«Теңізшевройл» жауапкершілігі шектеулі серіктестігінің басылымы
Информационная газета ТОО «Тенгизшевройл»
Tengizchevroil Newsletter
НОВОСТИ ТШО
№ 08 (182) 2012
TCO NEWS
10 Million Hours Without Incident
On August 23, 2012 our TCO and Contractor workforce achieved 10 million hours
without a Days Away From Work (DAFW) incident.
My congratulations on this milestone!
This is an excellent achievement which demonstrated our collective efforts and
commitment to incident-free operation. The accomplishment is particularly impressive
given the enormous scope of work and number personnel involved in SGP/SGI turnaround.
I encourage all of you to continue using safe work practices, whether you are working at operations or office/support facilities. With every workforce member staying focused on incident-free operation we can send everyone home safely to their families.
Thank you again for your support and commitment to incident-free operation!
Tim G. Miller,
TCO General Director
In this issue:
TCO Projects celebrated
another safety record
to the tunes of Mozart
and Kurmangazy
Page 2
Compromised not a jot of
stringent rules
Page 3
Caring of the small ones
Page 7
Kazakhstan Constitution Day
Page 8
The last time so many people were seen working on the site of Second Generation Plant (SGP) was
in 2007 when Tengiz was in construction phase. Currently, at the peak of operations the total number
of labor involved in the SGP turnaround approaches 5,000. The project is unique not only by scope of
work, but because it is the first time both the Second Generation Plant and Sour Gas Injection(SGI)
facility will be shut down completely.
(Continued on page 4-5)
Goodness multiplies through
similar noble acts
Page 8
2
№8 (182) 2012
TCO Projects Celebrated Another Safety
Record to the Tunes of Mozart and Kurmangazy
The Wastewater Treatment Facility (WTF)
project at TCO reached the milestone
of 1 million man-hours without a Day
Away From Work(DAFW)incident
E
very time you happen
to hear classical music
played at the town hall
meeting in celebration of a 1 million man-hour without DAFW safety
record, you can be sure about two
things. First, the record owner is the
WTF Project. Second, the musicians
playing are the string quartet of the
Atyrau Philharmonic invited by Nick
Thomas, project manager and musician. Right in the middle of scaffolds
and processing units echoed the
sounds of Mozart, List and Kurmangazy.
This is by far not the first
safety record achieved for WTF. We
remember only too well WTF was
accountable for a truly outstanding
record of 3 million man-hours without DAFW incident, a rare phenomenon with this type of civil engineering work. However, it is much more
difficult to keep such a record than
to set it, especially under the given
circumstances, including weather
extremes varying from minus 40 F
in winter to 120 F in summer. Thus,
last November the count was restart-
ed from scratch, and today we see
a seven-digit number on the board
once again – a result to admire.
The town hall meeting was to
the point. Joy Inbody, Health, Environment and Safety manager for
the WTF Project noted “the record
has been achieved, the extreme
conditions notwithstanding.” The
past winter was marked by cold
temperatures, but also an unusual
amount of snow in February. With
very low temperatures and high
wind velocities the snow was an extremely hazardous to vehicle traffic
to the point that the worksite was
inaccessible for six days. Contrast
that to recent conditions in July
when temperatures reached 122
F. The hardships were rough, but
we overcame them. My congratulations go out to each and every
worker who met the challenges and
contributed to reaching this very
impressive milestone. I am looking
forward to being here to celebrate
the next milestone of 2 million manhours without a Day Away from
Work incident.”
Today, the total number of
labor involved in WTF and Water
Recycle Project exceeds 350, primarily consisting of local employees
of Kazakhstani construction companies, such as Kazcom, KulsaryGas,
Dalaro, Temirali and DenholmZholdas. The core specialists have been
mobilized by Chemimontage and
NefteStroiService (NSS). NNS is
100 percent Kazakh company, while
Chemimontage is a KazakhstanHungarian joint venture.
Nick Thomas, WTF project
manager shared the warm greetings
of TCO management with his staff
and then focused on the primary risk
factors which must be considered
at all times. He highlighted working
at heights and electrical works. The
project is currently in the completion
phase, so the adjustment and testing procedures should be completed
with the highest quality. He said, this
will allow everybody involved to feel
proud not only of the unique facility
we built, but also of the world-class
standard of safety performance and
professionalism. Nick spread the
good news about the bonus to be
paid to all employees in recognition
of the safety record and then advised
the audience to spare some time
during the lunch break to enjoy the
concert of classical music.
Such concerts are yet another
tradition of WTF project team. A wonderful tradition, I must admit.
By G. Trukhin
They keep the doors open day and night
C
omplex
coordinators
sub-group is a small
part of the Ops Planning
Group within TCO Operations organization. The staff, along with their PCs,
multiple telephones and radio communications hardware, and a huge monitor, is based in one of the blocks of
TCO Village. What is special about its
premises? The doors of this office are
kept open day and night. This group
of specialists, referred to as ComCo
staff, which stands for complex coordinators, work 24 hours a day, coordinating all operations groups. This is an
important function that guarantees the
operations plan is developed properly
and on time.
Aigul Ensegenova, Ops Planning Supervisor, said, “Honestly
speaking, I cannot give you the full
list of these guys’ job responsibilities
without missing something important.”
The Operations Planning group is in
charge of short-term and longer-term
planning to ensure the timely delivery
of TCO products to the customers, as
well as shipment monitoring and delivery reporting. The complex coordinator acts as a duty officer who is on
duty around the clock and bears total
responsibility. Let us look at a few typical functions.
• To support systematic control of safety, protection of environment and health, equipment reliability
and effectiveness of the work process
to achieve and maintain a world-class
performance in pursuance of TCO operational excellence strategy
• To coordinate performance
of all operations groups and ensure
the
production target is properly
reached
• To ensure all significant and
accurate information is properly communicated and reported to the target
recipients (filing reports and analysis
as appropriate). ComCo is a key position on the Emergency Response
Staff. In case of emergency, ComCo
assumes the duties of acting Emer-
gency Operations Commander till the
formal commander takes over. ComCo takes part in training the emergency response staff according to the
plan…
Only very expert specialists
with a strong practical background
are assigned to the duty of ComCo.
Galiakpar Sarkenov, for one, has a
24-year strong record of working in
Consultant. In April 2011, he became
Complex Coordinator.
Sarkenov’s current back-toback, Marat Suesinov, has an equally
respectable and impressive job history. He graduated from the Kazan
Chemical Processing Institute, earning a diploma for process engineering.
Kazan Chemical Processing Institute
is rated among the best schools for
Tengiz. He began his career in Tengiz in 1988, when he was accepted
to the Emergency Response Team
(ERT). After the plant was brought online, Galiakpar joined the staff of the
Operations Department as a crude oil
loading rack operator. He made quite
an impression and was promoted to
the position of loading rack shift supervisor. In 2004, he moved from the
off-plot facilities into the plant area.
At first, Sarkenov worked as Unit 600
superintendant (sulfur production
and granulation) then he moved to
the Projects Support Group. He was
part of a few significant projects for
the Second Generation Plant (SGP).
After SGP was commissioned, Galiakpar was promoted to the job of SGP
training specialists for the petroleum
industry. Marat worked for quite some
time at the Zhana Ozen Refinery.
He joined TCO in 2002. Although
Suesinov had sufficient experience,
he chose to begin his career at TCO
as operator of Units 700, 200 and
400 of KTL Plant. Marat’s talent as a
leader was soon recognized. He was
assigned unit supervisor at the newly
built SGP. Marat stayed in that position until 2011.
The career accomplishments of
Sarkenov and Suesinov are impressive. This is exactly the level of competence necessary for the Complex
Coordinator to run the entire operation
with confidence and to ensure business goals are reached.
“Our specific position and the
ComCo function were introduced to
TCO in the early 2000s,” reminisced
Galiakpar Sarkenov. By that time the
KTL Plant has passed through substantial modernization and a number
of technology upgrading projects were
completed, including Train 5 and Program 12. As a result, the total production capacity of KTL increased notably.
The job of ComCo is a key function for
round-the-clock coordination of work
processes, in particular, routine coordination of Production Operations with
other core departments. Primarily, the
groups in charge of producing end
products – crude oil, European quality
LPG, dry gas and sulfur. ComCo also
works with Marketing and Transportation to coordinate their contacts with
buyers and distributors, such as CPC,
Intergas-Central Asia and KazTransOil. “Since we first started in this new
capacity, our functions have expanded
dramatically.”
“Our specific job functions may
appear simple and clear-cut to some,
yet, in practical terms, they are not”,
said Marat Suesinov. TCO plans a
target production of crude and ships
the product to the buyers. Our Tengiz
upstream facility, including the field
and plants, is a huge mechanism that
needs high-precision and reliable operation. “Can you imagine what would
happen if a pump fails somewhere
and some unit does not receive a
sufficient flow of crude oil or gas for
proper performance?” “Being a coordinator, I need to quickly analyze the
situation and advise other groups to
make proper adjustments to compensate for the temporary loss of capacity
and output. Then I need to take action
to remedy the situation with the faulty
pump, or, in the event of more serious
damage, I have to dispatch repair and
maintenance crews to take care of the
necessary repairs or replacements.
This is in close coordination with respective Operational Safety departments.”
“Just take a look at the number of phone sets on our desks”, said
Sarkenov, pointing at the dozen of
wall-mounted and desktop sets of different shades and configuration. We
maintain direct communications both
with the plants - KTL and SGP, and
with Field Operations and transportation crews. Sometimes, all can be
working fine in Tengiz, but the stormy
weather on the Black Sea prevents
normal operation of the Novorossiysk
terminal. In this instance, we need to
trim crude oil production accordingly
to minimize losses. We do so by contacting the Crude Oil Storage management, M&T, CPC and all involved.
During the daytime, this coordination
is the responsibility of respective department managers. At night, ComCo
assumes all responsibility and control.
In case of emergencies, all departments report directly to ComCo until the Staff Commander arrives and
takes over control.
There are four Complex Coordinators. In addition to Sarkenov and
Suesinov, there are their back-tobacks – Nauryzbai Imangaziyev and
Medel Tlepbergenov. Both are similar
gurus of Tengiz operations. Acting as
their assistant coordinators are two
more specialists – one for each shift.
Erdos Amrenov, Pavel Chumakov,
Rustembek Tastanbekov and Rimma
Aflitullina. Rimma Aflitullina is the
only lady among this serious group of
professionals. Each shift coordinator
is a strong team member with a high
degree of coordination, teamwork and
understanding. Sometimes they don’t
really need to speak to each other.
They just give a look or wave their
hand to the other and it is understood.
Two true partners and their equally
strong back-to-backs share tremendous responsibility day and night,
keeping total control of the largest
production company in Kazakhstan,
making sure its thriving business continues seamlessly.
By Georgy Trukhin
№8 (182) 2012
The number of labor working at Tengiz
upstream facility has
recently grown dramatically. In view of the largescale turnaround, TCO
had to tackle logistical
issues involving accommodations, catering
and transportation (of
turnaround crews). At
the forefront remains the
focus on maintaining a
safe working environment by operating in a
safe and environmentally
responsible way. TCO’s
safety goals apply to employees and contractors.
A
ccording to Nurlan
Jackiyev,
CHESM
Group
supervisor,
“currently we have assigned a
large task force of HES instructors
and BBS observers to supervise
safety procedures at contractor
companies.” He pointed at the
group of workers attending essential pre-work safety briefing and
continued, “each contractor company conducts safety training. We
3
Safety – chief priority
Safety Cannot be
Compromised
will not admit any contractor to the
worksite who has not been trained.
We are pleased to observe a nononsense attitude of our contractors towards implementing safety
procedures and safe work practices. The supervision and monitoring of this process and the day-today routine is essential. The chief
goal is to prevent an incident.”
The prevention of incidents
and minimization of risks also is
achieved through on-the-spot inspections.
Occasionally, at 7:30 a.m.,
you will spot a few HES inspectors
standing at the SGP main gate,
holding plastic bags. Inside the
bags are regular steel washers…
Why steel washers? What for?
“We are on a special preventive inspection today,” explained
Kapiza Ryskalieva, a nurse with
TCO Medical Department. We
are doing random alcohol testing
together with TCO Health, Environment and Safety staff. Some of
the washers in the bag are painted blue. The employees passing
through the main gate are requested to draw a washer from the bag.
Those picking the blue ones are
invited to the wagon for testing.
Kapiza’s temporary work-
place is inside the wagon, and she
has all the necessary equipment
for testing - a special valise with
ALCO-SENSOR IV and a smart
metering device which is both very
sensitive and totally impersonal
and unprejudiced. The test is quick
and only requires one to breathe
out into a white one-shot disposable tube. “Here you go; you can
watch the reading on the monitor
momentarily, saying whether or not
the inspected individual has alcohol in his blood.” The queue moves
quickly. Some enter the wagon, as
others exit. As a rule, all must exit
with a smile on their face.
Mugavil Sadykov, lead HES
specialist, a long-lifer and respected man in Tengiz, has just passed
the test.
“I have no problem at all with
alcohol testing,” – said Sadykov,
smiling. “If this is necessary, I am
ready for testing. No privileges,
no exclusions, no excuses. If you
pass the test, you can go to your
workplace and get to work. If not,
too bad. If you want to know my
opinion, I think alcohol addicts are
out of place at TCO.”
What happens if an individual tests positive?
“Definitely, he will not be given admission to the workplace,” –
replied Nurlan Jackiyev. He will be
sent immediately to TCO Clinic for
comprehensive testing. If tested
positive once again, the employee
will be dismissed and blacklisted,
so no chance of getting a job with
TCO in the future. Dura lex sed
lex, goes the Latin proverb. It
means, “Law is harsh, but it’s law.”
We have a sophisticated facility
here, a complex operation associated with serious hazards. Thus,
“adherence to the strict rules is absolutely necessary. Zero tolerance
proves not all that bad.”
Hundreds of workers, supervisors and engineers have passed
the test today.
By G. Trukhin
Behavior-Based Safety (BBS) Program:
Expressing safety through poetry and paint
Our readers have recently
observed creativity by TCO employees in matters of safety and safe
work processes. When teammates
within a department discovered that
their colleague had written poetry
on a BBS-related subject, they had
the verses published. It seems BBS
has inspired not only poetic talents,
but also a few painters.
The Atyrau BBS Leadership
Committee has established quarterly safety poster contests to encourage TCO employees to share
their vision of topical behavioral
safety items. The poster contest is
an effort to advertise BBS principles
within work groups, and to remind
employees and their families about
potential risks that could lead to incidents, when ignored. The success
of the poster contests is evidence
that this particular method is effective and popular. Drawing thematic
pictures has been actively supported by adults and children (of TCO
employees), who are encouraged to
join the BBS poster contests.
According to the rules of the
contest, posters must be painted by
hand, using pencils, paints or/and
markers, on A3 or A4 sized paper.
When the posters are submitted,
the Atyrau BBS team reviews them
and nominates three winners. The
winners receive a valuable gift and
certificate signed and hand delivered by Mike Jennings, General
Manager, Operational Excellence /
Health, Environment and Safety.
The subject of the Q2 poster
contest was “Cleaning of the workplace.” We received many paintings.
The winners were Erbol Zhupkaliev
of Facilities Engineering (1st place),
Saule Yessilova, his colleague (2nd
place) and Alina Kunakovskaya with
Future Growth Project (3rd place).
Please accept our warmest
greetings to the winners and our
wishes for all to keep their workplaces safe.
WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO DISCOVERING MORE
MASTERPIECES AND TALENTS
IN THE CONTESTS TO COME.
As a reminder, the subject of
the next BBS poster contest will be
“Hot Weather Safety.” Please join
our contest.
Below are the works of our
winners.
By Olga Filyushkina,
BBS Program coordinator
2 place - Yessilova Saule
1 place – Zhupkaliev Erbol
3 place – Kunakovskaya Alina
4
№8 (182) 2012
The last time so many
people were seen
working on the site of
Second Generation
Plant (SGP) was in
2007 when Tengiz was
in construction phase.
At the peak of operations, the total number
of workers involved in
the SGP turnaround
exceeded 6,500.
Brad Middleton,
General Manager,
Operations
Dear colleagues,
would like to provide a brief update on the SGP/SGI turnaround. The SGP gas, sulfur, and tail gas units were shut
down on 1 August. We produced with staged oil for several
more days until we shut down SGI on 4th August. Through August 19,
more than one million man hours have been worked on the SGP/SGI
turnaround activities without a Day Away From Work incident – a significant accomplishment given the number of activities and personnel on
site. We recently passed the half-way point for the turnaround, and our
progress is on plan. At this stage, all the facilities have been released
to Maintenance for cleaning, inspection and repairs. Plans have been
developed to complete all required work within the timing previously
defined for the turnaround.
More than 5,000 contractor employees were mobilized to perform this work. The vast majority of these are local Kazakhstan craftsmen and supervisors. BBS participation and oversight remain high, and
timely action is being taken on at risk behaviors and unsafe conditions.
In spite of all the above successes and efforts, there have regrettably
been some recordable incidents, which reminds us all of the need to
always take the time to do every task with discipline and with a full understanding of the risks involved.
There is a great deal of work of remaining. I am confident that we
will continue to be successful if we follow our procedures with absolute
discipline and keep looking out for each other through BBS participation and exercising our Stop Work Authority. With every member of the
workforce focused on incident and injury-free operation we can send
everyone home safely to their families.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who is directly or indirectly supporting the turnaround. The support that all TCO
teams have provided has been excellent and a key contributor to the
overall performance thus far. This is truly a team effort.
Stay safe,
I
Successf
A Result of TCO’s Stron
completed the fi
T
he last time so many
people were seen
working on the site of
Second Generation Plant (SGP)
was in 2007 when Tengiz was in
construction phase. At the peak
of operations, the total number of
workers involved in the SGP turnaround exceeded 6,500.
The Second Generation
Plant in Tengiz is the world largest single sulfur processing train.
“Turnarounds are a necessary
maintenance process to ensure
the reliability and longevity of facilities,” said Nsanbai Moldiev,
SGP operations supervisor. During the SGP turnaround, in addition to planned maintenance activities, modifications were made
to certain equipment to enhance
productivity. The SGP turnaround
consisted of 223 work packages.
The time was 7:00, just a
few minutes after sunrise. Hundreds of people wearing uniforms
entered the main gate and proceeded to their workplaces. The
logos on their backs were easily
recognized – Denholm Zholdas,
NefteStroiService, SICIM, Dalaro,
Yulmar Service, ESS, Kazakh
Services and more. These are
names of Kazakhstani companies
that played a key role in the turnaround.
Abdidai Karzhaov, SGP
Turnaround supervisor and Kazakh oilman proud of his 25
years of service in Tengiz, coordinated turnaround operations.
Igor Zagorelskiy, a recognized
professional and part of the
general maintenance team, assisted Karzhaov. Igor has served
in Tengiz for over 23 years and
has participated in turnarounds
for over a decade. Karzhaov and
5
№8 (182) 2012
ful Plant Turnaround:
ng Safety Culture and Capable People Tengizchevroil
first turnaround of its Second Generation Plant
Zagorelskiy relied on the competence of their teammates like,
Masimkhan Berdigaliev, supervisor of SGP Operations Support
group; Amanbai Baurzhan, production operations supervisor;
and Essenzhol Kushmukhanov,
section supervisor. Throughout
the turnaround, these recognized
gurus of Tengiz plant operations
discussed urgent issues, brainstormed solutions to challenges
and shared ideas.
Tom Hansen, a critical leader during the SGP turnaround,
believes strongly that the SGP
turnaround was an outstanding
event in the history of the world of
upstream. After watching this man
for quite some time, it was obvious how strongly he feels about
SGP. This most likely accounted
for the special spirit of total dedication we observed of Tom at the
site.
” The target was to ensure
maximum safety at all times. Further, our contractors were well
aware of TCO’s rigorous safety
requirements and rules,” said
Guzel Mukhamediyeva, HES support group leader. During the turn-
around, operational safety at TCO
was followed according to high
standards, even with dozens of
worksites, hundreds of teams of
people and many machines.
The success of the SGP
turnaround, that lasted nearly 45
days and amounted to 2.6 million
total hours of labor, is a result of
TCO’s ongoing focus on delivering superior operational performance by operating safely and in
an environmentally responsible
manner; as well as, ensuring the
right people are performing the
right job in the right way.
6
The volunteer movement at
TCO has been generating
energy and support now that
it is a part of the Community
Investment Program. More
people are aware of TCO’s
volunteer opportunities and
they want to be a part of
value generating activities
that benefit the community.
“For the benefit of children”
is the latest of these value
generating activities. This
volunteer event took place
at the Tulpar summer rest &
recreation camp.
Below are two stories sharing different perspectives
of this activity, united by the
common desire to serve…
Zhanna Zholmanova, translator with
TCO Government and Public Affairs:
One of my early experiences with volunteering through TCO was with the children
who are residents at Tulpar summer rest &
recreation camp. On August 18, volunteers
from TCO and CDC Solutions took part in “For
the benefit of children.” When I was signing
up for this activity, I was not sure whether I
would be able to connect with the children,
because of the challenges they already had
experienced at their young ages. I was made
aware that most of them, referred to as ‘tough children,’
have behavioral disorders.
In spite of my fears, I
viewed this as a character
building opportunity. When I
was a little girl, I liked to construct origami and dreamed
of making a kite with my
own hands. Somehow, my
dream has not come true;
either, because of lack of
time or lack of persistence.
Not knowing this at first, the
opportunity to spend time
with the children at Tulpar
became an opportunity for
me to share my desire of
kite making; a possible winwin for me and the children.
When arriving at Tulpar, we received a warm
welcome from the director,
Valentina. She led introductions and then we split into
three groups - those who
wanted to play soccer; those who wanted
to play volleyball; and those who wanted to
make crafts. Guess which group I joined? Yes,
the crafts group. Now I would be able to make
a kite.
Nurzada Azhigalieva, lead accountant,
TCO Accounts Payable group, and volunteers from the nongovernmental organization
(NGO) CDC Solutions, helped the volunteers
and children get to know each other. The chil-
Go, go the kite!
dren were very open and curious with us.
The children in the crafts group liked
my idea to build a kite. They responded with
enthusiasm and demonstrated a true interest.
Farhat and Daulet, the two elders took the lead
and organized the process, while the younger
kids acted as assistants. Bekzat marked off
the extreme points for attaching the sticks and
fixed all junction points along the contour to,
finally, get the outline of the kite’s long body
the shape of a big snake.
Nurzada Azhigalieva and Altyn Sataibaeva took the younger children outside
and let them play. Meanwhile, Farhat and
Daulet finished tailoring the body of the kite
and built the carcass, while others cut long ribbons out of a plastic bag. Esset, the youngest
boy in the group tied the ribbons to the kite’s
edges. Two Bekzats added kind eyes and a
broad smile to the image. As a result we had
a nice looking kite. Dastan pierced a couple of
sticks’ meeting points to run a thread through
them, and then we were able to tie the kite.
Finally, we were done and it was time to see if
the kite could fly.
We gathered all the boys together and
gave them a task to help them understand the
meaning of teamwork. There is a proverb that
says, “Together we are a strong team,” suggesting that good results can only be attained
through combined effort. The children not only
learned teamwork through this task, they also
learned communications and socializing skills.
I was very pleased with my experience
of working with the children at Tulpar. From
this experience, I realized that there are no
‘tough children’; it is the adults, parents and
ultimately society who label children. We all
have the potential to help these kids and others become good citizens and skilled specialists. We can demonstrate the willingness to
do so, by being aware and committed, and by
sharing a little bit of our selves.
Altyn Sataibaeva, 3-year student of
the Russian University of Peoples’ Friendship, on her internship at TCO, speaking:
I have limited experience with working
with children. I am a student at the Russian
University of Peoples’ Friendship, specializing
in humanitarian and social sciences. During
the initial years of my study, I visited orphanages and boarding schools in Moscow and
neighboring communities to practice working
with children and to take part in charitable outreach events.
Volunteering at Tulpar summer camp
was a new experience for me. Now I have
new impressions. I talked to the children and
instructors. The camp is a summer resort for
children from a few Atyrau orphanages and
underprivileged families. Tulpar impressed me
as a very active and noisy community. While
at Tulpar, the children got involved in a few
championships and there was even an ‘Olympic Games’. I was amazed to find so many
chess players. In the intervals between the
championships, children played soccer and
enjoyed disco (that night). You can imagine,
our arrival made some difference to them and
to the otherwise normal way of living in the
camp. Hopefully, our presence made some
№8 (182) 2012
difference.
When the organizers of “For the benefit
of children” invited volunteers to Tulpar, they
asked us to think of interesting and original
activities to do with the kids. We were able
to recruit volunteers easily. The difficult part
was generating innovative and fun activities to
do with the children. We finally chose sports
games and handicrafts, as we trusted those
would be interesting to all.
My primary hobby is painting. I love it.
It is a critical part of my life. I found a number of fans of the fine arts in this group, as
they were eager to play with felt pens. Some
chose the easy way by coloring in books with
Walt Disney characters. Others wanted to try
and draw something by themselves, so they
worked with blank paper and water paints.
We acted as instructors and advisors for the
young artists. I taught them how to choose the
right colors and how to give a pattern an even
shade. I was happy to feel this knowledge was
wanted and that I helped the children discover
something new and interesting.
After painting, I took the young girls to
a warm up exercise and then we made hair
bobby pins. The pieces of colored cloth we
brought were made into bowknots. We made
two-layer bows with braid lace attached to colored fabric. We sewed them together and then
attached the pin. As a result, we had made
very beautiful hair pins. You should have seen
the happy eyes of the girls looking with admiration at their hair-dos in the mirror, decorated
with an original bobby pin made by their own
hands. They were perfectly sure that their pin
was absolutely unique and the design – one
of a kind.
When feeling overwhelmed because of
my limited experience with kids, I watched my
colleagues Nelly Kulikovskikh and Irina Kim,
who I met during this volunteer activity. I also
watched Zhanna and Nurzada, who I had met
before at TCO. I truly admired their patience
and tact, as they practiced with their groups
in the craft of origami and kite construction.
I was pleased to see the children were really
involved. Honestly, it was hard not to feel a
sense of sadness for the children because
many of them have never experienced a mother’s care and
love. At least we were able to
spread a little sunshine in their
lives on that day.
I appreciate the support
of Tengizchevroil which accepted me as an intern and
gave me the chance to be a
part of a team of true professionals. My intern experience
was a brilliant opportunity to
reinforce theory with practice.
I also am very thankful for the
experience at Tulpar camp.
The personal involvement in
matters critical to the community helps make an individual
feel valued and truly, a good
citizen.
7
Fotos and story
№8 (182) 2012
W
hen we mention the Ural’s delta, we think fish. Yet a few
decades ago, both all-Kazakhstan and local media kept
bragging that the estuary of the Ural and Caspian accounted for 90 percent of the world’s population of sturgeon. The river played a
unique role as a huge breeding site for sturgeon, beluga, starred sturgeon
and ship, not to mention the common freshwater species. No sophisticated tackle was needed to catch a good pike perch – a small piece of
red cloth on the hook served a perfect bite. No long playing either, just a
few take-ins with the reel – and you got it. The older fishermen remember
times when the asp kept “dancing” on the still water surface all over the
place, occasionally rocketing as high as 5 feet above the water in pursuit
of prey. Needless to say, the Ural used to team with famous local vobla,
also known as the Caspian roach, as the sight of hundreds of amateur
fishermen squatting on the thick ice miles along the river in February and
March was a regular phenomenon.
Local folks used to catch plenty of fish from the Ural, and yet plenty
was left. Its shortage has never been an issue. The preservation and regeneration of bioresources was properly protected by the law and managed by
scientists. Guryev (the old name for Atyrau) served as a base for a major
national think tank specializing in ichthyologic research.
The annual campaign to rescue baby fish from isolated reservoirs left
after floodwater retreat was a part of a program to protect and preserve
freshwater fish reserves. Every summer, hundreds of school students would
go on their Blue Patrol mission to move millions of baby fish from the drying
out bayous and ponds to the river, helping to maintain the precious biological
resource of the Ural and Caspian.
Today the Ural is very different from what it used to be in terms of fish.
Forget the easy take and the red cloth for the bait. Honestly speaking, stories about schoolchildren moving thousands of baby fish to the Ural sound
like fairy tales to today’s young generation of Atyrau residents. To cut a long
story short, the above are reasons why a large number of people joined in
the fish rescue mission initiated by TCO volunteers.
By Irina Kim,
coordinator for CDC
Development Solutions,
Kazakhstan
Caring for the small ones
Photos by the author and Aibar Khamiev
An effort to save at least one
baby fish’s life is a worthy and very
noble endeavor. On July 28 and
August 11, volunteers gathered to
support a truly non-trivial and important initiative. As a result, the team of
46 volunteers rescued about 5,000
baby fish otherwise doomed to perish in the drying out isolated ponds.
TCO employees with their
children and friends, and volunteers
from the NGO (non-governmental
organization) CDC Development
Solutions took part in the rescue
operation. After a preliminary reconnaissance of all accessible reservoirs, the decision was made to
select a couple of reservoirs in the
immediate vicinity – the pond upfront the Ural, close to Bisekti village
and the Baksai lake near the town
of Aktogai, both in the Makhambet
region of Atyrau oblast. The total
number of such isolated ponds in
the Ural delta is about 20. Each
year they become deadly traps for
millions of various types of freshwater baby fish. Therefore, this issue
clearly is of strong importance and
needs the involvement of people to
help remedy the situation.
The access to the ponds is
often a challenge, with miles of offroad driving in complete wilderness.
Sometimes the area looks so dry
and desolate it is hard to imagine
there could be freshwater anywhere,
but then a natural reservoir of freshwater prevails.
The Ural-Caspian Basin Administration provided barrels and
drag nets to assist with the rescue
mission. The sight of the green water was discouraging; yet, brave
volunteers willingly tested the water
and trawling technique before en-
gaging the rest of the volunteers.
Volunteers
formed
three
teams: one supplied freshwater
from the Ural; one caught the fish;
and one collected the fish. Supervisors from the Environmental Agency made sure the fish had enough
breathing space in the barrels and
counted the fish. Then the barrels were transported by trucks to
the river, and the reverse process
started – the baby fish went from the
barrels into the buckets, which were
then passed on and the fish were released into the river.
Nasipgul Bagitzhanova, fishery biologist with the Makhambet
Fish Warden Dept., said, “honestly,
we have not seen such volunteer
campaigns supported by outside
businesses for quite some time, so
at first, we were skeptical about Tengizchevroil’s offer to assist. You really made my day today. I am very
happy so many people care and are
eager to help, both the adults and
the children. This is an excellent example for others to follow.”
Among the recognized heroes of day 1 of our rescue mission were Zhadyra Otebaliyeva,
Planning & Analysis analyst and
Alexei Dyachenko, linguist for TCO
Negotiations & Legal. Zhadyra never
showed a sign of fatigue as she scooped
the baby fish from the
nets into the buckets. Alexei spent the
whole day operating
the drag, cruising the
pond back and forth. I
must say this was no
easy job, but in the
end, the volunteers
appreciated the result of their dedicated
efforts. Thousands
of baby fish have
been rescued and
released into the Ural
to grow and breed.
All participants were
happy with the contribution they made.
Brad Middleton, general manager of TCO Production Operations
and master of the drag on Day 2,
shared his impressions. He liked
the idea quite a bit and enjoyed the
process. Gulnara Aitzhanova, community affairs consultant, also acting
as one of the organizers on behalf
of TCO, promised “...this great initiative will be continued next year.
Maybe we will be lucky and have the
chance to do it again this summer,
if we can.”
And, of course, the children
who joined their parents on this noble mission enjoyed this opportunity
strongly. They stayed on the shore
and could not wait to see the drags
full of baby fish go into the buckets
and further to the barrels, the trucks
and the river.
Renata Sakhvaliyeva is the
little girl who was delegated to set
the first baby fish free and let it out
to the Ural. She made a sad sigh as
she tipped the water with the fish out
of her small red bucket and showed
a tear in her eye, yet after she knew
what she did to this baby fish, the
little girl radiated a happy smile…
Each year personnel of the
local Department of Bio-resources
Preservation and Protection rescue
millions of small fish by themselves.
Our record of 5,000 saved baby fish
will be remembered as a priceless
experience by the volunteers who
took part in the mission. Peter Scott,
a renowned British wild life protection specialist was quoted as saying,
“perhaps, we cannot save all what
we would like to save, at least we
will rescue many more than those
who didn’t even bother to try.”
Dear All,
As initiated by TCO, two campaigns to save baby fish from ponds were conducted on
weekends in July and August in Makhambet region.
I would like to express my appreciation to the participants - TCO employees and NGOs
- for their strong and sincere contribution to the campaign to save baby fish. More than forty
volunteers rode out to save baby fish, and thanks to their efforts, as estimated by Fish guard
inspectors, over 5,000 baby carps, pike-perches, asps and other common fresh water fish
were moved to the Ural river from ponds destined to dry up. Your initiative to save baby fish
received positive community feedback. Thank you all for your attendance!
Employees of Tengizchevroil demonstrated that it is an initiator of good beginnings and
can set an excellent example of a true attitude of care for the environment. The baby fish
campaign fully and completely falls in line with one of the basic concepts of the company’s
activities. Similar activities are worth continuing in the future and will always be supported by
TCO management.
Rzabek Artygaliyev,
General Manager, PGPA
8
Kazakhstan Constitution Day
T
engizchevroil is a joint
venture where professionals from all over
the world combine their talents to
ensure the company achieves its
strategic mission, which is to create superior value for Kazakhstan,
the partners, the employees and
the community. Many expatriates
arrive in Atyrau and end up staying longer than planned. In Atyrau
they live with their families in
Dostyk Village.
The TCO training group
within the department of organizational opportunities development provides orientation to TCO
expatriates to help them and their
family members adapt to the new
environment. They attend presentations introducing them to the
country, its geography, economy,
history, culture and traditions of
the Kazakhs. The orientation
program proves very effective in
giving insight to the way of life of
local citizens, their mentality and
customs. This allows expats to
better and faster assimilate in the
new country and become a part of
the local community.
On the eve of Kazakhstan
Constitution Day which falls on
the 30th of August, TCO Training
specialists Dinara Aitmuratova,
Dilyara Utaliyeva and Martha
Mukhtarova, led by their group
leader Baltatte Turusheva and as-
sisted by volunteers , Leila Sardiyazova and Asilya Sarniyazova
who are students at a school in
Atyrau, visited the American International School based in Dostyk
to present a gift to the pupils and
their parents. They offered an ori-
entation
program
“Introduction
to
the traditions and
culture of Kazakhstan”, held a quiz
game and gave a
small concert.
Local
residents gave a warm
welcome to the visitors. Raul Hinojosa,
school director introduced the guests
to the audience and
then B. Turusheva
offered
heartfelt
greetings for the
Day of Kazakhstan
Constitution.
The children
and adults were
interested to know
more about the history of Kazakhstan,
the state symbols, culture, traditions, customs and cuisine. In the
intervals between narrative parts,
the listeners enjoyed artistic performances. Martha Mukhtarova
sang the Kazakh song Altyn besik which was given a hearty ap-
№8 (182) 2012
plause. The two students from
another Atyrau school gave a true
musical surprise. Asilya played
the popular Kazakh tune demonstrating a brilliant skill of dombra
playing, while Leila presented the
Skylark saxophone composition.
Then the time came for the
quiz game which appeared to be
a truly captivating event. The children of TCO expats were very active and most of their answers to
the questions about Kazakhstan
were correct. As usual, there was
a stock of prizes for grabs.
In the end all joined into a
merry performance of the popular
Kamazhai dance. Then there was
the introduction to the Kazakh cuisine.
In the final part of the special event all were invited to the
wonderful dastarkhan, a gorgeous
spread consisting of various delicacies, like baursaki doughnuts
and manty meat pies.
The happy residents of
Dostyk most assuredly will remember this occassion forever.
The orientation was a success.
Dr. Raul Hinojosa enjoyed the
event immensely, so he invited
the guests to come again. As far
as the children and parents, they
also liked the presentations and
the gifts very much.
By Aibar Khamiev
Goodness multiplies through similar noble acts
A year ago, our readers read a captivating story about a
swan and a heron rescued by TCO folks after they got
lost in the maze of Tengiz facilities. Greg and Tony stole
the hearts of Tengiz oilmen. The story spread and was the
subject of many discussions.
We have many birds living around the Caspian, and many
birds that have homesteaded TCO’s evaporation ponds as
a preferred habitat. Thus no wonder some similar stories
may repeat again and again… Here is another soul-stirring plot about Life and Goodness.
T
his time our hero was
a TCO security guard
on his regular patrol of
the license territory. It was a summer afternoon, and the heat of the
sun was pretty intense, but other
than that, all around was perfectly quiet. An occasional truck
zoomed its way along the asphaltpaved road. At a distance from the
highway one could recognize the
familiar contour of the plant.
All of a sudden, the quiet
was interrupted by the sound of a
dozen cats meowing. The security
guard looked around carefully and
saw a mob of cats dragging their
prey. They kept hissing and humping their backs, trying to steal
the prey away from their equally
cunning partners. The cats were
many, and they were all different
colors. Their prey looked like an
ugly grey wad of feathers, which
indicated to our hero that the prey
must have been some bird.
At a closer distance, the
guard recognized that it was a
baby heron. Evidently, the heron
Monthly Newsletter of
LLP Tengizchevroil. Printed in
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could not offer resistance to the
cats and was doomed to die.
“Scat, stop it!” shouted the
guard and gave a loud whistle. –
You can’t be that hungry to kill.”
Sure enough, the cats living on
TCO’s grounds do not go hungry
because they are fed so well by
so many caring employees. The
rumor is the cats living on TCO’s
high ration have established their
local kin and will hardly accept a
stranger, unless bribed generously for this unbelievable godsend
– a fantastic menu each day all
coming free of charge.
The cats’ lack of appetite
played a key role in the escape of
the heron. Our hero rushed to the
cats and pried the heron away.
Then, he took the baby heron to
the Balkans warehouses operators. Baurzhan and Nurlan took
care of the bird, while the guard
returned to his line of duty. The
little bird was fed and offered a
warm bed. The waste cartons
served as a perfect comfortable
nest. However, it became appar-
ent the bird needed medical care.
People doctors are available in
Tengiz, but unfortunately, they are
no veterinarians. Baurzhan and
Nurlan called the Health, Environmental and Safety (HES) group
and asked for help.
TCO HES responded immediately by sending Nurlan Jumageldinov and Igor Sangailoto
the Balkans. Upon their arrival,
the HES specialists identified the
heron as an endangered species the Chinese egret or Egretta eulophotes. The latest global count of
these species is estimated to be
below 3,000 which is extremely
few.
The baby heron eventually
came to its senses and demonstrated some energy. Amazingly,
the bird had only a few scratches
This Edition of the NewsletThis publication is registered by the Ministry of Culture,
ter was produced by the Information and Public Accord of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
following team:
License No.2482-Г issued on November 21, 2001.
Tolegen Berishbai,
Address of the Editorial Board:
Acting Chief Editor:
POB 060011, Republic of Kazakhstan, Atyrau,
David MacInnis,
Satpaev Str., 3, HQ of LLP Tengizchevroil.
Georgy Trukhin,
Office phone: +7(712) 302-6248 / 6870.
Aibar Khamiev.
FAX: +7(712) 302-6729. +7(712) 302-6752
on its head and wing. It looks like
the lazy instincts and full stomachs of the Tengiz cats and the
timely help of the guard, saved
the heron.
After making sure the bird
was out of danger, Igor and Nurlan figured it would be best to set
the heron free. This was done
after the saved heron attended a
photo session, which it did with
visible pleasure…
On the way to the evaporation pond the baby heron recovered his courage totally. It played
eagerly with the two guys and enjoyed the unique chance to take a
ride. Probably, by that time it had
completely forgotten about the incident with the cats. Upon arrival
at the pond, the HES people completed essential safety training, as
EDITORIAL BOARD:
Tim Miller
Anuarbek Jakiyev
Brad MIDDLETON
Rzabek Artygaliev
Murat Munbayev
Sholpan Altybayeva
Samat Azhenov
appropriate.
The evaporation pond near
Shanyrak Village is a beautiful
view. Actually, it serves a sort of
rotational village or transit hotel for migrating swans, herons,
ducks and thousands of smaller
garganeys and snipes.
“Go ahead little one, look
for your family and recover fast!”
wished the kind men to the bird,
while setting it free. It took a dive
first, then gave a jolt, spread its
wings – and started to swim. Perhaps, the small heron was heading for newer adventures which,
hopefully, will be pleasant in its
new Life. No doubt it will grow to
become a large and strong, and
beautiful bird – a Chinese heron.
Look, the small yellowbeaked bird looked back at its
saviors and nodded to them, as
if it was saying thank you. The
guys suddenly discovered they
forgot to name their new friend.
Oh well…
All the characters of the story will remember this experience
forever. They will be telling the
wonderful story of a rescued baby
heron to their children and grandchildren to educate their hearts to
be kind.
Goodness
multiplies
through similar noble acts – this is
the rule of life.
Written by G. Trukhin
using the story shared
by Nurlan Jumageldinov,
HES analyst
The make-up and layout of the Newsletter is done
by the Department of 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
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