«Теңізшевройл» жауапкершілігі шектеулі серіктестігінің басылымы
Информационная газета ТОО «Тенгизшевройл»
Tengizchevroil Newsletter
НОВОСТИ ТШО
№ 09-10 (195-196) 2013
TCO NEWS
Special Edition dedicated to the 8th KazEnergy Forum
and KIOGE ‘13 Exhibition
Dear Participants of KazEnergy and KIOGE Forums
and Exhibitions,
Thank you very much
for attending the VIII Eurasia
Kazenergy Forum and 21st
Oil and Gas – KIOGE-2013
Kazakhstan’s International Exhibition and Conference, now
held for the seventh time and
recognized among the most
important events of the petroleum sector in Eurasia and
Central Asia.
As is tradition, we welcome representatives of government agencies, oil and gas
industry and business associations to the forums which
serve a critical role by providing a venue for discussing issues related to energy sources and production outlooks in Eurasia.
This year we are proud to celebrate
20 years of success achieved through a
focus on operational excellence by our
dedicated team of employees and a commitment to advancing the petroleum industry in Kazakhstan. Resulting from this hard
work is our note-worthy performance in
safety, health and environmental protection
and personnel development.
The achievements of TCO, such as
production growth and increased direct
contributions to Kazakhstan, help improve
the investment climate in Kazakhstan, among
other benefits to the development of business
and communities.
Since 1993, Tengizchevroil has paid in
excess of $13 billion to Kazakhstani suppliers
of goods and services. TCO has invested over
$800 million in social infrastructure development for the improved well-being of employees and local residents through implementing
various social programs and allowances.
Along with distributions to Kazakhstan and other partners and significant
support to Kazakhstan business, TCO scored outstanding success in the optimization of base business and
as a demonstrated leader in
environmental responsibility.
While increasing production
by 131 percent since 2000,
TCO achieved 68 percent
reduction of air emissions
per tonne of produced crude.
In the same time frame TCO
reduced flaring volumes by
92 percent.
We are confident
that Tengizchevroil, together with other oil and
gas industry companies in
Kazakhstan, will continue
to contribute to the development and prosperity of Kazakhstan.
We hope the forums and exhibitions will
be marked once again, by important and
effective collaboration and promote further growth of the energy sector of Kazakhstan.
Tim Miller
Tengizchevroil General Director
In this issue:
Key SGI Process
Component Updated
Page 2
Reliable Power Supply
Page 5
Anuarbek Jackiyev
Tengizchevroil Deputy General Director
One of a Kind in Kazakhstan
Valve Plant opened in Atyrau
New Map of Atyrau
Page 7
Dance Sport in Tengiz:
Is it so?
O
n September 3, 2013, Chevron
Eurasia Business Unit held an
opening ceremony for the new
valve plant located in Atyrau. The valve plant
will produce steel gate valves used for water supply, sewage and natural gas utilities.
Attending the dedication were Gumar Dyussembayev, deputy akim of the Atyrau Oblast;
Erlan Khairov, head of Kazahstan’s Ministry of
Industry and New Technologies Committee for
Investments; Eimear Bonner, deputy managing director of Chevron Eurasia Business Unit
(BU); and representatives of the local community.
The valve plant project cost approximately $40 million. The plant is expected to
produce 30,000 valves per year and create
over 70 new jobs for Kazakhstani citizens.
The plant’s managing team consists largely of
national supervisors.
Page 7
In her opening remarks at the ribboncutting ceremony, Eimear Bonner, deputy
managing director of Chevron Eurasia BU
said, “Chevron has been committed to strongly
supporting the diversification of Kazakhstan’s
economy through bringing on up-to-date technologies and expanding production capabili-
ties in Kazakhstan. We believe the new plant
will make its contribution in the development
of national machine-building industry and increase of Kazakhstan’s export potential.”
Attending the ceremony was general director of Tengizchevroil Tim Miller.
By S. Kairgaliyeva
Watching the Moon
above Aktolagai
Page 16
2
№09-10 (195-196) 2013
Tengizchevroil Fact S
Mid-year 2013
History and Ownership
•Tengiz, the world’s deepest producing super giant
oil field, was discovered in
1979.
•The Tengizchevroil (TCO)
partnership was formed on
April 6, 1993, between the
Republic of Kazakhstan and
Chevron. Current partners
are Chevron, 50 percent;
KazMunaiGas, 20 percent;
ExxonMobil Kazakhstan
Ventures Inc., 25 percent;
LukArco B.V., 5 percent.
Production and Reserves
•Total recoverable crude oil
at Tengiz and Korolev fields
through April 2033 is from
750 to 1.1 billion metric
tonnes (6 to 9 billion barrels).
Estimated oil in place in
Tengiz field is 3 billion metric
tonnes (26 billion barrels) with
190 million metric tonnes (1.5
billion barrels) in the Korolev
field. The circumference of the
Tengiz reservoir is large, measuring 20 kilometers (12 miles)
by 21 kilometers (13 miles).
•TCO completed its Sour Gas
Injection and Second Generation Plant expansion project
in the third quarter of 2008,
which brought daily production capacity to approximately
75,000 metric tonnes (600,000
barrels) of crude oil and 22
million cubic meters (750
mscf) of natural gas.
Crude Production
•Crude production for the first
half of the year was 13.9
million metric tonnes (108.7
million barrels).
•TCO exports crude oil through
a variety of transportation
routes. TCO exported crude oil
via the CPC pipeline to Novorossiysk, via rail to Odessa
and Taman, as well as to
Aktau, then further to Batumi
and Kulevi.
Product Sales
•• TCO sold almost 673 thousand metric tonnes of LPG
and 3.5 billion cubic meters of
dry gas.
•• TCO sold 1.8 million metric
tonnes of sulfur, which is 154
percent of the 1.2 million
metric tonnes produced for
the same period. TCO’s sales
success has resulted in the
reduction of volumes of sulfur
stored in Tengiz inventory to
Key SGI Process Component Updated
D
uring the recent
turnover at the KTL
Plant, an incident
occurred where two employees
were exposed to hydrogen sulfide. TCO’s safety culture guides
everyone and every action.
When incidents like these occur, this implies a loss in focus.
Additional safeguards have been
established to help prevent similar incidents from occuring in the
future.
At a meeting held after the
incident, Kosbol Alashbayev,
sour gas injection turnaround
coordinator, proposed to amend
the procedure of supervision of
H2S risk-related jobs by assigning special inspectors for gashazardous jobs. The inspectors
will wear special uniforms, so everyone in the area will be aware
of the risk. Alashbayev’s proposal
was accepted unanimously.
Kosbol is an expert oilman.
He has worked in Tengiz since
1990, which means he started
before the plant was built. He
learned about plant operations
after taking part in Program 12
and KTL modernization. He also
was one of the authors of the
Routine Works Program which
essentially serves the manual for
KTL operators.
In 2000, Kosbol was transferred to a new position at SGI.
He completed training in London
and later in Florence, Italy as part
of the first team of Tengiz specialists trained to operate the supercompressor used in the Sour Gas
Injection facility. In 2005, Kosbol
successfully completed the initial
trial run of SGI unit and soon became the focus of the story published by the New York Times.
The staff operating the SGI
facility, the one-of-a-kind unit injecting sour gas back into the for-
mation at a pressure of 600 bar,
is a great team built of top-notch
professionals who have serious
training and experience and who
are assisted by knowledgeable
and ambitious young specialists.
Among its key team members are
such gurus of upstream as Masymkhan Berdygaliyev, Maulensein Ermukhanbetov and Erlan
Nurgaliyev. On top of this list I am
placing Bakhytgali Utepbergenov
with his remarkable record of 21
years in Tengiz. He was part of
the project to build and bring online KTL-1 and KTL-2, Train 5
and, to-date, has been working at
SGI for 12 years.
“Operating this facility is a
truly exciting experience,” said
Bakhytgali. – Every unit is thoroughly calculated and fine-tuned,
and the process is high fidelity.
Kosbol Alashbayev
The technology used for SGI is
state-of-the-art and the key components are one-of-a-kind. The
mission of the people assigned
to ensuring fail-safe operation of
this unique facility makes them
feel proud of the specialists who
designed and built it.”
Such is the impression of
SGI shared by the specialist who
shutdown of units,” explained
Askar Demegenov, SGI operations supervisor. “We replaced
a few parts and units operated
since 2008 and completed compressor upgrade to increase
its capacity. This year the turnaround is definitely lower scale,
yet given we deal with noxious
gas, every job performed on SGI
is a very high responsibility.” On
August 1, the turnaround team
completed the purging of the
facility of hydrogen-sulfide and
toxic hydrocarbons and commissioned the equipment to the turnaround team. They completed
the procedure of turbine maintenance, replacement
of flame detectors, nozzles and fine-tuned the
combustion chambers.
By August 12 the turnaround was completed
according to the plan
and with no day-awayfrom-work incidents. In
fact, we finished ahead
of time and waited for
the SGP team to complete their turnaround to
hook to the plant. Now
everything works ideally.
SGI injects 350 to 360
thousand cubic meters
of sour gas in the formation per hour which is an
updated process parameter.
Bakhygali Utepbergenov
The above parameter allows for producing
over one million metric tonnes of
has dedicated 12 years to studycrude oil on the Second Generaing this facility to detail. Standing
tion Plant. Together with the “old”
by his side are young operators
KTL Plant they currently produce
Alimzhan Atraov, Erkin Niyetaliev,
over 2 million metric tones per
Serik Iskaliyev and Amanbek
month.
Baimagambetov – all different,
yet very alike in their eagerness
By Georgy Trukhin
to know more about profession.
Photo supplied
“Last year was the inauby the author
gural turnaround with a planned
3
№09-10 (195-196) 2013
Sheet
ing technical malfunctions by
87 percent from 2000 to 2012.
2.1 million tonnes as of June
30, 2013.
•TCO’s premium sulfur is
sold in four different forms to
customers in many countries, including Kazakhstan,
Russia, Ukraine, China and
other countries primarily in the
Mediterranean and Central
Asia regions.
Health, Safety and the
Environment
•TCO has invested $2.6 billion
since the year 2000 on projects to minimize environmental impact.
•Such investments in environmental protection have enabled TCO to reduce total gas
flaring volumes by 92 percent
since the year 2000.
•Total air emissions generated
per tonne of oil produced have
been reduced by 68 percent
since 2000. In first half of
2013, TCO averaged 2.45 kilograms of emissions per tonne
of oil produced. Since 2000,
TCO has increased annual
crude oil production volume by
131 percent.
•Investments in environmental
protection and improvements
in plant reliability have helped
TCO to achieve reduction in
the number of technical malfunctions at the KTL plant by
81 percent, and the volume of
sour and acid gas flaring dur-
TCO’s Financial Impact
•From 1993 through the first
half of 2013, TCO made
direct financial payments of
$81.1 billion to Kazakhstani
entities, including Kazakhstani
employees’ salaries, purchases of Kazakhstani goods
and services, tariffs and fees
paid to state-owned companies, profit distributions to
Kazakhstani shareholder and
taxes and royalties paid to the
government.
•In 2012, direct payments to
the Republic of Kazakhstan
totaled $14.2 billion. In the first
half of 2013, direct payments
to the Republic of Kazakhstan
totaled $6.9 billion.
Kazakhstani Content
•TCO has spent over $1 billion
on Kazakhstani goods and
services in the first half of
2013. TCO has invested more
than $14.2 billion on Kazakhstani goods and services since
1993.
Workforce Development
•Kazakhstani citizens hold 87
percent of TCO positions,
compared to 50 percent in
1993.
•Kazakhstani managers and
supervisors represent 77
percent of the TCO managerial workforce. Ongoing
training and development
programs exist to support the
advancement of employees
to positions of increasing
responsibility.
Community Outreach
•Since 1993, TCO has
invested more than $830
million to fund social projects
and programs in the Atyrau
Oblast for the community and
employees.
•TCO invested $20 million in
the Egilik (benefit in Kazakh)
voluntary social infrastructure
program in 2012. Most of the
investment was focused on
reconstruction of a new, over
$60 million water system in
Kulsary. In 2013, TCO has
another $25 million budgeted
for Egilik, the majority of
which will be spent for construction of kindergartens and
schools in Atyrau and Zhylyoi
district.
•In 2013, TCO’s Community Investment Program
has more than $1 million
in projects planned to help
improve the quality of health,
education and training in
Atyrau Oblast.
WTF – Expecting Startup
Wastewater Treatment Facility (WTF) –
a recent major capital project of Tengizchevroil
A
ccording to Istvan Kis,
Chemimontage construction manager who
took us on a tour of the site, “the
construction work is largely complete and we are adding some finishing touches – final cleaning and
touchup of steel structures painting.”
The wastewater treatment
unit with design capacity of 5,000
cu m per day, which is the heart
of the facility, is now ready to operate. Also, the new pump station
and three legs of water mains to
hook the Rotational Village (13
km), Industrial Base (11 km) and
Shanyrak Village (4 km) have been
built, with a length of over 30 km,
including subsidiary lines. Also
added was the new set of 9 evaporation ponds with a total area of 10
hectares.
Water mains, pump houses,
evaporation ponds – each of these
projects dwarfs before the giant
expansion projects implemented
in Tengiz recently. Occasionally,
some may consider them insignificant and small. In the meantime,
same as every other major capital
project supporting base business,
WTF required a comprehensive
systematic approach and was designed to meet the challenge by
far exceeding the basic function of
wastewater treatment. One critical
aspect WTF addresses is environmental protection. The WTF project is classified as one of TCO’s
environmental projects because
the facility provides superior quality wastewater treatment through
the use of state-of-the-art technologies.
The existing wastewater
treatment system was also frontrank in its time and performed well,
yet it was built more than thirty
years ago, thus the technologies
WTF Operators Nauryzbai Akberzhanov and Ismagul Kairzhan
Istvan Kis and Alfia Dosukhova, consultant and linguist
became outdated. Another important criterion placing WTF among
high-priority projects is economic.
The freshwater used in Tengiz is
imported through a 400 km long
waterline from Kigach, the tributary of Volga. Needless to say,
Tengizchevroil pays a significant
amount of money for this freshwater. Now, WTF together with Wastewater Recycle Facility (WRF),
another project completed simultaneously, is expected to allow TCO
to save on freshwater (over two
million cubic meters). Another important aspect of WTF is technical.
After treatment at WTF, industrial
wastewater will now be recycled
at WRF and looped back, thus can
be supplied to the plant and reused
as technical water in TCO boilers.
This is called a higher level conservation.
Finally, there is a social aspect. The characteristics of the
recycled wastewater will permit its
use for watering green plants, trees
and shrubs which is of high value
given the semi-desert environment
of Tengiz. Thus, the completion of
WTF project will give TCO additional resources the company can
use to create a green belt around
the industrial base and rotational
villages and also to organize some
comfortable and picturesque oasistype rest & recreation zones.
TCO technical consultant for
the WTF Project, Karzhaubai Tleulessov, has no doubt both the water lines and main facilities’ quality
will be appraised highly. He said,
“we provided proper supervision
throughout the project life. Except
for a few defects of pipes which
were timely discovered and replaced, everything has been done
to a high standard. I believe this is,
perhaps, the best wastewater treatment facility in Kazakhstan, so far
unmatched.”
“In terms of parameters, our
Wastewater Treatment Facility is
lower capacity compared with similar municipal water treatment plants
in Astana and Almaty; however, the
technologies we use are definitely
better,” explained Kis.
Presently, the chief focus at
WTF is on the bacteria growing
process. Special bacteria play a
key role in biological wastewater
treatment. Currently, this is the first
section of the plant which has been
put in operation.
Soon the WTF Project will
be completed and become history,
yet TCO specialists are looking
forward to completing WRF which
is deemed by them to be a project
with a higher content of innovation.
By Georgy Trukhin
4
№09-10 (195-196) 2013
New Park in Kulsary
Good news for Kulsary residents. They will soon enjoy
a new park. Needless to say, such an idea is strongly
welcomed and appreciated by all people living in an area
known for a pretty harsh climate and weather extremes.
Being a good corporate citizen, Tengizchevroil volunteered to be involved in this project.
appeal to take care of the young
trees and contribute to making the
area the favorite place in town for
all local folks.
TCO general director commented that environmental issues
have been of high priority for the
F
riday, August 16
saw a tree-planting event in Kulsary which essentially served
as the groundbreaking ceremony for the future Dostyk
Park. The site was marked
by balloons of different colors
and music. People flowed into
the area to see the large stand
presenting the colorful plan
and to contribute personally
to this exciting new project expected to make a big change
to their home town. Many decided to bring their entire family to the event.
The park is a part of an
environmental project which
entails beautification and
landscaping
opportunities
in Zhylyoi Region. The project
is planned for three years. This
year, TCO started with a pilot project and planted the first trees to
watch their survival ability in the
given climate and soil. The plan is
to plant 2000 trees in Kulsary befor year-end; thus, the future park
area will both provide a recreation
opportunity and serve as a site for
long-term environmental monitoring.
Maxim Izbassov, akim of
Zhylyoi district, attended the
groundbreaking ceremony and
made remarks thanking TCO and
general director Tim Miller for the
important enhancement to the
community. Izbassov also addressed Zhylyoi residents with an
company. Miller said in particular, “we are strongly committed
to continued cooperation and
implementing more projects in
the future aimed at improving the
well-being of local residents.” He
continued saying, “let the beautiful park we build here together
serve as a symbol of our strong
friendship and joint effort to cre-
ate value for the community. I am
sure all of you will enjoy the park
as a favorite place in town.”
Representatives of Kulsary
community made comments in
support of Miller’s wish and spoke
of their appreciation of TCO. Akim
Izbassov handed a symbolic key
to the park to Tim Miller as a sign
of strong appreciation of the difference TCO is making to the city.
After the ceremony, TCO
environmental specialists took
their time to organize a safety
briefing before the tree-planting.
About eighty representatives
from the local community, including NGOs and media, took part
in the tree-planting initiative, also
assisted by their children. All participants were given tools and
safety gloves.
The tree serves as a symbol
of fertility and wellbeing. A total of
200 elms, maple trees and ashes
were planted on Friday, August
16. Over 700 trees will be planted
in the park area. TCO contractor
– Ecostandard LLP - provided
the steel fence and installed the
gate. Ecostandard also supplied
the saplings and earth humus.
The weather was hot, so they
took care of proper watering.
TCO is committed to continuing similar projects to increase
community involvement in green
initiatives and beautification and
promote environmental awareness.
Attending the tree-planting
in the Dostyk Park were also Akim
of Kulsary - Sh. Keikin, general
manager of TCO Policy, Government and Public Affairs (PGPA)Rzabek Artygaliev, deputy general manager of TCO PGPA - Dave
MacInnis, and deputy general
manager of TCO OE/HES N. Kenganov.
By Gulnar Taskali
senior specialist, OE/HES
Kuanysh Utegenov, accepted the
donation and spoke of their appreciation. They said on behalf of
administration and local healthcare
professionals they look forward
to further fruitful cooperation with
Tengizchevroil.
By Galiya Essenova
are pleased to introduce our readers
to this wonderful family, the dynasty
of hard working gardeners who set
a brilliant example of commitment
and continuity, pursuing their noble
business.”
The above example proves
that whatever the soil and climate,
man can work miracles through
hard work and dedication, and
create his own Garden of Eden or
Semiramida’s Gardens, in spite of
all extremes and unfriendly environment.
We wish we could have more
enthusiasts like Anatoliy, who are
driven by the idea and desire to
make a difference in the community and create value for their native
land.
By Beket Karashin,
director of Alshi Foundation
Donation to Regional Hospital
O
n August 16, Tengizchevroil donated
15 air conditioner
(A/C) split system packages to the
Regional Hospital in Kulsary. At
the presentation ceremony, TCO
general director Tim Miller noted
in his remarks, “We are hoping
these A/C packages will make a
patient’s stay at the clinic more
comfortable and also provide
good working conditions for the
medical staff.”
Miller also reminded guests
and clinic employees, since 1993,
TCO has contributed $830 million
through funding of various social
projects implemented for the benefit of Atyrau Oblast community,
including Zhylyoi region and local
residents working for TCO.
In 2013, TCO has budgeted
$25 million for Egilik social infrastructure development projects, with
the majority of funds earmarked for
construction of new nurseries and
schools in Atyrau. An additional
$1.3 million will be used to implement projects under TCO’s Community Investment Program (CIP)
targeting improvements in local
healthcare and education.
In addition to the above, $140
million will be spent on environmental and reliability enhancement
projects expected to further improve
TCO’s environmentally responsible
performance.
Tim Miller thanked the Akim
of Zhylyoi district Maxim Izbassov
for his continued support and partnership in implementing various social programs.
Akim Izbassov and the director of the Regional Hospital,
From the Green Common
Areas to Semiramida Gardens
As part of a city beautification project, Alshi Foundation
organized a Best Green Common Area in Town contest
in Atyrau with support from Tengizchevroil. Anatoliy
Semionchev, crane operator with Doyteg Company and
resident of Atyrau, won the contest.
S
tarting in 1992, Anatoliy Semionchev assisted his parents in
growing a garden in the green area
behind their private house. Presently, they have plenty of trees and
shrubs growing in the courtyard, including birches, willows, lilac, peer
trees, cherries, apricots, apples,
vine and creepers, various kinds of
plum trees, flowers and vegetables.
They even have conifers
growing in the backyard. They grew
cedars in buckets and kept them
inside for a couple of years before
transplanting to the outdoor area.
Out of five saplings planted, three
survived.
In order to improve the soil,
Anatoliy uses manure, from his own
mini farm of rabbits and chicken, as
premium fertilizer to feed his green
nurslings.
Anatoliy is a hard worker who
attends to his garden during his offtime, because of his rotational work
schedule. He spends a lot of time
reading books on landscaping and
conducting endless experiments.
Anatoliy believes strongly that
his gardening hobby not only improves the environment in surrounding area where his family lives, but
also makes a difference to town. He
also thinks that growing trees and
taking good care of saplings helps
to cultivate awareness and civic
involvement by the younger generations. Anatoliy knows this from
experience. He inherited his love
of gardening from his parents and
passed his love on to his children.
Beket Karashin, director of
the Alshi Foundation remarked, “We
№09-10 (195-196) 2013
Reliable Power Supply
TCO installed a new high capacity transformer in the plant power supply system
T
he personnel of the
KTL plant in Tengiz
remember only too
well the severe winter of 2012 and
the emergency shutdown caused
by a power outage. After completing a rigorous investigation of the
emergency shutdown, the technical committee recommended that
transformers T5 and T6, feeding
the off-plot facilities, be replaced
to ensure reliability and a long
life of the equipment. The existing configuration using ABB power
transformers could not guarantee
stable and uninterrupted power
supply.
In pursuance of this recommendation, TCO placed an
order for purchase of new power
transformers. The Bid Review
Board voted for Alstom, Shanghai
Electric, as the supplier. Alstom,
Shanghai is known as a young,
fast growing specialist in this area,
primarily oriented in the Asian
market.
Alstom, Shanghai is wellknown to Tengiz electricians because they supplied T1 and T2
transformers for the plant’s central
control board. The Chinese manufacturer agreed to on-site inspections by TCO during the product
manufacturing process to give
TCO an opportunity to alter the
design to best meet its needs.
Even though the characteristics wanted by TCO exceeded
the existing standard, Alstom,
Shanghai demonstrated flexibility and understanding. In March
2013, Alstom, Shanghai invited a
group of TCO electrical specialists to factory testing of the first
transformer made in the order.
In the group were expert electrical specialists, including supervisor Baurzhan Alipov and technicians Sergei Dementyev, Michael
Kuzmichev, Andy Napper and Al-
exander larguin.
“The purpose of our trip to
Shanghai was factory testing of
the transformers, ISO compliance
verification and checking of wiring
against the drawings,” explained
Alexander Larguin. – We were impressed not only by Chinese hospitality, but also by the standard of
the manufacturer’s electrical lab
featuring all state-of-the-art equipment allowing for full-scale testing
and trial. According to Larguin,
“the experience while in China
was precious, because our primary job in Tengiz is installation and
operation of electrical equipment.
The tests we completed helped us
know more about the package of
testing necessary to properly bring
this specific type of equipment in
operation.”
The testing took a couple of
weeks. Meanwhile, TCO specialists identified a number of posi-
Baurzhan Alipov and Alexander Larguin in Shanghai
tions which needed some final improvements and required the use
of heavy duty component parts for
higher reliability. One such recommendation was the installation of
a Remote Tap Changer Control
Panel (RTCC) in the GTS-1 control room. This idea incorporates
a host of safety and convenience
features, as it allows for giving
Chevron PGPA Managers visit TCO
O
n September 11 and
12, Donald Campbell,
manager,
Chevron
Upstream Policy, Government and
Public Affairs (PGPA), and David
Samson, general manager, Chevron PGPA, visited Atyrau and Tengiz on a two-day business trip. For
Campbell and Samson, this was
their first time in Kazakhstan. Their
week-long trip started in Almaty
with Chevron Eurasia Business
Unit, then progressed to Atyrau and
Tengiz and ended in Istanbul with a
visit to the Chevron Shipping office
there.
Campbell and Samson’s visit
with TCO was marked with meetings and rich discussions. TCO
PGPA staff, together with representatives of other TCO departments,
did their best to introduce the Chevron guests to ongoing programs and
brief them on priority social projects
and latest upgrades of company facilities.
Upon arrival in Atyrau on September 11, Campbell and Samson
visited 3 local community organizations to learn about programs implemented as a part of TCO’s Commu-
nity Investment Program (CIP). The
first organization visited was the
Kazakhstan Association of Family
Physicians (KAFP). KAFP has established a program for cardiovascular disease prevention. Then the
Chevron visitors were introduced to
the Tech Age Teachers project developed in partnership with IREX.
The Tech Age project entails training teachers on the effective use
of up-to-date Internet technologies
and computer products generally
unavailable to them.
Chevron representatives met
and spoke with both the project
managers and trainees who used
the opportunity to provide feedback
on the projects.
Later that day, at TCO HQ,
Don Campbell and Dave Samson
5
operation command to OLTC
(On Load Tap Changer) of Power
Transformer in a much safer and
easier manner and also provides
for continuous monitoring of the
transformer and input switches
status. The design of RTCC panels also provides the important
feature of light enunciators providing a better control of transformer
which is a great benefit enhancing
safety and ensuring fail-safe operation.
We placed a particularly
strong focus on the trial run to
make sure the transformers
were fully operational and wiring
matched the drawings perfectly.
The fact the supplier agreed to
final improvements was, indeed,
critical to TCO, because in such
a case the manufacturer’s warrantee covers all additional modifications. We made a few recommendations, so the manufacturer
amended the adjustment procedure and updated the shop drawings.
“The tests proved the equipment is really high quality and very
reliable,” continued Alexander.
“This is of paramount importance
to us, because the two transformers feed the four process trains
of the KTL plant. After installation
and the start of operation, the
transformers will allow for setting
the needed voltage depending on
the load.
The design of the new transformers and control panels also
bears on the GTS-1 Ops group’s
recommendations for optimum,
convenient and safe work of personnel involved. The management and staff of the manufacturer
took note of all requests and recommendations.
The first transformer ordered from China has already
arrived in Tengiz. The installation work is complete, and soon it
will be brought online. The result
of TCO specialists’ visit to China
was a shared experience between
TCO and Shanghai electricians
which has helped establish close
contacts that will be instrumental
in future relations.
By G. Trukhin
met with TCO PGPA staff. Both
guests were briefed on the department’s mission and various activities, and also enjoyed information
about TCO operations and strategic
intents. As part of the general orientation, Campbell and Samson were
introduced to the structure of RoK
government, legislative and regulatory practices and heard how RoK’s
structure and practices are different
from those in the U.S.
The second day of their trip in
west Kazakhstan was spent in Tengiz where the Chevron guests went
on a tour of SGP, sulfur pads, KTL
Plant and Shanyrak Rotational Village.
Campbell and Samson were
strongly impressed by the visit.
They commented on the professionalism and versatile competence of TCO PGPA staff and the
strong enthusiasm they demonstrate which helps make a difference on projects of superior importance to Chevron.
In honor of the visit, TCO
PGPA General Manager, Rzabek
Artygaliev, presented each guest
with a Tengizchevroil 20 years limited edition book; Kazkah Carpets
book introducing readers to the
legacy of Kazakh culture and crafts;
and a Kazakh-made carpet.
By Meruert Sukhankulova
6
TCO Behavior-Based Safety Program
I
believe everyone will
agree with me if I were
to say Tengizchevroil is
a large multinational family working in a friendly environment. Isn’t
it the way that things happen in
families when the seniors provide
support to their juniors? That’s exactly what we do here, especially
when it comes to safety. Every
year there are new hires joining
our big team in various workplaces and we immediately start taking care of them through training
and coaching on all processes
aimed at fostering a safety culture
both at work and at home.
One of the processes rolled
out in TCO was the Behavior
Based Safety (BBS) program.
Following world best practices,
TCO initially deployed this process in 2003 within the Production
Operations
department.
However, after 3 to 4 years of
the program, we compared Production Operations injury rates
with other TCO departments and
realized that the BBS program
had significantly contributed in elevating safety performance within
Production Operations to the next
level. So in 2009 the program was
rolled out across all TCO organizations including the contractor
workforce.
Currently, the number of
BBS observers registered in the
database is over 9500 employees. It is important indeed to
understand that the more observations we conduct, the more
BBS is a Recognized Way of
Reinforcing Safety Behavior
opportunities we have to identify
at-risk behaviors and prevent injuries at work places.
The BBS program is aimed
at preventing injuries and reinforcing safe behaviors by making peer
observations and providing imme-
diate feedback. The process is
governed by Local Steering Committees comprised of employees
as well as contractor representatives. It’s very simple to follow the
process: before starting your observation the only thing you need
Movie. Movie. Movie...
Sharipova Gulnar,
Safety Specialist
Consulting and Shared
Services Support Group
A
good movie can be
food for reflection. A
good movie can contribute to absolute changes of mood
and causes a revisiting of experiences of certain things. Movies play
a great role in our lives. We idolize
some characters as an example for
emulation.
So do we... First, we script a
scenario, review the script with the
entire group, comment and select
actors, study the roles and ... –
Veils lifted! Filming embarks!
TCO is known to pay special attention to Incident and Injury
Free (IIF) culture, health, environment and safety. Along with these
programs TCO has diligently been
implementing the Behavior Based
Safety Program encouraging each
TCO employee and contractor to
take an active part in the program.
BBS is really user-friendly.
You need minimum preparation for
using the tool. With the continuous
problem solving process and employees’ involvement this approach
identifies risks and adds changes
to the current systems which allow
at-risk behavior conditions. This
process stimulates the development of new systems, promoting
safe work performance and solution of set tasks. If used correctly
it becomes a proactive, positive
approach to reinforcing safety and
health. This approach is widely
used throughout TCO facilities and
proved to be efficient at all industrial sites.
TCO has been implementing
all leading methods and cuttingedge technology with the purpose
to reinforce the program. Video
clips with company employee involvement is a key-driver of its
promotion. Company employees
can contribute by either making
monthly BBS observations or taking part in filming video clips. A variety of video clips have been shot
and translated into three languages with great success over the last
three years.
• Ascending/Descending
Stairs
• Following
• Hand Protection
• Working at Heights
• Office Ergonomics
• Hand Tool Hazards
• Pinch Points Hazard
• Slips and Falls
• Safe Driving
• Backing and Parking
Vehicle
• Minimize Paper Use
• Eye And Face Protection
• Phone Use Posture
• Office Ergonomics
– Taking Breaks
• Saving Electricity
to do is to announce your intention to an observee. The program
is intended to be transparent.
The primary goal of the program
is to positively reinforce safe behaviors to increase the likelihood
of repeating this behavior in the
•
•
•
•
Food Safety
Forklift Safety
Avoiding Line of Fire
Office Housekeeping
Video topics cover different behavioral aspects. The video
materials posted on the TCO web
page are available for TCO-wide
use including contractors. They
can also be used as a visual aid for
5-minute safety moments as the
duration of each is less than 3-4
minutes. Better to see it once than
hear about it forty times.
TCO Management is doing their part also. They recognize
BBS participants and award them
with special gifts. In 2011 there was
a solemn ceremony of “small BBS
Oscar” for nominations as Best
Video Clip and Best Actor/Actress
as if it were in the big movie industry world!!!
Company employees assist with enthusiasm, supporting
this pleasant but laborious filming
process. Recently, our group shot
a video on Avoiding Line of Fire
involving 7 employees in the Consulting and Shared Services Support Group: Kalieva Anar – Safety
Specialist,
Suieumaganbetova
Nazgul – staff Analyst, Sharipova
Gulnar – Safety Specialist, Kurekeshova Ainur – Senior Administrative Assistant, Yessenbayeva
Aigerim – Administrative Assistant,
№09-10 (195-196) 2013
future. The only requirement for
observers is to attend BBS Observer training to be able to understand how the process works
and learn how to properly conduct
an observation. Here are some
key requirements that make the
program a success:
• No disciplinary actions
– only the observer’s company
name is recorded in the database, not the name of the person
observed. No punishment can be
used as a result of a BBS observation, otherwise, the process will
fail
• Feedback - the program is
aimed at reinforcing “positive” behaviors. It is very important to discuss what people do safely and
immediately provide a positive
feedback to reinforce the recurrence of safe behavior. Providing
feedback is a critical part of the
BBS process.
• Stop Work Authority - if
the observer notices any unsafe
behavior of the person being observed, the observer should stop
the work and assist in resolving
the issues as well as discuss potential consequences of such at
risk behavior.
Participation in the BBS program means caring for each other
and helping co-workers think
about safety to ensure everybody
goes home safely. Isn’t this the
top priority for all of us?!
Olga Filyushkina
TCO BBS Coordinator
Zhataganov Azamat – Translator
and Sidorova Yekaterina – Cost
Analyst.
The team work was well coordinated. Filming took some 7
hours; everyone was exhausted,
but no one wanted to leave the
shooting lot. All were waiting for
the producer’s remarkable phrase:
“Done! Shot!”
I remember we were looking
forward to posting our clip on the
TCO web-page, and were ecstatic
once our brainchild was posted.
I’d like to highlight that video
filming reinforces team-building
and reveals positive features of
team-work furthering team spirit;
feeling of co-workers’ support; and
writing and producing skills.
I have noticed positive
changes in people’s behaviors.
They have begun following recommendations in the video clips.
This is encouraging. Once I got a
letter from one of the managers
to forward the video clip to one of
his employees observed talking
on phone while walking. We plan
to continue to achieve good safety
behavior. We will continue to develop our filming skills, experience
stage direction and rejoice with our
co-workers with fresh masterpieces on BBS!
Sharipova Gulnar
safety specialist, Consulting
& Shared Services
7
№09-10 (195-196) 2013
New Map of Atyrau
A
tyrau Department of Land
relations and
Realty published a new
map of Atyrau City this
year.
The map has some
peculiar features because
it is a unique combination
of satellite images processed through photo interpretation of data and a
normal tourist map showing key bus routes and major attractions.
The history of the
new map is interesting all
by itself. An average user
can hardly imagine how
much effort and time has
been invested in this project.
First of all, the new
map is a result of many years of
topographic surveying to capture
all changes, like newly built houses, bridges and roads. The map
has been printed from an electronic digital copy made in Corel
Draw. Special symbols book and
relief features have been designed for each real object. Multilayer mapping is yet another ingenious method which allows the
display of multiple map overlays,
like a layer introducing buildings,
names of streets, address function, context menus, color fill and
shading, etc.
All data has been digitized
and entered in a data base. Expert designers contributed their
skills to make the map look good.
Before printing, color separation
was done on large-format copying
equipment. The project became a
success largely due to the profes-
property is easily found. The map
is extremely handy for visitors and
VIP guests of any company.
The back side shows the
administrative-territorial scheme
of the Republic of Kazakhstan,
and contains a fragment
of the map of Tengiz oilfield and features photographs of contemporary
Tengiz upstream facilities.
The map’s attractive
design along with valuable information, plus the
Russian and English variants make the product an
extremely useful tool for
sionalism of the contractor staff,
GIS Ltd.
The left side of the front
page features the updated map
of Atyrau with photos of easily
recognized buildings. The map
offers diverse information about
all agencies, offices, hotels, terminals, airports, healthcare and
educational facilities and provides
a list of streets and more data.
TCO Headquarters and all TCO
Dance Sport in Tengiz: Is it So?
Is there a chance workers in Tengiz can enjoy dancing on a regular basis?
A
dance sport
studio
in
Tengiz - is
this a fact to admire or
what? The rotational
schedule is a norm for
those in Tengiz. Tengiz workers know how
to vary their time in the
evenings to prevent
boredom. As a rule, every contemporary rotational village has gyms
and sports facilities
providing workout and
recreation opportunities.
Many workers prefer billiards, and others go to
the cinema, video clubs
and saunas. A ballrooom dancing studio is
deemed unthinkable in
such a place…
While on a business trip in Moscow,
Georgy Trukhin spoke
to colleagues at LUKoil headquarters, trying to learn more
about living conditions and opportunities of oil industry workers
in Siberia and other remote locations. Trukhin remembers asking
occasionally whether ballroom
dancing is a popular pastime.
The answer was always negative.
Trukhin took this to mean TCO/
Tengiz is unique, yet again.
Why so? Because in Tengizmany people go ballroom dancing
in the evenings. This has been a
popular opportunity for a decade
or longer.
“Before that story appeared
have three groups! I can’t believe it,” was the reaction of Steve
Green, Svc Manager in Shanyrak.
The man shook his head, knowing
not what he could do. Steve has
been working in Tengiz and Atyrau
for almost 20 years. Steve is married to a local lady, a Kazakh na-
on the TCO Newsletter in June
of 2010, our group of ballroom
dancers had been inconspicuous, except for rare performances
at farewell parties,” reminisced
Olga Largina, the leader and the
moving spirit of the dance studio
in Tengiz. She took a theatrical
pause and continued, saying, “but
then people started to show interest in our occupation, and the
dance studio became popular.”
No kidding, dance sport has
indeed, become popular among
the people working at the plant
and in the field. Olga’s phone
rings more as more people are
eager to join her group.
various types of users. Courtesy
of the Department of Land Relations, the new edition of the map
has become a valuable gift to
Tengizchevroil, since it was published in the company’s 20th anniversary year and serves as an
important milestone in the history
of mutually beneficial cooperation with TCO. Tengizchevroil has
been placing orders for update
mapping of the license area and
specific facilities on a regular basis.
By Anatoliy Zhmykhov,
manager of Land
Relations Department
As shared previously, Olga
Largina has been edicated to the
art of dancing since childhood
and once was recognized as the
best ballroom dancer in Uralsk.
Presently, she is a coordinator
with TCO Operations Excellence
Group and after hours, act as
an instructor inthe dance studio.
They started as a very small group
of enthusiasts, and now there are
three groups of ballroom dancers in Shanyrak rotational village.
Recently, a class of contemporary
Latin style started. This new style
of extremely popular social dance
is led by Larissa Cherepova.
“Oh my God, you already
tional, and has a daughter. Steve
received a few letters of request,
asking him to find a suitable room
for the dancers. At some point he
thought he had found a spacious
gym-like room with mirror panels
but then all residents were moved
to Shanyrak and the space went
to the weight-lifters, so the ballroom dancers had to vacate the
gym.
“Of course, it’s a shame we
could not continue our practicing
in the gym,” admitted Olga sadly.
“We had planned to prepare a
dance(s) for the 20th anniversary
festivities. In fact, we could organize events on a regular basis
both in Tengiz and Atyrau.” Unfortunately this will not happen in the
near future as there is no place to
practice. The room the dancers
have been given can barely fit two
couples for practice. The dancers
keep sending requests to the Svc
supervisors, but to no avail.
Will
TCO
employees enjoy
ballroom dance
sport
competitions any time
soon? Something
must be done if
this is to happen.
Trukhin remembers the early years of TCO
when a group of
ballroom dancers
from Atyrau Kurmangazy House
of Culture visited Tengiz and
performed
in
Demalys Hall, in
the old Rotational
Village. The success was truly
astounding and
the dancers acknowledged they
had never seen such an appreciative audience.
The amateur ballroom dancers in Tengiz have modest needs.
They all remain dedicated to their
sport and eager to demonstrate
their brilliant skills to friends and
colleagues.
By Georgy Trukhin
8
№09-10 (195-196) 2013
TENGIZCHEVROIL: Tw
1985 – the early times of Tengiz oilfield development
1991 – Chevron specialists
visiting Tengiz
1988 – Construction of Tengiz
Gas-Processing Plant
1992 – Kenneth Derr, Chevron Chairman of Board (in the center)
giving first interview in Tengiz
Tengiz upstream facility today
Early 90s – “Project of the Century” ready to kick off
April 6, 1993 – Tengizchevroil Formation Agreement signed
August of 1993 – President Nazarbayev
9
№09-10 (195-196) 2013
wenty years of success!
v on a visit of TCO
2003 - 2008 years.
Construction of SGP / SGI.
June 5, 2008 – Second Generation Plant started
2000 - 2003. Construction of TCO Office
and Dostyk vilage
April, 2013 – the 20th anniversary of TCO
Early years of the joint venture
10
CSR – Indicator of Accountability
and Business Transparency
C
orporate Social Responsibility is a relatively new initiative
used in the business community. In
the early times of independent Kazakhstan, businesses pioneering to
the market-oriented economy used
to claim their involvement in the social sphere based on the sheer fact
they paid taxes to the state. Later,
such concepts as social projects
and social performance appeared.
Finally, now, business entities consider the needs of the community
through various social programs
and business intiatives.
Below is an interview with general
manager of TCO Policy, Government and Public Affairs, Rzabek
Artygaliev, on Tengizchevroil’s
principles of Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR).
R. A. – As you can see, the
dynamics of our state’s economic
development and the changes happening in society can be observed
through the history of evolution of
the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility.
At the start of the Tengizchevroil join-venture in 1993, the Atyrau
Bonus Program was started, a $50
million initiative targeting the resolution of high priority problems faced
by the local community badly hit by
economic recession. Between 1993
and 1998, with Atyrau Bonus money,
TCO had a high capacity bakery and
new boiler built; developed a 25-km
gas pipeline from Redut pump station to a micro-region in Atyrau; upgraded the water treatment system;
provided the Regional Hospital with
a new state-of-the-art Diagnostics
Center; and implemented an effective system of TB treatment following WHO recommendations. These
investments were unprecedented
for private businesses in Kazakhstan at that time.
After completing the Atyrau
Bonus Program, Tengizchevroil
started another important initiative
with support of all company employees – the Egilik program - supporting local social infrastructure development. Egilik recently achieved
its 15th anniversary milestone. Egilik’s yearly budget has grown from
$2 million in 1998 to $25 million in
2013.
Egilik’s positive impact can be
observed through a number of newly built schools, clinics, renovated
utilities and electric power supply
lines, heating gas supplied to local
communities, new water treatment
facilities, and many more projects
addressing the areas of social infrastructure, public healthcare and
education – the effort that has significantly improved the living standard in the Atyrau Oblast.
Within the past few years,
Tengizchevroil accomplished a major reconstruction of the water system in Kulsary. This highly sensitive problem stayed unresolved for
decades, since the 1960s. Kulsary
City with a population of 40,000
people, are finally enjoy clean drinking water.
The overarching principle of
Egilik is to effectively address high
priority issues of the community and
provide maximum outreach and
sustainability. To date, this principle
has worked perfectly and has been
strongly appreciated by all beneficiaries and stakeholders.
By mentioning those programs of community involvement I
wanted to emphasize that TCO has
been, and remains, strongly committed to being a good corporate
citizen.
The concept of CSR means
a lot more than just infrastructure
development projects, doesn’t it?
R. A. – You are absolutely
right. TCO approaches CSR systematically and in a comprehensive
manner. TCO publishes a Corporate Social Responsibility Report on
a regular basis. The report covers
all areas of TCO’s activities and targets all TCO stakeholders.
To understand why TCO publishes a CSR report, let’s look at our
strategic intents. Many readers are
aware we have a document named
The TCO Way which explains the
corporate philosophy of our company. In particular, we consider safety
of employees our highest priority.
TCO is committed to providing all
the necessary conditions to ensure
each employee enjoys a safe workplace and returns home safely after
work.
TCO achieves this objective
through both upgrading technologies and work processes, creating a safe work environment at
each workplace, providing all the
necessary Individual Safety Equipment, and through promoting and
cultivating responsibility with a nononsense attitude toward safety. Is
this an important element of CSR,
or what? We
deem this a critical component
of what we call a
comprehensive
approach.
Let us go
further and talk
about the living
conditions, food
and
services
TCO provides
people on their
hitch,
either
working 5/2 or
rotational.
We
can say with
confidence,
these
conditions are among
the best in Kazakhstan. The
accommodations and meals
available to our
employees
at
Shanyrak
Rotational Village
are highly competitive. Besides
the
comfortable air-conditioned rooms, Tengiz
workers enjoy exercise facilities,
recreation opportunities, shops,
phones with access to international
calls and multi-channel cable TV,
among other benefits. Employees
enjoy the swimming pool. Catering
service provides quality food and a
rich menu that meets the tastes of
people of different cultures.
Tengiz Clinic is a state-of-theart healthcare facility with equipment unmatched in the entire region. Similarly, it is known as one of
the best clinics in Chevron. It is also
important to mention, all medical
services go free of charge to TCO
employees.
Now, let’s talk about the social package TCO offers, which is
recognized among the best across
Kazakhstan. We offer a highly competitive payroll for the oil and gas
secotor, plus a well thought-out
system of bonuses designed to
encourage professionalism, good
performance and personal input.
Special programs are available to
support advance training and professional growth, including higher
level compensation and overseas
assignments. TCO’s leadership
in CSR is evident, as Kazakhstani
citizens account for over 80 percent
of TCO’s total workforce. TCO’s
turnover rate is insignificant. TCO
receives hundreds of applications
from candidates seeking employment each month. Finally, Tengizchevroil was bestowed silver,
gold and Grand Prix awards for best
social responsibility over the past
few years, which serves as another
T
important recognition of our continued effort and strong commitment.
The abovementioned facts
prove the TCO does care for its
personnel. Meanwhile, I suggest
we go beyond the license area
and talk about the broader impact
of TCO’s CSR. We already mentioned the Atyrau Bonus Program
and Egilik, there must be more
components and indicators of
social corporate responsibility.
R. A. – I will give you a few
facts. Tengizchevroil has completed
reclamation of all disturbed soils the
company inherited from pre-TCO
times and owners. Today you can
find no oily spots and oil pits in our
license area. The former borrow
pits you will not find either, because
TCO has completely restored the
vegetation in those locations under
our environmental programs. Starting from 2000, TCO invested $2.5
billion in programs to minimize the
impact of operations on the environment. In 2009 we accomplished the
Gas Utilization Project, a unique effort by TCO and one of a kind upstream project in Kazakhstan which
discontinued routine flaring. As a
result, the volume of flaring immediately reduced by 92 percent which
is a record to admire.
The success in completing the
Gas Utilization Program advanced
TCO to the position of being recognized as a world leader in flaring
reduction. This is a great success,
a fabulous result of the use of new
technologies, but also the impact of
social corporate responsibility.
Another vivid example, is
since starting the sulfur inventory
reduction and utilization program in
2005, TCO has sold in excess of 7
million metric tonnes to buyers outside Kazakhstan. The remaining inventory kept on open storage pads
is estimated at just above 2 million
metric tonnes. TCO is close to making open storage in Tengiz history.
Currently, TCO is implementing two major capital projects for
wastewater treatment and recycling
which have brought pioneering
technology and innovative solutions
to the process. The Wastewater Recycle Project is an innovative effort.
Besides the fact the core process of
gas processing and primary cleaning of crude oil at TCO are designed
to meet a stringent environmental
standard, TCO has been striving to
achieve maximum environmental
safety and minimum impact on the
environment. We are proud to say
TCO was awarded the title of the
Safest Large Company in Kazakhstan for two years in a row, which
also means environmental safety.
Another area where TCO has
been demonstrating unquestioned
leadership is Kazakhstan Content
№09-10 (195-196) 2013
Growth. Spend with Kazakhstani
suppliers in 2012 accounted for 60
percent of the expense budget. In
2011-2012, TCO paid a total of $3.4
billion to Kazakhstani suppliers of
goods and services. We not only
purchase, but also stimulate the development of quality local goods and
services, thus contributing to their
competitiveness on the European
market. TCO’s Small and Medium
Business Development program
has been very effective. Courtesy
of TCO, many local businesses succeeded in certifying their products
to high international standards, thus
currently play an important role as
preferred suppliers for Kazakhstan
petroleum industry members.
As far as relations, or should I
say partnership with the local community, I will not give you a long list
of schools and clinics TCO built in
the area. Let me just give you a
few examples which are deemed
vivid and critical to the community.
I am talking about the Community
Investment Program that has an
annual budget of $1 million. This is
an initiative we implement in addition to Egilik. Whereas before we
offered one-time assistance to target groups, like needy families, the
disabled and pensioners, four years
ago we changed our strategy dramatically and focused on supporting
local NGOs and working as partners. Implementing new programs
of advance training for local teachers, including English teachers, promoting methods of cardiac disease
prevention, engaging volunteers in
various environmental projects, and
helping school instructors increase
their computer skills. This is not a
full list of our initiatives under the
CIP Program, but gives you an idea
of the scope of our impact. Each
program/project creates a strong
benefit to real people, like teachers,
healthcare professionals, school
students and youth, who can use
the new skills and knowledge as effective tools in future life and career.
In Kulsary, we completed and continue 19 such projects, all strongly
appreciated by the local community.
I could give many more facts
and figures characterizing the contribution Tengizchevroil has been
making to the local and national
economy. I will mention the very visible ones. Total direct contributions
of TCO in the national economy
of Kazakhstan since 1993 has exceeded $81 billion. As we produce
more and generate larger revenues,
the contributions grow also. Our investments in the social sphere have
been demonstrating similar progress and the strong commitment to
being a part of the local community.
However, the final positive
impact of the well thought-out strategy of social involvement cannot be
measured solely in millions of direct
investments. When the projects accomplished create a superior, lasting value to the people, this is what
we call the concrete result and impact we seek.
The large multinational team
of Tengizchevroil should be duly
proud of TCO’s contribution to the
development of the region and
country.
engizchevroil published its 2011-2012 Corporate Social Responsibility Report. This is the third
edition TCO has published, to inform the public about TCO’s community involvement, introduce
readers to various social programs and results of multiple projects having a strong positive impact
on the social sphere in the Atyrau Oblast and Kazakhstan at large. The report involves all areas of
company activities, including operations, safety practices and culture, protection of the environment,
Kazakhstan content, Egilik program of social infrastructure development, Community Investment Program and personnel development. In the report you will find company statistics, also supplemented by
information unveiling the principles of TCO’s community involvement strategy and description of various
projects. The current edition also contains stories introducing the leaders, who made a significant personal contribution to this important job.
The well illustrated brochure will serve a valuable source of information to all stakeholders taking interest in the development of Kazakhstan petroleum industry and specifically in the history and priority focus
areas of Tengizchevroil.
The CSR Report is available on TCO’s web-page on the Internet: www.tengizchevroil.com
11
№09-10 (195-196) 2013
Atyrau Newspaper
Celebrates 90th Anniversary
T
he festivities celebrating
the 90th anniversary of
Atyrau Newspaper started with a workshop organized on the
premises of Atyrau State University
named after Khalel Dosmukhambetov.
Attending a special ceremony were
veterans of labor and WWII, including
journalists, who pioneered in the early
years of the publication, present-day
editorial board and staff of writers, directors of regional gazettes, representatives of local administration, leaders
of NGOs, university students and faculty. Tengizchevroil was also involved
in celebration activities demonstrating
respect and recognition of local renowned printed media’s mission.
We are proud to know over
the two decades of Tengizchevroil’s
operations our company has been receiving important feedback and comments, courtesy of Atyrau Newspaper
which acted as the flagship of regional
media with a readership of thousands
of local residents, who trusted their
favorite newspa. Atyrau served as the
beacon, the trustee and cultural guide
to a great number of citizens and essentially evolved into a chronicle of
freedom-loving people who aspired
to become an independent nation
and finally, lived to see this come true
through a painstaking effort.
The newspaper’s style of writing about Tengizchevroil has always
been marked with profound research
and analysis, assiduous tracking of
the long journey the joint venture has
made to its establishment and success as well as sincerely appreciated
TCO’s contribution to the national
economy. In other words, Atyrau is a
serious publication duly credited for
strong professional insight and hardworking probing into the matter. No
wonder it was awarded a special prize
as Newspaper of the Year by Tengizchevroil.
In her congratulatory remarks
at the ceremony, Chanel Jolly, an advisor with TCO Policy, Government
and Public Affairs, emphasized the
outstanding role Atyrau Newspaper
Working and
Partying Together
TCO Capital Projects staff on overseas assignment in Farnborough, a place located in the outskirts of London, celebrated two important national holidays of the Republic of Kazakhstan - Constitution Day
and Oilman’s Day.
Our Farnborough-based group of TCO Major Capital Projects team
members is appreciated by local staff of Chevron as a strong team of
excellent professionals, while we ourselves think of our colleagues as
members of one family; thus, share all daily routine and holidays together, no matter whether this is a birthday or a nation-wide event.
Last time, FGP-WPMP Project management team hosted a special luncheon to celebrate Kazakhstan’s Constitution Day and Oilman’s
Day. Project director Paul Benoît offered warm greetings to the staff on
behalf of FGP-WPMP management team then gave the floor to Sabit
Azhibek, who reminded the audience Oilman’s Day was proclaimed a
professional holiday in Kazakhstan in 2003 by Presidential Decree. By
doing this, President Nursultan Nazarbayev once again recognized the
superior importance of the sector development for the future prosperity of
the national economy. The holiday is observed not only by those working
in the field and at upstream facilities, but also by thousands of specialists
in charge of sales of crude oil and products, organizing transportation of
commodities, those involved in field development, facilities engineering
and taking care of the sector employees’ well-being, working and living
conditions.
Sabit also briefed the audience on the history of Kazakhstan’s
Constitution. This legal act of superior power introduced the fundamentals of the state’s political, legal and economic systems. In essence, the
New Constitution has become the second set of laws in the history of the
Kazakhs, after the 7 overarching precepts by Tauke-Khan. Speaking of
the chief milestone of the Kazakhstan petroleum industry development,
Sabit particularly emphasized that first oil was produced back in 1899 in
Dossor, which is currently part of the Atyrau Region. Today Kazakhstan
stands proudly among leading world producers of crude oil, while Tengiz
upstream facility, contemplating another major expansion, serves as a
priceless legacy of the nation. Being part of this project is both a great
honor and strong responsibility.
Attending the luncheon also were employees of Chevron London
office, who were happy to share our pride for the outstanding success
scored by Kazakhstan and Tengizchevroil.
By Meiramgul Nurgaliyeva,
Farnborough, UK
played in the life of Atyrau Oblast
community and history of Tengiz, saying “we believe strongly the newspaper proud of its record of 90 years of
honest service and role of the flagship of regional media will continue
to win the hearts of devoted readers
by producing trusted and fast reports,
exciting stories, captivating plots, essentially acting as the favorite weekly
of Kazakhstan and keen observer of
Atyrau. Today we look forward to seeing another edition of the newspaper
together with the 30,000 of its appreciative readers. And we appreciate
what you do strongly. Recently, at the
media contest dedicated to the 20th
anniversary of Tengizchevroil Atyrau
was named the winner, and Chief
Editor Isatai Balmagambetov took
the grand prize for his story of Tengiz. We also praise highly the efforts
of editorial board members – Ermek
Bigaliev, Mendibai Sumesinov, Koswim Mukash, Karzhau Orazbayev
and erlan Altybai who made significant personal contributions to the suc-
cess story of Tengiz oilfield through
writing emotional stories, essays and
reports telling the history of the project and its people. Special thanks to
Tolegen Berishbai, currently director
of Atyrau-Akparat, who contributed a
lot to the establishment and success
of TCO Newsletter. Tendik Zhaurov
and Shipengali Dauenov who led the
editorial board over many years, are
respected by us as wise trainers and
mentors with whom we continue to
keep contact. We truly appreciate their
advice and profound expertise.”
Acting as a good corporate
friend, Tengizchevroil presented a
dozen PCs to the editorial board of
Atyrau Weekly, hoping this will help
the media writers and editors.
Ninety years is a truly significant milestone for Atyrau. The newspaper was the pioneer of the new media of independent Kazakhstan. To the
great newspaper telling the story of
Atyrau Region, the home of Tengiz oilfield and sweet home to many national
groups living in peace, the site where
multiple innovative projects are successfully implemented we are wishing
continued success and happiness!
By Svetlana Kairgaliyeva,
consultant with TCO PGPA
More Students Enroll with
Atyrau Summer School of Math
T
his summer marked the
seventh academic season of the Atyrau Summer School of Math organized in
partnership with Special Science and
Training Center of the Novosibirsk
State University in Russia, aka Physics and Math School at Novosibirsk
University campus.
The school in Atyrau was organized by Atyrau Public education
administration partnering with Tengizchevroil.
In his remarks during the welcome ceremony of the 2013 summer
session in Atyrau, Igor
Marchuk, deputy director
of Novosibirsk School said,
“we are very happy that our
initial participation as guest
lecturers in 2007 started a
lasting cooperation getting
stronger and more productive each year. What is
most important about this
is that we discovered that
local children are eager to
learn more. Through the
advanced summer course,
teachers share up-to-date
knowledge and identify
outstanding talents, who
we invite to continue training in Novosibirsk. I am
also pleased to say the faculty of our
Science and Training Center is used
to welcoming more gifted students
strong in Physics and Math from
Atyrau each year. Best graduates of
Atyrau Summer School of Math demonstrate excellent performance at the
Novosibirsk University also.”
Marchuk continued, “This is
a brilliant result of the great initiative
started by local Department of Education together with TCO. We admire the
fact more graduates of our summer
school enroll with prestigious universities in Kazakhstan and Russia each
year, and some study successfully in
Europe, USA and China.”
“We observe a growing interest
in our school among parents and students,” shared Kazakh director of the
summer school of Math, A. Aitpayeva.
“In the initial session we had only two
small classes and this year we had
188 students organized in four age
groups. Nowadays, we accept more
students from rural schools and some
arrive from other regions of Kazakhstan.”
Atyrau Summer School of Math
is one of a kind in Kazakhstan. Before
similar courses were facilitated by
Novosibirsk University faculty in Almaty, and now more faculty are from
Atyrau, which is known as the heart of
Kazakhstan’s upstream industry. The
Atyrau facility provides excellent living
and training conditions. The classes
are organized on the premises of the
Kazakh-Turkish School which is a
contemporary education facility having all state-of-the-art equipment and
teaching aids. Some classes and most
extra cultural activities are hosted by
the Small Academy of Arts. Local instructors and students have become
good friends of the faculty and students of the Aytrau Summer School
of Math, so they eagerly take part in
joint cultural activities
and amateur concerts. In
other words, amazingly
enough, the lessons of
Physics, Math and most
recently Chemistry given
on a level more advanced
than regular comprehensive school are never a
painstaking process to
the students. The knowledge sticks easily, and the
children enjoy their stay at
the school full of diverse
activities, which makes it
feel like a summer rest &
recreation camp.
The most important
fact about the schoolis that it succeeds in inspiring the young people to
study. The wish to learn more is also
encouraged by parents and teachers.
As part of its Community Investment
Program, Tengizchevroil has been
actively supporting this wonderful initiative creating a superior value that
will continue to be appreciated in the
future.
“I am strongly impressed by this
great project,” said deputy general
manager of TCO Policy, Government
and Public Affairs, David Macinnis.
“So many gifted young people in one
place. We definitely must support and
encourage their outstanding talents!
This project deserves the highest
praise, and we are strongly committed
to support it in the future.”
The number of students of
Atyrau Summer School of Math grows
each.
By Georgy Trukhin
12
How to Learn Kazakh
“The future of Kazakhstan - in the Kazakh language. By 2025 the Kazakh language is expected
to predominate over all spheres of life and become the language of universal dialogue.”
N. A. Nazarbayev,
President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
At ТCО, the program of training employees in the
state language develops and improves each year
bers of their family. And after the
New Year holidays, starting from
February we start to accept applications for the second half of the
year. Unfortunately, many foreigners are scared by difficulties of
learning Kazakh, but we try hard
to encourage them to learn both
Russian and Kazakh.”
Why does this happen? In
T
oday companies realize the competitiveness of their business
directly depends on the level of
employees’ training. At the present stage of the national economy, personnel training is critical
to the success of business. In the
age of progress, advance training
is necessary for improvement of
professional skills of employees,
so management of companies
understands this invests in training the staff. Essentially, highly
skilled personnel focused primarily on improvement of professional
skills and aspiring to contribute to
the company’s success is the key
to success of any organization.
The market competition and need
for optimization require continuous improvement of professional
skills.
In an earlier issue of our
newsletter we reported on various
training programs provided by
ТCО to help employees enhance
their skills. Employees attend
training courses, both in country
and through overseas assignments, receiving invaluable experience shared by the world-class
company, Chevron. However,
today I would like to write on the
topic of learning the Kazakh language.
This has been the subject
of endless discussion which will
probably continue. What is the
best way to learn Kazakh? What
methods of studying the Kazakh
language are most effective?
Why is Kazakh language so hard
to master?
We shall put our question
as follows: how successful is ТCО
in this area? What programs and
projects have been developed
and implemented for Kazakh language training? Do the expats
show interest in Kazakh? If the
answer is positive, what kind of interest? If negative, why does Kazakh appear less popular among
expats? But first let us start with a
brief overview of the issue.
Nowadays, the Kazakh language represents a great value
as it serves as an essential indicator of educational level and
literacy in Kazakhstan. Many
various programs of intensive
training of Kazakh language are
being developed and used. Citizens, regardless of nationality,
aspire to understand and speak
the state language as Kazakhstan
continues to develop its national
economy, demonstrate success in
sports and culture, and assumes
a more important role globally.
Another positive trend is
that Kazakh language develops
through adopting new international terms used in the areas of
IT, jurisprudence, healthcare and
other industries.
How well has TCO been do-
ing in all the above areas? TCO
employees are aware that ТCО
has been pursuing various projects and programs designed for
personnel development and has
made such opportunities available free of charge, including
Kazakh language training. TCO
Human Resources group plays a
key role in this process, particularly its group of Organizational
Opportunities. Over a period of
time our employees complete
various courses of advance training offered in the three languages
– English, Russian and Kazakh
(ranked here by degree of popularity). A considerable number of
expats learn Kazakh.
“I have worked in this position since 2007 and the Kazakh
language training started before
then,” said Baltate Turusheva,
senior specialist with TCO Language Training. “Courtesy of
our department, the course of
Kazakh for foreigners is offered
both at TCO HQ and in Tengiz;
thus, can be attended by employees while on the job. Our classes
are attended not only by expatriates, but also by Kazakh nationals wanting to learn or improve
their knowledge of the state language.” Presently, in Tengiz, the
class is available to three groups
of first level students and three
groups of second level. In Atyrau,
we also have three groups. The
class at TCO Headquarters is facilitated by Lyubov Tolstova, anexpert trainer with a long record
in the job. In Tengiz there are
two trainers working on rotational
schedule.
It is remarkable that the
state language is taught by a Russian and not a Kazakh. Everyone who knows Lyubov Tolstova
speaks very highly of her talent
and treats her with respect. Actually, this fact adds motivation to
our trainees. Honestly speaking,
Lyubov Tolstova has a better com-
Baltate Turusheva
mand of Kazakh than many native
speakers and Kazakh trainers.
Dana Chulkova, synchronous translator for the Business
Development Group, attends
Lyubov Tolstova’s class. Chulkova said, “I have worked here
for three years. I started the Kazakh class the year after I came
to TCO. Our trainer was Lyubov
Tolstova. Becuase of her professionalism and enthusiasm, I
succeeded in improving my standard of Kazakh. Being a linguist,
I read many letters sent to TCO
by various government agencies.
As appropriate, they use the state
language, so I need to actively
use the dictionary and solicit my
Kazakh-speaking friends for assistance. Such cases help enrich
the word stock and learn more
about Kazakh grammar and style.
Plus at TCO all announcements
and publications are done in three
languages which proves a great
help.”
“According to our internal
procedure, twice a year, in early
September and February we
publish an invitation and begin a
new class,” continues Baltate. “In
September we organize a new
group for the expats and mem-
fact, even those strongly aspiring
to master the state often encounter many problems. The locals
try to explain this phenomenon
occurs due to absence of many
terms in Kazakh, plus the foreign
borrowings are hard to translate.
And what are the reasons given
by the foreign specialists?
“Both languages, Russian
and Kazakh are interesting to me.
In fact, we learn more about different culture and traditions through
learning to speak this language.
In Kazakhstan, local citizens are
known for particular kind-heartedness and hospitality. I know this
for sure, because many of my
colleagues are Kazakh nationals. As far as learning Kazakh,
the problem is the way Kazakh
words are pronounced, which is
often strange to a foreigner, thus
the words stick hard. Learning by
heart as many words and stock
phrases are known, is an effective
method of learning.”
“I am very lucky having
Kazakh colleagues in my group.
This helps me understand and
learn many Kazakh words,” commented Chanel Jolly, an advisor
with TCO Policy, Government and
Public Affairs.
№09-10 (195-196) 2013
“Of all our students, I would
like to particularly recognize general director of our company Tim
Miller. Despite the tremendous
load of work and responsibility
as general director, he is actively
engaged in learning Kazakh. Tim
Miller is probably the first TCO
general director who has shown
the desire and enthusiasm to
study the Kazakh language,” said
Baltate Turusheva. “Everyone notices our general director greets
national specialists and managers in Kazakh. We appreciate this
strongly.”
For better assimilation of the
Kazakh language TCO is contemplating offering individual classes
for expats. Petko Ivanov of TCO
Finance for one, has been making
great progress in learning Kazakh
Can we expect a major
breakthrough or innovative methods from Organizational Capabilities Development Group to meet
newer challenges?
In October, TCO is planning
to purchase 75 licenses for brand
new software for Kazakh language training. This is expected
to move TCO employees ahead in
learning Kazakh. This will create
the opportunity to learn Kazakh
on-line using the Internet. The
software is a product of a British
company designed on TCO’s order. In 2013, TCO deployed and
started using the English version
of this software called English
City. The newer version will be
called Kazakh City. The software
is intended for English speakers
and will be incorporated onto the
GIL platform to make it accessible
to 75 users. This will be the pilot
version. If the software proves a
popular tool, TCO will purchase
more licenses in the future.
The Organizational Capabilities Development Group also
holds seminars and contests
to promote the use of business
Kazakh. TCO has been actively
promoting the use of the state
language in business correspondence and everyday communication. TCO actively involves third
parties in such activities and contributes its own resources. For
example, Kuralai Bekenova, linguist with OE/HES, volunteered
as a trainer for one such course.
Many TCO employees remember the Abai Night organized by
TCO Training. Murat Munbayev
(Abai) of Strategic Planning impressed the spectators with his
brilliant performance.
To further develop the Kazakh Language Training program, TCO will begin offering
courses of business Kazakh,
which will specifically teach business correspondence and presentations along with special
seminars for HR and Finance
staff.
All abovementioned serves
as strong evidence of TCO’s
practical care of its employees.
We are proud of our production
records, millions of hours without
DAFW and successful environmental projects. TCO makes a
strong contribution to the development of Kazakhstan’s economy
in general and, in particular, supports the effort of the government
in promoting the use of the state
language. More so, we can say
with confidence, our commitment
and achievements in this area
place TCO among the leaders in
Kazakhstan.
by Shalkar Eleshev
№09-10 (195-196) 2013
Fish Rescue: Small but Significant
13
Volunteers looking at results of another summer season
“They are so small and
beautiful!” 10-year old Adelina was
saying looking at the small fish
in the net. The sight of them was
breath-taking to her. After picking
these small fish from the net, she
put them in the bucket filled with
water then carried them to the
truck, watching her steps, as she
was afraid of spilling the water.
Standing inside the truck
were large canisters with iced water from the Ural River. The small
fish are taken to the Ural after
loaded in buckets of water from
the lake. Although the fish are
safe in the cold water, they cannot stay there for long, because in
the strong heat the small creatures
may soon become short of oxygen
and die. TCO environmental specialists know what they are doing,
so the ice helps.
On the fish rescue mission
Adelina joined her father, Samat
Jannglishov, specialist of TCO Human Resources. In fact, the Janglishovs staffed a whole crew consisting of Samat, his wife Akmaral
and three daughters – Adelina, 10,
Camilla, 7 and small Almira under
one year of age.
“The weather is good, the
day is sunny, so the youngest
daughter can enjoy the fresh air,
while her older sisters practically
care for nature,” explained Samat
philosophically. – I am sure they
will feel proud they were a part of
this important environmental project as young rescuers,” he concluded with confidence.
Actually, this was the target
of the community initiative proposed and organized by TCO Policy, Government and Public Affairs
in partnership with Yntymak volunteers – to encourage and enhance
the involvement of each individual
in the important cause of protecting the environment. The three efforts to rescue small fish from the
isolated ponds in Makhambet region organized during the summer
of 2013 served not only as a productive and timely action, but also
as a perfect example of a good citizen’s attitude for local companies
and public organizations to follow.
Said Arman Muldashev,
head of Makhambet office of Fish
Inspection, “we have already estimated the results of your volunteers’ job. They have rescued over
30,000 small carps, asps, breams
and more species which is and excellent record. We appreciate your
noble effort strongly.”
The first such mission took
Samat Janglishov brought his daughters to the isolated pond to rescue fish
place a year ago. The officers of
the Atyrau Oblast Fish Inspection accepted the idea with understanding, yet looked visibly
surprised, because they had not
observed such enthusiasm and
awareness with the local business
community and public for a long
time. Occasionally they receive
solicited assistance from natural
resource users and local license
holders, who normally contribute
by dispatching heavy equipment.
The inspectors themselves are
unable to resolve the problem of
the fish trapped in isolated ponds
all by themselves, and then, all
of a sudden, Gulnara Aitzhanova
of TCO PGPA, emerged and reported dozens of volunteers were
eager to help.
We wrote about this in earlier
issues, but need to reemphasize
that fish rescue used to be a very
normal practice some time ago, a
yearly routine. An exciting and enjoyable experience to Atyrau residents, as Blue Patrols organized
school students on their summer
vacations in rescuing small fish.
Teenagers and young people went
to the ponds with pleasure, saved
…and Gulzada Musina joined with sons and daughter
thousands of fish,
including sturgeon,
and enjoyed this occupation as a sort of
environmental tourism. A happy combination of social work
with open-air activities. Those times
are history now,
and this valuable
public activity has
been largely forgotten. But the idea is
definitely of a strong
economic and social value.
“The progress
is very evident,” said
Gulnara Aitzhanova
in a reassuring tone.
“Honestly, whereas
the first volunteers
joined the mission
largely out of sheer
Thomas Whitehead, volunteer from Texas, USA
curiosity, wondering what the fish
vine nature and wildlife.” Soon
rescue was all about, later I was
volunteers from other companies
inundated by requests, and our
offered to assist, and already the
expatriates particularly deemed
second group consisted of parents
those journeys a unique chance
with children and entire families.
and priceless exposure to the di-
The impact is precious –
thousands of small creatures are
saved as the fish are released
to the big river. Needless to say,
the benefit to every one involved
is large, as we feel ourselves involved in the protection of Mother
Nature, acting as good citizes.
“I arrived to TCO from Texas,
USA, shared Thomas Whitehead,
standing on the shore, holding his
drag-net. – I have never been part
of such activity before, and today
is the second time I joined the fish
rescue mission in Kazakhstan.
I feel both happy and proud. I’ll
tell you what, while saving these
small fishes, I feel like I am getting
more aware of the envrionmental
issues we face. I think this is not
only a brilliant example of social
awareness to other companies in
Kazakhstan, but rather a model
of true human attitude and caring
of environment that should be accepted world-wide.”
Over 30,000 fish were saved
this summer. Contributions like
this are priceless and of tremendous value to our fragile environment.
By Georgy Trukhin
14
Drone Soaring above Tengiz Steppe
A
couple of weeks ago,
some people witnessed
an unusual phenomenon
happening near Tengiz and in the outskirts of Kulsary.
A small flying self-propelled object remotely resembling a chopper
and producing a buzzing noise took
off from a man’s hand, flew around
for some minutes and then returned
directly to the man’s hand.
Was a member of a local Radio
Control Flying Club testing his plane
model? Excuse me, but no such clubs
exist in the Atyrau Oblast anymore.
Maybe an individual engineer trying
out his invention? Hardly so, because
such type of engineering enthusiasm
is now extinct in our region, besides
the conditions and sponsors for such
initiative are largely unavailable.
Sorry, you have failed the quiz.
Here is the correct answer: what you
saw was part of an aerial photography
job ordered by TCO Operational Excellence/Health, Safety and Environ-
mental department (OE/HES) to take
pictures of conditions of vegetation
around Tengiz license area.
“We need those images to keep
track of the changes, - explained Maya
Imangaziyeva, group leader with OE/
HES. – We do this as part of continuous monitoring of local environment
within the perimeter and outside the
license area. Aerial photography is the
best method to get the larger picture
of the status of vegetation, freshwater
reservoirs and to track the migrations
of sands. Before we used to rent a
helicopter for this type of work which
proved expensive and a little bit too
complicated, because it is often hard
to get the exact angle. This year we
pioneered with the use of effective
state-of-the-art technology. The use of
drones for aerial photography is absolutely innovative technique.”
As we reported earlier, under
the Comprehensive Program of Environmental Protection Tengizchevroil not only implements large-scale
projects, like Gas Utilization, but also
provides continuous monitoring of the
environment. The methods applied
vary in assets and sophistication. For
example, automatic monitoring stations are used to sample groundwater
and soil for testing. Also mobile teams
of environmental specialists make
trips to various locations to do sampling and testing. Aerial photography
proves an extremely effective method
of acquiring data. TCO has been using
satellite images and aerial photography for quite some time now.
“This year we needed to update
the images of the monitored area of
open sulfur storage. Sulfur inventory
has been significantly reduced as a
result of TCO’s active marketing strategy, thus currently only one sulfur pad
is left of total seven available originally. On this last remaining pad crushing and onloading is going full steam,
so the last yellow pyramid is on the
wane. Our chief target was to obtain
the images of this sulfur pad in order
№09-10 (195-196) 2013
to compare them with the images we
took last year. Besides, TCO recently
became involved in the Kulsary Amenity Planting project; thus, aerial images are needed to complete this job
effectively. Our new contractor from
Astana offered a cost-effective and, to
be honest, very smart and interesting
method. After being awarded the contract, the firm invited a specialist from
Moscow who brought his rotor-driven
equipment the drone with him. Now
the job is complete, and we are happy
with the results,” finished Maya.
This was indeed, an impressive
spectacle. The smart civil drone of
Russian make is a quadcopter using
onboard GPS. Its operator (or you can
call him photographer, navigator or
programmer – all in one) loads a task,
setting the necessary heights and exact coordinates, sends the drone to
hover, locked into a predetermined
position and take pictures. Then the
machine descends, approaches the
operator and lands on the man’s hand
in a manner very similar to a domesticated falcon. Honestly, at some moment I resisted the temptation to nip
at my back to make sure I was awake
and that this was no fairytale…
But this was reality. The job is
complete and the images obtained are
superior quality.
By Gulmira Tulegenova,
TCO OE/HES specialist
Small Aircraft of a Large Project
C
ourtesy of ESS Company, a trusted contractor and great
business partner, providing total
site support for many years, transportation services at Tengizchevroil have always been high quality.
Shanyrak Village the backdrop of a
normal town where people working
on rotational schedule enjoy quality living conditions and recreation
opportunities. However, well-organized logistics and comfortable living conditions are hardly a surprise
to an average resident of a contemporary rotational village. Yet, I
can bet not too many companies in
Kazakhstan have their own airport
close to their office and living facilities. Besides, when I say ‘airport’, I
mean a full-scale, up-to-date facility with a long air strip and tower,
and not a primitive chopper apron
or patch of wasteland adjusted for
small biplane operation.
The Tengiz airport is a
source of pride for all TCO employees. “Many people new to
Tengiz show surprise when they
discover an airport terminal fully
equipped to handle regular charter
flights in a remote place like this,” shared Vladimir Kuliakhtin, a flight
engineer with a recent background
and substantial service record as
a helicopter pilot. Being one of the
most experienced civil aviation
specialists at TCO, Vladimir is a
true pioneer of aviation services
in Tengiz. Over the past decades,
the quality of air transportation
of the charter flights from Atyrau
to Tengiz and back has improved
dramatically. New aviation compa-
nies came and went, the fleet of
Tengiz was reconstructed, exaircraft saw many replacements,
tended and paved. Additionally a
but Vladimir Kuliakhtin stayed in
new air terminal was built with a
his position, which is critical to the
passenger lounge accommodatcompany.
ing 50 people, also providing office
According to Vladimir, “for quite some time
we were using swift and
reliable L-410 aircraft of
Soviet design made in the
Czech Republic, normally
doing two flights per day to
and from Tengiz. Plus occasionally we had special
flights on order. I am sure
all TCO passengers liked
those small and beautiful
aircraft. They suited our
needs perfectly, except for
one shortcoming. In terms
of the number of passenNurzhan Begesinov a pilot
gers on board, they were
OK, but the luggage was
a problem. Passengers were only
space and rooms for reguallowed a small briefcase and
lar tower services, flight
the remaining baggage had to be
control group, weather
transported by trucks. This often
services and communicacaused inconveniences.
tions, maintenance shop
Four years ago, TCO manand fuel facilities. The Tenagement decided it was time to
giz airport passed a strinbuy another type of aircraft, so the
gent acceptance procedure and
choice was made in favor of Cawas certified as Class E Airspace.
nadian model Dash-8. By techniStarting from May 2010, Dash-8
cal features, this aircraft belongs
took over and started its service on
to the same category as Russian
a regular charter flight from Tengiz
An-24, which is familiar to most.
to Atyrau and back.
Although a bit smaller than L-410,
Prime Aviation, the current
Dash-8 aircraft can carry 37 pascontractor to TCO, provides one
sengers which is twice as many
round trip per day from Atyrau to
as L-410. Plus, the Dash-8 has a
Tengiz and occasionally makes two
large luggage compartment. Howflights on order. Just 30 minutes of
ever, for this type of aircraft a lonflying time is a great time-saver for
ger airstrip was required.
Tengiz workers. A trip by train and a
As a result, the airstrip in
bus from Kulsary takes at least 6.5
Tengiz Cup
Winners and final standings of
competitions dedicated to Oilman’s Day
A
s part of the festivities to celebrate the
20th
anniversary
of Tengizchevroil, Tengiz Cup
Games were held on the week
of September 2, which included
events in footsal, basketball,
volleyball, table tennis and lawn
tennis dedicated to Oilman’s Day.
The ultimate objective of the competitions was to promote healthy
living. Through amateur sports,
participants utilized the concept
of friendship and teamwork. The
games attended by TCO employees and contractors set a new record for the total number of teams
and players involved. Participating in various events were 31
teams in footsal, 16 teams in volleyball, 8 teams in basketball, 38
athletes competed in table tennis
and 16 in lawn tennis.
Tengiz Cup games demonstrated the passion and will
to win. The fans had to wait until
the last moment to know the winners’ names. The winners and
the participants were awarded
certificates of attendance, medals
and valuable prizes. Strict safety
hours, which means practically, an
entire work day. The charter flight
allows people to fly to Tengiz in the
morning, attend meetings and return in the evening. This is what we
call contemporary business style.
Besides, although a short one, the
flight is appreciated by many as an
exciting experience.
Nurzhan Begesinov, a pilot
for Prime Aviation totally agrees
with this, saying, “I have been in
the job for quite some time, yet
the feeling of excitement remains,
rules were observed throughout
the games which resulted in zero
injuries.
Please join us in congratulating the prize holders and fans
of the Tengiz Cup. Many thanks to
even though I do
this job every day.
We do our best to
ensure safety and
let our passengers feel comfortable. Never mind
we are what they
call General Aviation or GA, which
implies small aircraft,
because,
in fact, it makes
no difference to
a professional pilot. We have the
same strict safety rules, the same
weather allowances and the same
requirements for passenger comfort.
The “small aviation” in Tengiz has been appreciated by all involved as great help and support in
resolving serious issues and meeting challenges which are never
few with an upstream operation of
this magnitude.
By G. Trukhin
all who participated in this unforgettable tournament and special
thanks to the fans for their strong
support.
By Beibit Ikhsan
TCO HR specialist
№09-10 (195-196) 2013
T
he backyard of a regular apartment house
serves as a natural
habitat for city residents, particularly for the young children and
teenagers whose mentality and
outlook are largely the product of
this micro-community. We adults
and socially active citizens need to
admit this is true. We cannot give
up and keep sitting on the fence.
We need to gain control of our environment and commit ourselves to
improving it by all means, whatever
the challenges. It occurred to me
that an amateur soccer team may
help to resolve the problem.
What is the status of amateur soccer in Kazakhstan today?
I mean the game played every day
on a sandlot and waste grounds
behind the drab apartment houses
and in front of rows of garages? Let
us be candid and admit the talents
demonstrated by average teenagers there can match the skills of
professional players of Kazakhstan’s Soccer League.
A decade ago, it dawned
on some high-ranking officials in
charge of the national olympic reserve, that basic sports grounds
should be made available to each
school and large apartment house.
Municipal contractors were summoned to build mini-fields with
artificial lawn in every small community. This wise initiative provided strong momentum to revive
amateur sports and involved thousands of teenagers, who would
otherwise be left to lounge in the
streets. Nowadays those sports
grounds are constantly busy and
frequented by both the schoolchildren and adults, who enjoy playing
soccer and demonstrate the vigor
match to the young, which is a rewarding observation. But what is
the practical, social value of kicking
the football in a sandlot for hours all
through the summertime?
Pondering this question,
Murat Ozganov, freight forwarding coordinator for Plant Firewater Upgrade (PFU) Project, and I,
simultaneously arrived at the idea
to build a mini-football team and
organize a competition by involving
the teenagers from the Sarykamys
micro-region of Atyrau.
Finally, in the fall of 2012 our
idea materialized into practical action and yielded value. On the final
roster of players were four students
from a local secondary school, two
students from Atyrau University
and four young guys who work with
different Atyrau-based companies.
We organized the training process,
worked on attack and defense lines
and engineered the philosophy
and strategy of playing. I and Murat acted as the coaches and assumed responsibility for all related
issues, including training, logistics,
education and team building. This
was no easy job, but an exciting
The Will to Win
To a soccer team from a small
neighborhood, the title and cup mean a whole
lot more than just a victory in sports
experience, for sure. We tried hard
to help the youth understand there
is no professional soccer without
amateur teams and competitions.
The difference consists in the fact
that professionals get paid, run
faster and kick stronger. Then we
asked the boys if they were ready
to work hard, practice more in order to demonstrate their skills and
compete with renowned leaders,
and the boys agreed.
Soon we learned about a worthy challenge – the Cup of Atyrau
Oblast Akim. First, we decided to
test our players’ fitness by playing
some local team, just to make sure
our ambitions were well-grounded.
The first such trial we had with the
PSNK squad and then analyzed
the results. It became apparent we
lacked the team play, coordination
and needed to work on additional
minor problems.
We became more dedication and the players increased their
hard-working attitude then their
desire to compete grew stronger.
Finally, we felt it was time we move
to the field and win as Murat and I
saw the desire to win in the eyes of
our trainees.
Eventually, we qualified to
play in Akim’s Cup, and the event
was held on August 12 and 13.
The 12 teams competing in the
event represented Balykshi micro0region, Kitkrai neighborhood,
Zhumysker micro-region, Zhambyl,
Stroikontora, the School named
after Altynsarin, Tendyk, Almagul
micro-region, the old airport community, Sarykamys micro-region
and the two Avanguard boroughs.
Covering the event were
Khabar TV and Kazakhstan-Atyrau
TV which added inspiration to our
young players. Soon came the referee’s signal to start the game.
The impact of this experience on the youth is priceless. Below are comments provided by a
few stakeholders:
Alibek Shynybayev, Athletic
trainer at School #33 of Sarykamys micro-region: - I am directly
involved with these boys being
their athletic trainer at school. The
sheer notion of physical culture
means many important things. It
involves the exercises in the gym
and outdoor practice, the challenge
to cultivate the love for sports, the
objective to engage children in
meaningful activities and distract
them from many negative factors
out there in the street I would rather
not mention here. Physical culture
means respect towards your own
personality. I believe when a man
treats himself with due respect, he
will treat other people in the very
same manner.
Therefore, I deem the amateur soccer played on community
sports grounds and sandlots as an
essential component of development. I play soccer with pleasure
together with my students. Personally, I am very grateful to our coach
Murat Ozganov who dedicates time
and effort and really cares. Also I
would like to thank PFU management and Tom Macintyre, for the
support they have been giving to
our trainers. They also assist with
the purchase of necessary equipment and uniforms, take care of
logistics, etc.
Amanbol
Izgaliyev,
10th
grade student of School #33, the
youngest player on the team: I
would go home from school, do
my homework and give it to my
parents. Then I had free time and
could do whatever I wanted to do
and go wherever I wanted to go. Yet
this was a problem, because I had
nothing to do. But then we had this
soccer team and this was a major
change. Now I go to sleep and get
up with thoughts about training. I
cannot imagine I could live without
football, because it means meeting with my friends, socializing and
sharing ideas. Hey, the girls started
to show interest in me after watching our play on TV. Before I heard
about adrenaline and thought it was
some type of drug. Presently this
word has a very positive meaning
for me, because it is associated with
sports, our team and our wins.
Handing out the prizes at the
award ceremony was Baktykozha
Izmukhambetov, Akim of the Atyrau
Oblast. Our team representing
Sarykamys micro-region took the
gold medal and the cup in our debut performance.
Honestly, our guys did not
believe at first they could win playing against renowned adult mas-
15
ters. Naturally, they were head over
heels with joy after winning the cup,
although looked somewhat embarrassed by the result. The prizes
were promptly distributed to the
winners – the medals, certificates,
the Cup, plus a hi-fi musical player
as a bonus. We decided to give
the music player to our Sarykamys
School. It will be appreciated by all
students, particularly in the wintertime when they exercise in the
gym.
Murat and I’s current chief
concern is to make sure our boys
do not think too highly of theirselves and become self-righteous.
They need to continue practicing to
hone skills and prepare for future
competitions.
As a brief summary, I need
to note that physical fitness, increased communication capability,
and organized after-school activities result in reduction of criminal
record and leads to forgetting bad
habits and behavior. Involvement
in sports is can lead to a healthy
lifestyle.
Together with Murat we are
very confident the success of our
teenagers is the result of hard work
and dedication. The time, effort and
funds we contribute to the development of amateur soccer creates a
lot of benefits to the community. In
fact, this is a win-win situation for
all involved – the teenagers, their
parents, residents and police.
By Ildar Alimgaliyev
PFU deputy manager
Comment by
the editorial board:
By publishing this story we also
intend to support our employees’
strong commitment to charity.
Ildar Galimgaliyev is known for his
active involvement in fundraising
activities supported by his friends
and colleagues, who together with
many TCO employees are eager
to offer support to needy families,
disabled persons and orphans. Those
activities are not one-time initiatives.
They reflect the collective spirit
of our team of employees and the
commitment of Tengizchevroil to
corporate responsibility. The practical
manifestation of this position can be
observed in the projects completed
under Egilik Program and Community
Involvement Program. The effort
spent by our employees serves as a
powerful factor of the positive change
taking place in this region. The
practical value of our social projects
and initiatives, like a new school,
clinic, cooking gas for communities
or such a soccer team which engaged
dozens of young people in meaningful
activity is, indeed, priceless.
Events, Final Standings and Winners:
Footsal: 1st place – Umirzak,
2d place – Tengiz team of TCO
Operations, 3d place – Yulmar
Service, Best playmaker –
Zhayik Besenbek of Yulmar Service, Best quarterback – Artiom
Sergeyev, Tengiz team of TCO
Ops, Best keeper – Saparbek
Alimanov of Umirzak.
Basketball: 1st place – Plant
firewater upgrade (PFU) Project,
2nd place – TCO Field Ops, 3d
place – Ariadne, Best playmaker
– Daniyar Kasenov, Ariadne,
Best back – Eric Bautista, Plant
firewater upgrade (PFU) Project,
Best playing technique – Talgat
Akhmetkariyev, Field Ops
Volleyball: 1st place – united squad of TCO, 2nd place –
Zhastar team of Contractors, Best
playmaker – Georgy Kalmykov,
TCO, 3d place – TCO Emergency Response Team, Best back
– Zharas Maratoly, Zhastar, Best
playing technique – Gulmira
Kushaliyeva, TCO women
Table tennis, Men: 1st place
– Dulat Kusainov, TCO IT Group,
2nd place – Ashim Smakov, TCO
Facilities Engineering, 3d place
– Igor Pigasov, TCO Facilities Engineering, Best player – Nurzhan
Maksutov, TCO Ops.
Table tennis, Women: 1st
place – Aitzhan Ibragimova, TCO
OE/HES, 2nd place – Dina Krizhanovskaya – Facilities Engineering, 3d place – Gulzhan Kuatova,
TCO Total Supply Chain, Best
player – Aitolkyn Inkabayeva,
TCO Drilling
Lawn Tennis, Men: 1st
place – Timur Kurenkov, Second
Generation Expansion, 2nd place
– Lon Miri, Facilities Engineering,
3d place – Sergei Kotlyarebsky,
TCO Automation Support, Best
player – Victor Kim, TCO Competence Development
Lawn Tennis, Women: 1st
place – Tatyana Beschastnaya, TCO Security, 2nd place
– Gulmira Aizhanova, Facilities
Engineering, 3d place – Zinaida Baishukanova, Facilities
Engineering, Best player –
Tatyana Baschastnaya, TCO
Security and Irina Stepanova,
TCO Ops
16
№09-10 (195-196) 2013
Watching the Moon
above Aktolagai
By Georgi Trukhin.
A
long the perimeter of
the Tengiz license area
are a total of 12 monitoring stations busy with around-the–
clock monitoring of the ambient air
quality and transmitting the data online through the Intranet. The vigilant
eye of sensors record every minor
change in the atmosphere due to the
use of state-of-the-art technology.
Continuous monitoring of the
air is also done inside the plant and
field area. Testing of air, soils and
groundwater is done on a regular basis at set locations, inspection wells
and meteorological stations covering
entire areas according to industry
standards.
In the very same manner the
condition of air, groundwater and
soils is monitored near the closest
communities – the towns of Koschagyl and Kulsary.
Yet TCO HES specialists are
also watching the quality of the local
environment at larger distances from
Tengiz periodically travelling across
Zhylyoi region deep into the countryside to make a full-scope survey
of the territory which serves as the
home of the super-giant oilfield.
“Technically we could say the
essential testing we complete in the
set areas is sufficient,” said Zhanaggul Iskakova, HES analyst who introduced me to the procedure. – Yet to
get the large picture, such journeys
deep inside the territory are deemed
by us as important because they
provide an opportunity to see the
condition of wildlife and vegetation
around Tengiz with our own eyes. Of
course, we at TCO use the satellite
images for monitoring the changes in
the vegetation, yet sampling and insitu observations are priceless. We
embark on such journeys with pleasure, because this is also a brilliant
opportunity to visit unique places
abundant in typical animal species
and plants which adds to the accuracy of measurements.
Last year, Zhanargul and her
colleagues visited the Akkergeshin
chalk plateau east of Kulsary. Environmental specialists who normally
spend most of their time in front of
PC monitors were stunned by the
fantastic beauty of the Akkergeshin
ridge. The unusual white of bizarre
chalk cliffs inspired imagination, and
people took delight in watching the
blue skies high above those white
Monthly Newsletter of
LLP Tengizchevroil. Printed in
Kazakh, Russian and English.
rocks. The diversity of vegetation
unthinkable in the steppes around
the jolly twitter of evanescent swifts,
who occasionally hushed humbly at
the sight of magnificent golden eagle
on patrol of his kingdom – this picture
not only took the breath of our spectators, but also encouraged them
to feel proud of their native land of
divine and imperial nature, undis-
Zhanargul Iskakova
Editor in chief – Georgy Trukhin.
This Edition of the Newsletter was released by:
David MacInnis, Chanel Jolly, Aibar
Khamiev, Yerlan Islyamov, Shalkar Yeleshev, Sergei Maltsev.
free distribut
turbed and maintaining
its unearthly splendor.
Last time they
took samples of local
vegetation, air and soils,
the latter represented by
both cretaceous rocks
and regular dirt. As a
result, the tests discovered no signs of mancaused pollution.
In the meantime, there is one more
unique area in the Zhylyoi region which is
known as a gem of divine nature – the Aktolagai Plateau standing
even farther north-west,
on the border of the
Atyrau and Aktyubinsk
Regions. The rocks
there are much higher
than Akkergeshin, some
close to 1000 feet, com-
pared with 200 feet. The miles-long
crust displacement uncovered the
Jurassic relicts demonstrating a still
richer diversity of species. Local
slopes and depressions hoard signs
of the dinosaurs’ era, like remains of
ammonites, brachiopods’ shells and
fragments of prehistoric monsters’
shields. Once Trukhin, the author of
this story, got lucky and traveled here
as a journalist and part of a students’
paleontological team (I was shooting a documentary). That time he
witnessed a rare finding – a petrified
vertebra identified as a spinal bone
of a Pliosaurus, a genus of extinct
marine reptile. That was really fantastic luck. Normally, visitors of this
place are happy with more moderate findings, like perfectly preserved
teeth of giant ancient sharks, glittering in the sun as if lacquered, and
sharp as a steel blade.
Welcome to Aktolagai! From
the top of its highest peak of 1250feet, called “the Tomb” for its shape
typical of ancient sepulchral monuments. Recently one could see the
glow on the horizon which was the
flames of the flares in Tengiz. Nowadays, the spectacle is no more
available, because TCO eliminated
routine flaring four years ago and
made modifications that allow TCO
to sell the previously flared petroleum gas and use as fuel for boilers.
This publication is registered by the Ministry of Culture,
Information and Public Accord of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
License No 2482-Г issued on November 21, 2001.
Address of the Editorial Board:
POB 060011, Republic of Kazakhstan, Atyrau,
Satpaev Str., 3, HQ of LLP Tengizchevroil.
Office phone: +7(712) 302-6248 / 6870.
FAX: +7(712) 302-6729. +7(712) 302-6752
EDITORIAL BOARD:
Tim Miller
Anuarbek Jakiyev
Brad Middleton
Rzabek Artygaliev
Murat Munbayev
Sholpan Altybayeva
Samat Azhenov
During the daytime, the entire area is dominated by eagles
who homesteaded the fanciest cliff
in the ridge and made their nesting site on it. On a cloudless sunny
day when flows of hot air rise to
the skies from Aktolagai plateau,
the magnificent large birds join
into grandiose roundelay, building
a sort of huge open-work cupola
high above. The place is a regular
habitat of various rodents, primarily field mice, plus home for foxes
and occasional wolves that used to
come from the steppes in pursuit of
herds of saiga antelopes. Unfortunately, the saiga is no longer here.
Now an extinct species through
poachers’ fault. The mass extermination became rampant in the
90’s stimulated by the bootleg aphrodisiac producers in China; thus,
made the relic antelope leave this
place for good.
However, Aktolagai remained
the same snow-white, mind-blowing,
magnificent place. Proud Catherine
the Great (the name of the cliff with
a shadow-figure looking very much
alike the Russian Queen) is still
watching the crimson sunset. The
broody Indian, the rock which resembles a typical hawk-nosed profile is
beholding the soaring eagles. Same
as centuries ago, the Man and Woman hand in hand still hesitate to flee
away to the boundless nowhere land
after they made the initial step and
their silhouette separated a fraction
from the chalk ridge behind.
The names of the mountains
are not formally accepted, though,
and were given by visual associations.
Finally, here is the Moon ascending to its position above Aktolagai in a sublime and deliberate
fashion, looking down on the endless riches of Nature in a manner of
Diana, the goddess of the hunt, the
moon and birthing, chatting with the
animals. She has nothing to worry
about here and no-one can disturb
her peace. The environmental specialists? Let them visit this place
and use it as a rest and recreation
opportunity, enjoy its fragrant air, tire
themselves climbing the tempting
mountain trails, talk to the eagles
and listen to the fairy tales the bright
stars will tell them.
By Georgy Trukhin
Photo taken by author
The make-up and layout of the Newsletter is done
by the Department of Policy, Government and
Public Affairs of LLP Tengizchevroil. The edition is
printed at JSC «Leader Offset Printing Company»
in Almaty. Printer’s address: The Republic of
Kazakhstan, Almaty, Rayimbek Str., 212 A.
Office phone: 8 (7272) 68 55 68
Number of copies printed – 1000. Order #