Shell showcases oil industry's contribution to people development

Nejib Zaafrani,Vice President Middle East, said that an international oil company's role in helping to establish and maintain a skilled national workforce in GCC countries went beyond merely hiring and training local staff, to encompass active corporate participation in a national skills strategy.

"For Shell, on-going involvement in skills and knowledge development is a key part of our commitment to work towards sustainable development in everything that we do," he said.

"This is enshrined in our Business Principles and recognised as having three interlinked elements: economic, social and environmental," said Zaafrani, adding that sustainability could not be achieved by pursuing one without the others, and that "developing people" was a key element of the social contribution Shell could make in local communities.

Held under the patronage of HE Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahed Al-Sabah, Minister of Energy, and with the cooperation of Kuwait University, the three-day 2005 Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition provides a platform of interaction among regional and international researchers and scientists from the petroleum industry, academia and research centres.

In Kuwait, Shell's recent activities have included a two-week training programme for Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) planners in Aberdeen, U.K., as well as a shipping standards workshop held in Kuwait last month.

Throughout the GCC, Shell has been actively working with academic institutions, professional bodies, school programmes and adult education seminars, as well as supporting individuals through scholarships.

From spelling competitions among UAE schools, to a recent agreement with the Qatar Foundation on implementing a state-of-the-art technology programme at The Qatar Foundation's Science and Technology Park (a project spanning 10 years) Shell has demonstrated active interest in all levels of education in the region.

Shell's history in the Middle East dates back over the whole of the last century, during which time the company has formed many successful and long-standing partnerships with host governments and national oil companies. Shell's growth in the region has led to a workforce that is made up almost 90 per cent of local people.

Recent initiatives in the region include the signing in the last week of both a Heads of Agreement with Qatar Petroleum for the development of a large-scale LNG project called Qatargas 4, as well as a Letter of Intent for the development of a world-scale ethane-based cracker and derivatives complex, both to be based in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar. Shell hopes to further grow its existing broad range of business in Kuwait, including through involvement in Project Kuwait.