض�س

وي�ضيف: الدبلوم”. م�ضتوى من للطلبة الذي التدريبي الربنامج اأكملت “عندما دائرة اإىل ان�ضممت �ضنوات، اأربع ا�ضتغرق

وهي )جيوماتك�س(، االأر�س قيا�ضات نظم

مناطق خرائط ر�ضم عن امل�ضوؤولة الدائرة

موظفونا

15

وميكن اأن ُيعذر اأحمد يف تتوُّقه وهو ينظر بفارغ ال�ضرب اإىل التقومي ويحدوه

االأمل يف اأن متر االأيام ب�ضرعة حتى ينتهي من الطباعة واالإخراج لكتاب ذا طبيعة

خا�ضة ومتميزة، وهو كتاب كان الأحمد دور اأ�ضا�ضي يف اإعداده.

للبيع معرو�ضًا الكتاب هذا ترى لن

اإىل رفعه �ضيتم اإذ املكتبات، من اأي يف

�ضاحب ح�ضرة ملوالنا ال�ضامي املقام

�ضعيد بن قابو�س ال�ضلطان اجلاللة

– للتعبري ورعاه اهلل – حفظه املعظم عظيم من وموظفيها ال�ضركة تكنه عما

االحرتام وفائق االإجالل والوالء جلاللته.

اإرباك م�ضدر ورمبا فخر يوم “�ضيكون عند و�ضول الكتاب الذي �ضيقدم جلاللته

“اأ�ضعر اأحمد: واأو�ضح املطبعة”. من على ملقى امل�ضوؤولية من كبريًا عبئًا اأن

يليق جلعله بجد عملنا وقد عاتقي،

باملقام ال�ضامي”.

توقيعات دفتيه بني الكتاب ويجمع

وتعليقات من موظفي ال�ضركة واأطفالهم،

ال�ضكر لر�ضالة الكامل الن�س ويت�ضمن

خالل للموظفني جاللته بها اأوعز التي

.2013 مايو يف بزيارته ال�ضركة ت�ضرف

ت�ضميم مهمة توىل اأحمد وزميلنا

تت�ضم والتي ال�ضفحات، وتخطيط

بفخامة االإخراج مت�ضمنة عددًا من �ضور

عمل الكتاب غالف يربز بينما جاللته،

فني اأ�ضلي من عمل اأحمد.

فكيف ل�ضخ�س ال خربة تاأهيلية اأوعملية له يف الن�ضر، وبخلفية مهنية تتمثل

،)GIS( اجلغرافية املعلومات نظم يف كهذه؟ امل�ضتوى رفيعة مبهمة ي�ضطلع

يكمن اللغز هذا حل الأحمد بالن�ضبة

ب�ضخ�ضية و�ضغفه الوثيق ارتباطه يف

“كانت اأحمد: يقول اجلاللة، �ضاحب لل�ضركة اجلاللة �ضاحب ح�ضرة زيارة

االإبداعية. لطموحاتي والدافع الباعث

معر�ضًا تنظم اأن تريد ال�ضركة فكانت

الإبراز مواهب موظفي ال�ضركة لالحتفاء

و�ضرت ال�ضركة، ليوم االأوىل بالذكرى

فنية” “لوحات اأنتجت اأنني �ضائعة منها برامج جمموعة با�ضتخدام وذلك

برنامج فوتو�ضوب وغريه، وُطلب مني اأن

لعر�ضه الفنية اأعمايل من واحدًا اأقدم

يف معر�س املواهب وكان املعر�س مبثابة

من�ضة االنطالق”.

والتي الرائعة، الفنية االأعمال هذه

خمتارة جمموعة على تطلع اأن ميكنك

والتي املقالة، هذه �ضفحات يف منها

للن�س فني حتوير خالل من لت �ُضكِّ

جذاب، جديد �ضيء لتكوين وال�ضور

االأكرب من جممل �ضي�ضغل اجلزء والذي

قائاًل: اأحمد وي�ضيف الكتاب. حمتوى

ريشته مغروسة في محبرة اإلبداع

أحمد المنذري: فنان عصامي موهوب

موظفونا

14

الشركة موظفي خاللها من نبرز أن دأبنا سلسلة ضمن ى مهاراته الموهوبين، نسرد في هذه الحلقة قصة موظف نمَّاإلبداعية بذاته مما أهله لالضطالع بدور أساسي في مشروع

إصدار كتاب مرموق ومتميز.

مجتمعنا

13

لـ“بنات ُعمان” بتزويد امل�ضروع مبدرب واآلة احلياكة. واأم�ضى موؤ�ض�ضة �ضريكة ب الن�ضاء اللواتي التحقن بالدورة على املهارات املطلوبة ب اأربعة اأ�ضهر يدرِّ املدرِّ

اجات ممتهنات، واختتمت الدورة يف اأغ�ضط�س من هذا العام. لي�ضبحن ن�ضَّ

�ضنع ميكنها عندها الن�ضيج، حياكة ملهنة متقنة املتدربة ت�ضبح وعندما

الكتاب �ضفحات حتديد كعالمة وال�ضوف القطن منتجات من عدة اأ�ضناف

واأحزمة املعايدة وبطاقات ال�ضورة( )انظر

القطعة حجم على واعتمادًا وغريها. اخلناجر

الن�ضيج حياكة ت�ضتغرق زخرفتها، تعقيد ودرجة

فرتة ترتاوح من ب�ضعة اأيام اإىل اأ�ضابيع.

بنت مرمي اجني، الن�ضَّ جمموعة بني ومن

اأحمد ال�ضيابية، التي علَّقت قائلة: “لقد ا�ضتمتعت ة ممتنَّ واأنا اجلديدة، املهارة هذه بتعلم كثريًا

ل�ضركة تنمية نفط عمان الإتاحة هذه الفر�ضة يل.

ا ممَّ الق�ضوى اال�ضتفادة اإىل نتطلع جميعًا نحن

تعلمناه ل�ضنع منتجات جميلة �ضريغب العمانيون والزوار يف اقتنائها”.

اجات اأول طلب �ضراء للزبائن على منتجاتهن، وهو عبارة عن وقد نفذت الن�ضَّ

�ضت�ضتفيد امل�ضتقبل ال�ضركة. ويف ب�ضرائها املعايدة قامت جمموعة من بطاقات

هوؤالء الن�ضوة من عقد خدمة لل�ضركة مع اإحدى املوؤ�ض�ضات ال�ضغرية واملتو�ضطة

لغر�س حمدد وهو ت�ضويق منتجات “بنات ُعمان”. ومن االآن ف�ضاعدًا، �ضتاأخذ احلذيفة للتدريب املعا�ضر زمام املبادرة يف هذا املجال، وهذا �ضيعني فر�س عمل

جديدة جلميع احلرفيني الذين تخرجوا من برامج “بنات ُعمان”.

منتجات بيع ملتجر االأخرية الّلم�ضات و�ضع موؤخرًا مت ذلك، اإىل واإ�ضافة

املوالح منطقة يف وافتتاحه اجلديد ُعمان”( “بنات )بوتيك ُعمان” “بنات تفاهم بتوقيع مذكرة للمبادرة ال�ضارة االأنباء املزيد من ال�ضيب؛ وهناك بوالية

مل�ضروع مقر هي والتي طاقة، والية يف العمل اأماكن يف االإيجار عقد لتمديد

منتجات االألبان ومركز اخلياطة )انظر العدد االأول، 2015(.

اأن هو كله، ذلك من االأخبار اأف�ضل ولعل

باهرًا الذي حقق جناحًا ُعمان”، “بنات م�ضروع – على ما يبدو – على عتبة مرحلة اأكرث اإ�ضراقًا، والتي االأمد، طويلة ا�ضرتاتيجية جديدة و�ضع مع

اعتمدتها االإدارة العليا بال�ضركة. ففي هذا ال�ضاأن

اال�ضتثمار م�ضت�ضارة الرحمية، حنان اأو�ضحت

اال�ضرتاتيجية “اإن قائلة: بال�ضركة، االجتماعي لـ“بنات م�ضتقبل تاأمني جمرد لي�ضت اجلديدة لتو�ضيع اأي�ضًا فر�ضة تتيح اإنها بل ُعمان”، اأن�ضطتنا. وهذا يعني اأن تنفيذ برامج تدريب اإ�ضافية من �ضاأنه اأن ُيك�ضب املزيد

معي�ضي م�ضتوى حتقيق وبالتايل يحتجنها التي املهارات العمانيات الن�ضاء من

اأف�ضل. و ال ريب يف اأننا نتطلع جميعًا اإىل الف�ضل التايل من ق�ضة “بنات ُعمان”.

العدد ُعمان” يف “بنات والق�ض�س من عامل االأخبار املزيد من • ترقبوا القادم!

مجتمعنا

12

ُعمان” “بنات فيه تستعد الذي الوقت في نلقي أن جدير تطورها، من المقبلة للمرحلة نظرة على واحدة من المبادرات الجديدة المثيرة، المهن إحدى في جديدة بحياة تبعث والتي الحرفية العمانية التقليدية، إنها حياكة القطن

والصوف.

ي�ضتمر برنامج “بنات ُعمان” لال�ضتثمار االجتماعي بال�ضركة، واحلائز على جوائز عدة، يف تعزيز متانته، ومع اعتماد ا�ضرتاتيجية جديدة طويلة االأمد له، مت

التعهد بتقدمي مزيد من الدعم اخلارجي وال�ضروع يف تنفيذ حزمة من املبادرات

اجلديدة لـ“بنات ُعمان”.

حرفتني على االكتمال، قيد احلرفيني، لتدريب برنامج اأحدث ويركز

تقليديتني هما حياكة القطن وال�ضوف. وقد مور�ضت هاتني احلرفتني يف ُعمان

منذ �ضنوات عدة، وحمافظة الداخلية هي اإحدى مراكز هذه احلرف املعروفة.

مركز موقع لتكون املحافظة هذه ال�ضركة اختيار امل�ضتغرب من يكن مل لذا

التدريب، ودعوتها لع�ضرين مواطنة من املناطق املجاورة للم�ضاركة.

عن يتم منها جزءًا اأن مع عالية مهارات تتطلب ذاتها، احلياكة وعملية

طريق االآلة، حيث اأن الن�ّضاجون ي�ضتخدمون نواًل خ�ضبيًا خا�ضًا )الكارجة( )انظر

ال�ضورة( الإن�ضاء اأمناط زخرفية معقدة للقطع املحاكة. وقام معهد التحول، وهو

مشروع “بنات ُعمان”: انطالقة نحو مستقبل

مشرق

نهجنا

11

وتقول منرية : “مت اإنتاج اثنني من اأ�ضرطة الفيديو التي تركز على املركبات لدعم ال�ضلطنة يف اأخرى �ضركات مع نعمل ونحن ال�ضائقني، لتدريب الثقيلة

برامج تدريب ل�ضائقي احلافالت املدر�ضية يف حماولة للحيلولة دون تكرار حدوث

مثل هذه احلوادث.”

التي املوؤثرة الو�ضائل اأقوى الفيديو واحدة من اأ�ضرطة اأ�ضبحت الواقع ويف

ت�ضتخدمها احلملة يف اإي�ضال ر�ضالتها التوعوية. فرابط احلملة لقناة ال�ضركة يف

اليوتيوب )youtube.com/user/Tesma3mini( �ضجلت ع�ضرات االآالف من امل�ضاهدين مما ي�ضاعد يف اإي�ضال ر�ضالتها ملن مل ت�ضملهم احلملة بزياراتها

امليدانية.

وهناك ت�ضجيل مرئي واحد على وجه اخل�ضو�س الذي ا�ضتحوذ على قلوب

امل�ضاهدين مبعنى �ضرب على الوتر احل�ضا�س، وحقق اأكرث من 50 األف م�ضاهدة.

ان، الطفل ال�ضغري الأحد موظفي ال�ضركة الذي ُقِذف به بعيدًا من اإنها ق�ضة عزَّ

ال�ضيارة عندما انفتح الباب فجاأة الأنه مل يكن يربط حزام االأمان.

ب�ضجاعة، الكامريا اأمام التحدث على عزان والد “وافق منرية: وتو�ضح والم�س هذا الفيديو قلوب النا�س بتاأثري عميق جدًا”. وقالت:“وعندما ا�ضتخدمنا احل�ضور اأجه�س م�ضقط، مهرجان يف م�ضاركتنا تد�ضني خالل الت�ضجيل هذا

بالبكاء، تاأثرًا بهذه الق�ضة احلزينة.”

وبينما نتطلع اإىل الن�ضف الثاين من الفرتة الزمنية حلملة “ت�ضمع مني”، من قدر اأق�ضى لتحقيق حا�ضمان والتعا�ضد التعاون من مزيدًا اأن منرية ترى

التغطية لهذه املبادرة. تعمل ال�ضركة بالفعل عن كثب مع اأع�ضاء اآخرين من اأوبال

لتحقيق فيه ت�ضعى الذي الوقت يف النفطية، للخدمات العمانية اجلمعية وهي

الرتبية ووزارة ال�ضلطانية عمان �ضرطة مع م�ضى وقت اأي من اأوثق عالقات

والتعليم.

بو�ضوح، ا�ضمها يبدو من “كما بالقول: �ضردها عن احلملة وتختتم منرية نريد اأن تكون هذه احلملة حديث ال�ضاعة. �ضوف ن�ضتخدم كل القنوات املتاحة لنا،

ولكن االأهم من ذلك كله اأننا �ضنوا�ضل االعتماد على الدعم الكبري من متطوعينا

داخل ال�ضركة وخارجها. فالف�ضل يرجع اإليهم يف ما و�ضلت اإليه احلملة اليوم،

�ضوه خلدمة احلملة، ف�ضاًل ونحن ال ميكن اأن ن�ضكرهم مبا يكفي للوقت الذي كرَّ

عما اأبدوه من حما�س وتوق للتعرف على �ضلوكيات ال�ضالمة على الطرق والقيادة

اجليدة، من اأجل ن�ضر هذه الر�ضالة لت�ضل القا�ضي والداين”.

نهجنا

10

“هذه بالقول: منرية وت�سرت�سل ال�سباق”. �ساحة يف هو لل�سباق الوحيد املكان نقطة ذات اأهمية خا�سة، لأن النغما�س يف هذه الأنواع من الأن�سطة على الطرق

العامة اأدى اإىل العديد من الإ�سابات والوفيات يف ال�سنوات الأخرية”.

كما �سارك يف احلملة التوعوية بعربي جمموعة حملية تطوعية ت�سمى “ب�ّسنا اأع�ساء اأحد وهو اجل�سا�سي، �سامل قال الفعالية، خالل كلمته ويف حوادث”. فهدفنا مني”، “ت�سمع حملة مع جهودنا ن�سم اأن لنا ل�سرف “اإنه املجموعة: واحد، واإنه لأمر رائع اأن تتظافر الأفكار واجلهود من اأجل هذه الق�سية النبيلة

املتمثلة يف رفع م�ستوى الوعي واإنقاذ الأرواح”.

اأما املرحلة الثالثة والنهائية من حملة “ت�سمع مني” لعام 2014 فتمثلت يف ذهاب فريق من املتطوعني اإىل اأق�سى ال�سمال وبالتحديد اإىل خ�سب، مبحافظة

وال�سامل لربط حزام القاطع الرف�س الأكرب هناك يف التحدي م�سندم. ومتثل

الأجرة �سيارة ب�سائق منرية زميلتنا فيه التقت الذي املكان هو )وهذا الأمان

امل�سار اإليه �سابقًا والذي مل يكن يربط حزام الأمان(.

حزام دائمًا تربط اأنها يل قالت و هناك بامراأة “التقيت منرية: وتقول الأمان عند القيادة يف م�سقط، ولكن ل تربطه اأبدًا اأثناء وجودها يف خ�سب. هذا

هو نوع من املواقف التي نحن بحاجة اإىل تغيريها، ولذلك جل�ست معها، و�سرحت

لها ما يحدث اإذا – ل قدر اهلل – انقلبت بها ال�سيارة وهي ل تربط حزام الأمان؛ لفتًة انتباهها اإىل حقيقة اأنها قد ت�ساب جراء حادث مروري بغ�س النظر عن

مكان حدوثه”.

2015: استهداف منطقة االمتياز

مني” يف “ت�سمع حلملة الفعاليات من املزيد تنظيم مت ،2015 عام ويف جميع اأنحاء البالد، مبا يف ذلك احلمالت التوعوية الرئي�سية كتلك التي نظمت

العام هذا والرتكيز اجلنوب. يف واجلازر احلالنيات وجزر �سليم وليات يف

ان�سب على املجتمعات املحلية يف منطقة امتياز ال�سركة البالغ م�ساحتها نحو 90

األف كيلومرت مربع. وهذه املدن والقرى خمتلفة مقارنة مب�سقط من حيث م�ستوى

اإنارة الطرقات، لذا يتعاظم خطر النقالب على الطرق امل�ستخدمة التي عادة ما

تكون مظلمة و�سيقة كونها قليلة ال�ستخدام.

كما يجري الرتكيز ب�سكل خا�س على �سائقي املركبات الثقيلة - مبا يف ذلك

م�سوؤولية كاهلهم على تقع الذين - املدر�سية واحلافالت ال�ساحنات �سائقي

كبرية يف القيادة باأمان ب�سبب الكوارث املحتملة التي ميكن اأن ت�سببها. ل يحتاج

العام من يناير يف مروعة مدر�سية حافلة حادثة مباأ�ساة تذكريًا العمانييون

املا�سي، والتي كانت ت�سري ب�سرعة اأكرث من 100 كم / �ساعة، وخرجت عن نطاق

ال�سيطرة، مما اأ�سفر عن مقتل ثالثة اأطفال وجرح الع�سرات.

نهجنا

9

طريق اإنزالق من�ضة مقاعد الركاب يف منحدر لطيف ب�ضرعة حوايل 7 كم/�ضاعة

ام يف االأ�ضفل. وهذا ميثل بو�ضوح قبل اأن ياأتي اإىل توقف اهتزازي لريتطم ب�ضدَّ

قوى اجلذب االأمامية التي يواجهها ركاب ال�ضيارة يف مثل هذه احلالة، مربهنًا

اأن اأحزمة االأمان حيوية جدًا ل�ضالمتهم.

اأحد هو االأمان حزام بربط االإقناع جهاز “اإن البلو�ضي: منرية وت�ضيف “ال ي�ضتطيع النا�س ت�ضديق مدى عنف االأ�ضلحة ال�ضّرية لدينا”. وت�ضتطرد قائلة: الهزة عند حدوث توقف مفاجئ عند �ضرعة 7 كم/�ضاعة. اإن هذا اجلهاز ي�ضاعد

حقًا على تغيري املفاهيم حول مدى ال�ضرر الذي ميكن اأن يلحقك اإذا ما تورطت يف

حادث �ضري – ال قدر اهلل. اأتذكر مرة حاول �ضاب جتربة التوقف املفاجئ با�ضتخدام اجلهاز، ثم يف م�ضاء اليوم التايل عاد ليح�ضر �ضديقًا له، مما يعك�س مدى تاأثره

بهذه التجربة”.

للحملة الثالثة املحطة وكانت

2013 عام يف مني” “ت�ضمع التوعوية يف معر�س املرور، وهو املعر�س الوطني

لل�ضالمة العامة االإدارة تنظمه الذي

ال�ضلطانية. عمان ب�ضرطة املرورية

اإىل احلملة فريق ان�ضم هناك،

املعنية االأخرى الهيئات من جمموعة

من القطاعني العام واخلا�س، م�ضاركني

على لل�ضالمة حدث اأهم اأ�ضبح ما يف

الطرق يف ال�ضلطنة خالل تلك ال�ضنة.

اأماكن اإىل انتقلت احلملة لن�ضر ر�ضالتها وعندما بزغت �ضم�س عام 2014

ال�ضكانية الكثافة االأماكن ذات بعيدًا عن تقع اأماكن بتنظيم فعاليات يف اأبعد،

اأول حدث يف والية نزوى، مع الرتكيز على ذت نفَّ اأو �ضاللة. حيث مثل م�ضقط

جمموعتني متميزتني، كما ت�ضرح لنا منرية.

العمانية املراأة تاأثري مدى نعرف الأننا الن�ضاء، اإىل التحدث اأردنا “لقد يف النهار خالل احلدث تنظيم يتم اأن املهم من كان لذلك اأ�ضرتها. داخل

القاعة باحل�ضور. ويف وقت اكتظت �ضعداء حيث ا وكنَّ للن�ضاء، نزوى خ�ضي�ضًا

الحق من ذلك اليوم اأدرنا انتباهنا اإىل ال�ضائقني ال�ضباب، وخا�ضة الذكور منهم.

وحر�ضنا اأي�ضًا على اأن نح�ضر معنا جهاز االإقناع بربط حزام االأمان الأننا نعلم

ما له من اأثر قوي”.

التالية املحطة عربي والية كانت

مع الفريق ا�ضرتك وهنا للحملة،

وهي لل�ضيارات، العمانية اجلمعية

ال�ضيارات ب�ضباق تعنى موؤ�ض�ضة اأرفع

ال�ضائقني الإقناع كو�ضيلة ال�ضلطنة، يف

اأو بال�ضيارات الت�ضابق بعدم ال�ضباب

العامة. الطرق “التخمي�س” يف

�ضائقي هناك “كان واأ�ضافت: لل�ضيارات العمانية اجلمعية من �ضباق

اأن ال�ضباب لل�ضائقني لنوؤكد متواجدين

فعالية “ت�ضمع مني” بوالية �ضليم - 2015

نهجنا

8

في تغطية آخر على عامين انقضاء بعد ع على حملة صفحات “المنهل”، آن األوان أن نرجِّالسالمة على الطريق “تسمع مني” المدعومة على المحرز التقدم مدى لنسبر الشركة من

مستوى البالد.كان �ضيف هذا العام 2015 نقطة املنت�ضف لل�ضنوات اخلم�س التي هي عمر

يناير يف ال�ضركة اأطلقتها التي مني” “ت�ضمع حملة 2013 بهدف احلد من املعدل املقلق حلوادث الطرق

يف ال�ضلطنة.

وبدا انق�ضاء ن�ضف الفرتة الزمنية للحملة حلظة

الفا�ضلة منرية م�ضوؤولة احلملة، بركب للِّحاق مثالية

البلو�ضية، لرنى كيف كانت االأمور ت�ضري واكت�ضاف ما

يخبئه امل�ضتقبل لهذه املبادرة التوعوية.

تاأثري قيا�س “ميكننا منرية: تقول هذا وعن املتابعني عدد مثاًل جمردة؛ اأرقام خالل من حملتنا

النا�س اأو عدد االجتماعي التوا�ضل و�ضائل للحملة يف

املختلفة. الفعاليات �ضملتهم احلملة من خالل الذين

ولكن بالن�ضبة يل فاإن تاأثريها االأعمق هو على امل�ضتوى

االإن�ضاين، من حيث االأ�ضخا�س الذين قالوا لنا اأننا �ضاعدناهم على تغيري �ضلوكهم

اأثناء قيادتهم ملركباتهم”.

كل من �ضارك يف حملة “ت�ضمع مني” له ق�ضة يرويها عن اأ�ضخا�س الم�ضت هذه احلملة جانبًا من جوانب حياتهم، ولكن منرية تتذكر جتربتني ذاتي �ضلة،

اأجرة، �ضيارة ا�ضتقللت فعاليات احلملة، الإحدى توجهي “خالل قائلة: وتو�ضح والحظت اأن ال�ضائق مل يكن يرتدي حزام االأمان. �ضاألته ملاذا وكان رده :”نحن ال نفعل ذلك هنا”، مما دفعني اإىل دعوته حل�ضور هذا احلدث، ويف اليوم التايل كان وبالفعل املطار. ال�ضائق يف عودتي من نف�س ياأخذين اأن ال�ضدفة كان من

يرتدي حزام االأمان!”

اأن ليطلب وقف احل�ضور �ضمن �ضابًا اأتذكر اأخرى، منا�ضبة “ويف وقالت: يكون �ضفريًا متطوعًا للحملة، الأنه تاأثر كثريًا مبا قلناه. كل واحد من الذين ت�ضلهم

حملتنا يعني اأننا جنحنا يف احتمالية اإنقاذ حياة اأو تفادي حدوث اإ�ضابة”.

وقبل النظر بالتف�ضيل يف التقدم املحرز حلملة “ت�ضمع مني” منذ اآخر مقال لنا )انظر العدد 3، 2013(، من الالئق اأن ن�ضتح�ضر اإىل االأذهان اأ�ضول احلملة

واأهدافها عند تد�ضينها.

ت�ضعى حملة “ت�ضمع مني” الإحداث تغيري �ضلوكي بطريقة والعقول للقلوب اأ�ضرها خالل من دائم

�ضريحة على خا�س ب�ضكل الرتكيز مع اإيجابية؛

تر�ضيخ اإىل احلملة وتهدف املجتمع. يف ال�ضباب

اإثارة واأ�ضاليب الدامية ال�ضور بعيدًا عن االإيجابيات

الرعب، وت�ضتعي�س بداًل من ذلك باملزيد من الر�ضائل

واحد كل حفاظ �ضرورة حول تدور للعاطفة املثرية

على عائلته اآمنة حممية.

للحملة، االأ�ضا�ضي املحرك هي ال�ضركة اأن ومع

من الن�ضط الدعم تاأمني يف اأي�ضًا جنحت اأنها اإال

من كبري عدد قام كما ال�ضلطانية. عمان �ضرطة جانب

اجلماعات التطوعية االأخرى مب�ضاندة احلملة خالل م�ضريتها.

2013 – 2014: الحملة تتوسع في ربوع البالد

عندما �ضربنا احلملة اآخر مرة، كانت تتمتع ببداية قوية يف مهرجان م�ضقط

مطلع عام 2013، وتزامن ذاك مع وقت تد�ضني و�ضائل التوا�ضل االجتماعي للحملة.

بعد ذلك، كان للحملة موعد مع مهرجان �ضاللة ال�ضياحي خالل �ضهر يوليو

من العام نف�ضه، حيث اأتاح فر�ضة اأخرى للفريق ليبنيِّ للجمهور اأهمية اال�ضتفادة

من حزام االأمان من خالل عر�س جتربة عملية لزوار املهرجان با�ضتخدام جهاز

عن منخف�ضة ب�ضرعة �ضري حادث يحاكي والذي االأمان، حزام بربط االإقناع

حملة “تسمع مني” تبقي موضوع السالمة على

الطريق حديث الساعة في سائر السلطنة

خبراتنا

7

االستخالص تقنيات من جديد جيل المعزز للنفط قاب قوسين أو أدنى

كما هو مو�ضح يف املقالة الرئي�ضية، اإن �ضركة تنمية

اإقدامًا االأكرث النفط �ضركات بني من هي عمان نفط

على امل�ضتوى العاملي عندما يتعلق االأمر بتجريب تقنيات

وتكنولوجيات اال�ضتخال�س املعزز للنفط اجلديدة.

بة والواعدة هي واحدة من اأكرث التقنيات غري املجرَّ

ا�ضتخدام الرغوة لتح�ضني كفاءة الت�ضرب )اأي كمية من

النفط تت�ضرب من املكامن اإىل االآبار املنتجة(. والرغوة

مادة من خليط هي عنها، احلديث ب�ضدد نحن التي

خاف�ضة للتوتر ال�ضطحي والغاز، وعادة غاز ثاين اأك�ضيد

الكربون اأو النيرتوجني.

اأن من الرغم على

من كان الرغوة ا�ضتخدام

املطروحة اخليارات �ضمن

تقنيات على القائمني لدى

للنفط املعزز اال�ضتخال�س

يتم مل اأنه اإال الوقت، لبع�س

جتريبها يف اأي حقل بعد، نظرًا

ن�ضبيًا، معقدة تقنية لكونها

ذلك، ومع وت�ضغيليًا. كيميائيًا

من العديد مع احلال هو وكما

االبتكارات املتعلقة باال�ضتخال�س املعزز للنفط ويجري

اإيالء مزيد من تو�ضيع حدود نطاق املعرفة ب�ضرعة مع

الرتكيز عليها.

هذه اكت�ضاب ب�ضدد عمان نفط تنمية و�ضركة

اال�ضتخال�س اإىل �ضالمل واإ�ضافتها املتقدمة، التقنيات

تكتنفها التي للحقول الكيميائية للنفط املعزز

كثب عن ال�ضركة تبحث املثال، �ضبيل على التحديات.

من االحتياطيات ال�ضتخراج بالرغوة احلقن كيفية يف

النفط املحتجزة يف مكامن كربونية كتيمة )اأي املكامن

حتتوي التي امل�ضامية( قليلة الكربونية ال�ضخور ذات

على النفط الثقيل. هذه املكامن ال ت�ضتجيب ب�ضكل جيد

ولكن احلقن التقليدية، البوليمر الغمر مبادة لتقنيات

بالرغوة تقنية اأكرث واعدة، حيث اأن الرغوة خفيفة مبا

يكفي حلقن اأكرث �ضهولة يف ال�ضخر مقارنة بالبوليمر،

وكونها اأكرث �ضيولة، يجعل من ال��