Website putscompanyon-line

Talented trio hit theright notes

INSIDE

Issue 7: Autumn/Winter 2002Выпуск 7: Осень/3има 2002

Информационный бюллетеньКарачаганакского предприятия

The newsletter for the Karachaganak venture

President joins in new theatre celebrations

Chasing a deadline… members of the Unit 2 teamwork to meet the target of achieving first gas injection at the new plant

IN September, KIO experienced anunprecedented number of lost-time incidents, six separate eventsresulting in nine lost-time incidents.The most serious was a tragic acci-dent during trenching operations inthe field that caused one fatality and afurther serious injury.

We are all deeply saddened by thisevent and our thoughts are inevitablywith the families and colleagues ofthose involved.

Unfortunately, other seriousincidents also occurred inconstruction, well work-over and road trafficactivities. We have now taken significantmeasures as a result of the trenching incidentand we are conducting further campaigns, alongwith our contractors, to improve road safety.

I underline to you the need for safety at alltimes and I reiterate that safety comes first.Anyone should feel able to stop any operation,including a road journey, which he or she doesnot feel is being conducted in a safe manner.This is true whether the individual is directlyinvolved in the activity or not.

Also, if anyone needs to talk about safetymatters, they should do so with theirsupervisors or KIO HSE representatives.

Finally, I am always available to discusssafety matters on a confidential basis,particularly where individuals remain concernedafter talking to their line management.

Production and Phase TwoProgress

During September and October wehave set new records for daily liquidsoutput from Unit 3. This was a greatachievement and something thatkeeps KIO on track to meet itsproduction targets in 2002 and toincrease production significantly in2003 as the new Phase Two plantcomes on-stream.

Indeed, on the project progressachieved this summer and autumn,

John Morrow said: “We have passed a number ofimportant milestones in the development projectand others are now in reach. The most significantof these will come soon, with the first injection ofgas at Unit 2. This will be a very special day forKIO as it will see us taking the first major steptowards Phase Two becoming fully operational”.

At KPC progress has been above expectation,and the target for first oil from the newprocessing facilities is now set in the first half of2003, some time earlier than originally planned.

Other achievements in recent months haveincluded the completion ahead of schedule ofthe welding and laying of the export pipelinefrom the field to the Atyrau terminal. Also, thepower station at KPC has now been fully tested,commissioned and handed over to Operations.Construction of the liquid mud plant that willprovide valuable support for drilling operationshas also been completed.

On top ofthe task

LUCIANO VASQUES is the latest and youngest directorto be appointed by KIO.

The 39-year-old former development engineeringmanager took up his new appointment this summerand together with Gerry Albers he is responsible forphase two of the Karachaganak Project.

Luciano is Sicilian and has been with KIO for thepast three years. He joined in November 1999 andworked in London as a technical leader with the mainworks contractor evaluation team before moving toKarachaganak the following year to take up his postwith the project development team.

Luciano, who has a degree in electronics andtelecommunications from the University Politecnico inMilan, has wide experience of the oil and gas industry.

After joining ENI in 1991 as an instrument engineer,he worked on oil and gas plants developed in Italy.

He moved to Nigeria in 1995 when appointed chiefengineer with the Nigeria AGIP Oil Company. In 1997, hewas promoted again to be project manager of gassupply to Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas and wasresponsible for the project until first gas supply. It wasat this point that he moved to London and joined KIO.

Commenting on the next phase of thedevelopment, Luciano said: “I am confident that it willbe a success for the company and also for this region,the country and its people.

“I am particularly proud of the results achieved sofar, seeing as this is a new initiative with little or nobenchmarking as a point of reference and that has

meant that we have had to invent our way forwardeach day.”

He added: “I like the country and its people and thehigh level of education and quality of our staff is verypleasing. However, I do not believe that they have yetfully appreciated that what is happening here is aKazakh reality and in future they will have to gain moresense of ownership and responsibility.

“What we are doing represents a tremendousopportunity for the future and I see that future beingbright.”

When Luciano has any spare time, he enjoys musicor a game of tennis.� Luciano has been succeeded as developmentengineering manager by fellow Italian Mario D’Antoni.

Safety –our mainpriority

Engineer Luciano joins team of directors

John Morrow

Luciano Vasques

NEWS2

Campaignfor zeroaccidents

Akims tour the field… and like what they seeFIFTEEN local akims from throughout theBurlin Region visited the Karachaganakfield and toured the new facilities nowunder construction.

The visit, which was also attended byrepresentatives of the Burlin Akimat, waspart of a programme aimed at meetingKIO’s commitment under the Final ProductSharing Agreement to keep local peopleinformed of what is happening on theproject.

HSE director Jack Hinton welcomed the

visitors and provided a detailed briefing onthe project before they travelled to thefield to see for themselves what washappening at Unit 2, Unit 3 and KPC.

“For many of the party, it was theirfirst visit to the field and it seemed thatthey were very impressed with what theywere seeing,” said Jack. “They all agreedthat the event had been veryworthwhile.”

During a question and answer session,issues such as the care for the

environment, KIO’s social programme andprojects to help local communities werediscussed.

“This was a useful forum for theexchange of information and views andthe akims were able to go back to theircommunities and pass on what they hadseen and heard.”

To build on the progress made at thismeeting, plans are being made to arrangemonthly briefing meetings attended by arepresentative of each village.

Village akims visiting the field

THE long-running safety records of bothUnit 2 and KPC both ended soon afterreaching significant milestones.At Unit 2 they had just celebrated reaching

1,000 days without a lost-time incident when aworker slipped on mud in the car park andbroke his ankle the day before he was due off-shift.

“It was a great pity because we are enteringthe final phase of the development on this siteand we hoped to continue our record throughto the end,” said Unit 2 project manager KarlRoberts. “Although we are disappointed it actedas a timely reminder we cannot becomecomplacent and need to strive for continuedimprovement.”

At KPC, where there are 7,000 peopleworking, an accident in the paint shop resultedin a worker sustaining back and hip injuries. Thisbrought their record to an end just one day after10 million manhours had been achieved withouta lost-time incident.

“One accident is an accident too many,” saidKPC project manager Dick Parker. “Safetyremains paramount for us and we are moredetermined than ever to maintain a safeworking environment and to deliver a world-class performance. Going forward we face asignificant risk because of the number ofactivities that necessitate working at height.We’re working hard through training andawareness programmes to ensure the teamunderstand the risks and take the necessaryprecautions to ensure safe working.”

At a party to mark the 1,000-day record ofUnit 2, development director Gerry Alberspresented a three million tenge donation toBerezovka akim Bazerbai Aryshev.

The money, a joint donation from KIO andmain works contract CCC-Saipem in recognitionof the safety performance, has funded ascheme to bring mains gas to part of the village

not currently connected. The mains supply hasnow been installed and KIO has now funded twofurther phases, which by the end of the year,will connect the individual houses to this newsupply.

The akim said: “I am doubly happy today.First, I am pleased to know such an excellentsafety record has been achieved and, secondly, Iam delighted our problem with the gas supply isbeing resolved at last.”

A draw was also made among those whohad filled in hazard report cards to see whowould win prizes, which included a TV set, videorecorder, RCD player and refrigerator. The luckywinners were driver Vaiisov Orynbai, steelerector Zhakyp Spabekov and grinders KuantaiMukhanbetov and Victor Kashirski.

Safety recordscome to an end

Gerry Albers presents the cheque toBazerbai Aryshev

IT’S KIO’s aim to have an accident-freeworkplace and an analysis of lost-timeincident rates and road traffic incidentrates since 1999 shows that oursafety programs are producingresults.

However, it will need a “step-change” approach to bring aboutadditional improvements, as ourpresent performance appears tohave stalled.

“While the results are good, theyhave remained largely unchangedover many months”, said HSE director,Jack Hinton.

“It’s good to have safety programs,safe workplaces and safetyprocedures, but it will require more. It’sabout everyone taking personalresponsibility for safety — a personalcommitment to ensure no activity isdone unless it can be done safely.”

To help KIO assess HSE, a partnerreview team visited during October 30– November 6 to evaluate how KIO wasusing best practice.

The team also carried out a surveyof attitudes to safety, whethermanagement and workers ‘own’ safetyor considered it somebody else’sresponsibility.

KIO felt this information wasessential in order to plan it’s SafetyCulture campaign — which it hopeswill bring about the “step-change’ onsafety that it seeks.

The survey results showed KIO tohave a good foundation to launch sucha campaign.

“The review revealed better-than-expected results for an organisation atthis stage of development andtransition,” said BG head of safety,Nebil Younnes, a member of thePartner HSE Review Team.

The KIO workers surveyed felt that:� the KIO organisation is committed toand communicates its commitment tosafety (72%)� senior management takes health andsafety seriously (80%)� management does not expect orinstruct workers to break safetyprocedures (90%)� management places a high priority onhealth and safety training (80%)� management would not turn a "blindeye" to health and safety (85%)� health and safety suggesions areacted upon (60%)� workers are involved in setting healthand safety procedures, instructions andrules (60%)� management always acts quicklyover health and safety concerns(65%)

With this information, and the otherfindings of the review team, KIO isputting together it’s Safety Culturecampaign. Some of the key componentsare:� better communication across allworkgroups of lessons learned fromincidents,� improved and more focused safetymeetings,� enhanced driver and passengeraccountability,� formalized Journey management,� formalized senior manager site HSEvisits� pro-active HSE KPI’s vertically throughmanager and supervisor performancecontracts.

Above all, the message is: helpKIO achieve its vision of zero-accidents; make it a personalchallenge; make it a personalresponsibility. Your health and safetyand that of your fellow workmatesmay depend upon it!

SEATBELT WARNINGDRIVERS and passengers have been remindedthey must wear seat belts at all times whentravelling in company vehicles. And they mustkeep to speed limits and use defensive drivingtechniques.

The warning came from general directorJohn Morrow after a serious road accident inwhich two people were killed and threeothers injured.

The driver of a car leased to maincontractors CCC-Saipem and the driver of aprivate car both suffered fatal injuries whentheir vehicles were involved in a head-oncollision. The CCC-Saipem passenger was alsoseriously injured in the accident and taken tohospital.

Neither driver was wearing a seatbelt atthe time.

Other incidents have occurred, such as theaccident where a driver braked suddenly ashe approached a main road and a minibus

travelling behind struck the rear of the vehicle.The passengers in the minibus were notwearing seatbelts and suffered minor injuries.

John Morrow said: “It is the policy of KIOthat all drivers and passengers in our vehiclesand those of our contractors and sub-contractors wear seatbelts at all times. Failureto do so places you and others at risk.”

In cases where seatbelts are notfunctioning properly, employees must nottravel in the vehicle but report details to thetransportation department so that action canbe taken immediately.

The scene of the fatal crash

KPC beats its targets

NEWS 3

Export pipelineready for itsfinal checks

Youngstershelp cleanup theirenvironment

Complete… the power station units at KPC KPC under construction in August, 2002

Students from Uralsk Oil and Gas College cleaning the bank of the Utva river

THE export pipeline that will provide access toworld markets for products from theKarachaganak field has been laid more thanthree months ahead of schedule.

Now all efforts are being concentrated oncompleting facilities linked to the line. Theseinclude the block valve stations, pig trapstations, pumping station at Bolshoi-Chaganand the terminal at Atyrau where the pipelinewill join the Caspian Consortium pipeline thatruns through to the Black Sea port ofNovorossiysk.

The 635km pipeline linking the field to theterminal at Atyrau was put in place in just 14months.

Trenching and lowering of the last fewsections of 24-inch pipe for the 454km secondstage of the connection between Bolshoi-Chagan and Atyrau was completed early inthe summer. Since then, the whole length hasbeen cleaned, gauged and hydro tested.

Preparations are being made for a finalcheck using an intelligent pig — a piece ofinspection equipment — that will carry out adetailed inspection of the line. This operationwill take 57 days to complete and involvespassing a series of inspection tools throughthe pipeline to confirm the internal geometryand wall thickness of the pipe.

The 32 block valve stations, positionedalong the length of the line, are underconstruction and work is progressing onbuilding the two intermediate pigging stations.

At Bolshoi-Chagan, all major civilfoundations are in place and construction ofthe main pump building, the office and controlbuilding, fire fighting building, utility buildingand the firewater and diesel tanks isprogressing.

At Atyrau, the main foundations are inplace and the construction of major buildingsand storage tanks is under way.

THIS year has been a successful one forKarachaganak Processing complex. Themain targets for construction werebeaten and tremendous advances were madethroughout the year.

“We set ourselves some very challengingtargets as we came out of last winter and I ampleased to say we have met them,” said KPCproject manager Dick Parker.

By the end of November, about 85 percent of the construction will have beencompleted, with all priority one buildings,including four substations, the utility buildingand the main control room, having beenhanded over to the commissioning team.

“What we have achieved to date is a

reflection of the integrated approach we havetaken and the fact that the main workscontractor, CCC-Saipem, has been veryresponsive to our needs,” said Dick.

“We have had a workforce of over 7,000on the site during this peak period of activity.We got off to a flying start when we had anearly start to the spring which meant the sitedried out earlier than expected.

“We have not looked back since then andin recent months we have moved away fromgeneral progress on the site and the emphasishas been placed on specific programmesaimed at completing areas of work so thatcommissioning work can be carried out.”

This work has gone well and the first

technical commission took pace in July. Thisincluded the warehouse, the potable waterand firewater systems, the driller’s yard andsubstations five and six.

Another major success has been thecompletion and handing over to operations ofthe power station. This followed the successfultesting of the third of the 40MW gas turbines.

“The fact that GE achieved in excess ofthree million man hours without a lost-timeincident while working on this vital projectwas an exceptional performance and theyshould be congratulated,” said Dick.

A plan has already been drawn up toensure that the good progress is continuedthroughout this winter.

“Work on the road programme has gonewell and we will have much better accessaround the site when winter comes. This willmake life much easier for the workforce —they will no longer have to work in knee-deepmud, with vehicles getting bogged down.

“To complete a very good year, we need avery late start to the winter; I’m keeping myfingers crossed for this — and for an earlyspring next year.

“We still have much to do, but if all goeswell then we could enter next year with theaim of hitting if not beating the first oil targetdate. I know it will be a big boost to everyonein the project and a special occasion for allinvolved.”

PARTS of Aksai look a lot tidier now thanks toyoung people from local schools and colleges.

Pupils from five schools in Aksai and studentsfrom the Uralsk Oil and Gas College took part inthe recent “Aksai Clean-up Day” staged to markthe 35th anniversary of the town.

KIO provided logistical support and sponsorshipfor the event, which was organised by NGO Parasat.

The volunteers split into two groups, one

tidying up Gazovik Park, the other cleaning up thebanks of the Utva River.

KIO director Jack Hinton said: “We werepleased to support the young people of Aksaiimproving the environment in which they live.”

Burlinski akim Sagidolla Erkebayev said: “Bycarrying out this work, the participants confirmedtheir personal support for the care of theenvironment.”

NEWS4

Website putscompany onlinePEOPLE throughout the world cannow learn all they need to knowabout the Karachaganak project atthe touch of a button following the launchof KIO’s own website.

The new 1.2 megabyte site, which canbe accessed at www.kio.kz, has over 50html pages.

It has been developed over the pastyear by public relations working inconjunction with Kazakh internet designcompany Asiaintershop and was launchedat a special presentation in Almaty.

The database is extensive. It includes awelcome from general director JohnMorrow and contains all public releases,description of KPO organisation, itsoperations and the development of thefield.

The site is aimed to be very practicaland besides information on projectactivities it also includes an overview ofKazakhstan and Aksai, travel details toKarachaganak and links to parentcompanies’ sites. It is being continuallymonitored and updated regularly onlinevia a specially created back-office andprovides a valuable communications toolwith company press releases and otherpublic statements being published on it.

“With the launch of KIO website wehave another source to provide extensiveinformation on project developmentdirectly to all interested people. Eventhough KIO has been operating in theKarachaganak field for a number ofyears, outside of Kazakhstan very little isknown about what we are doing here,”said public relations manager KuatDombai. Public relations manager Kuat Dombai checks the website’s home page

KAZAKH duo Yulia Beketovaand Julia Demitryuk form theteam helping managers keeptrack of information on thehundreds of KIO’sdevelopment contracts.The two, who both recentlygained passes in theinternationally recognisedFirst Certificate in Englishexaminations, work as back-to-backs within theContracts Group and are theco-ordinators of the ContractManagement andAdministration System(CoMaS).They have taken over fromthe original co-ordinatorsRinat Yanbukthin, of LukOil,and Rossitza Simeonova,from KIO’s London office.Initially developed by BG andcustomised by KIO, theCoMaS system has beeninstalled throughout theproject, including at KPC,Unit 2, Export Pipeline,Development Engineering,Quality Assurance/QualityControl, Comit and SupportServices.It provides project-wide consistency forthe handling of contracts that range invalue from just a few thousand dollars tosome worth hundreds of millions ofdollars and gives managers instantaccess to live information on individualcontracts.Julia, who was previously with theLogistics and Administration Group, said:“We were challenged to become thefocal point for maintaining the system,

developing reports and training all users.This seemed quite daunting as there wasso much to learn in such a short time.”Both travelled to the BG offices in the UKfor intensive training in the use of thesystem and Yulia, who moved from thePlanning Group to join the Contractsteam, said: “We now have to work on ourown initiative and we are responsible formeeting the demands of the manysystem users. We are the first to receiveany feedback and we regularly visit

various locations where the systemoperates to ensure that everything isrunning smoothly.“We are extremely grateful for all thehelp and support we have received, notonly from our contract team colleagues,but also from the IT Group in Aksai andBG in the UK.“They have played a major part indeveloping a system that is providing animportant service and big benefits forthe project.”

Team keeping track of contracts

Yulia Beketova and Julia Demitryuk with IT support group member Elio Rancati

WINTER conditions in Kazakhstan can beextreme and pose a risk to life and limb ifyou are not prepared for them.

Snow storms can develop rapidly andthe temperature drop as low as minus 40degrees C, with the wind chill factor makingthe situation even more severe. All staff arewarned of the dangers they can face and theprecautions they must take when they areput through their induction course.

The first thing they should do is to wearthe proper clothes to prevent heat loss.Clothes should be: Layered, with theoutermost layer being both windproof andwaterproof; neck and wrist openings shouldallow ventilation to enable sweat toevaporate; there should be a good overlapbetween sleeves and gloves, and trousersand socks; the head should be well covered,because it is an area of great loss of bodyheat.

The main risks to health during thewinter are hypothermia, frostbite, trenchfoot and snow-blindness:Hypothermia: This occurs when the bodytemperature falls below normal and it canlead to death. It can be recognised by anumber of symptoms, including: complaintsof feeling cold, tired or generally unwell;lagging behind, stumbling or falling; unusualbehaviour, particularly aggression; failure torespond to questions or instructions.

In the later stages, it will lead touncontrollable shivering, difficulties withvision and collapse can follow.You must: Recognise the signs as soon aspossible and keep a watch on those workingwith you. If you suspect hypothermia, stopwork, take protection against the elements,remove wet clothes and put on dry ones,provide warmth, give warm drinks and seekmedical advice.Frostbite: This occurs when the extremitiesof the body become extremely chilled. Thefirst sign is extreme pain in the affected partand this later becomes numb, white andhard to the touch.You must: Recognise the signs and if at thepainful stage, protect and re-warm the partto return it to normal, but do not rub theaffected part. Beyond this stage, seekmedical advice.Trench foot: This occurs when the feet andlower legs are kept still in cold and wetconditions for long period of time. The feetfeel numb, walking is difficult, the skin isblotchy white and the ankles swollen. Onwarming, the skin becomes red andextremely painful.You must: Seek urgent hospital treatmentand take painkillers in the meantime.Snow-blindness: This is caused by over-exposure to ultraviolet rays and results insoreness, redness and watering of the eyes.In the more severe cases it causes lightsensitivity and blurred vision.You must: Wear appropriate sunglasses orgoggles. Treatment is by eye drops or, insevere cases, by eye ointment and pads.

Remember — prevention is alwaysbetter than the cure.

A FLAG system has been put in place tokeep staff fully informed of winter weatherconditions and the actions that should betaken.

When the green flag is flying:Normal weather conditionsprevail and there are no

restrictions in place.When the yellow flag is flying:Extreme weather has beenforecast and a convoy system is

put into effect in Aksai and for the fieldoperations. A convoy requires at least twovehicles, one of which must havecommunications.

When the red flag is flying:Extreme weather conditionsprevail and only essential

journeys — for search and rescue missions,emergency response and Pathfindermissions, or travel for critical operationsissues — are allowed. A travel permit isrequired and only suitably equipped vehiclesmay be used.

Be prepared forwinter weather

Flagging up the dangers

NEWS 5

More hands to the pump

Fast responsestops post officeblaze spreading

Fire crews learn the ropesof high-rise emergencies

A FURTHER 32 firefighters are to be recruited from thestate fire service to strengthen the emergencycoverage in the Karachaganak field.

The new arrivals will swell to 198 the number offire-fighting personnel providing emergency coveragethroughout the field.

“We are now preparing for the operational phaseof the project and this requires a much larger teamthat will operate from four locations,” said CraigGinnett superintendent emergency response andcommunity preparedness.

The locations are the Karachaganak ProcessingComplex and Unit 2 where fire stations are underconstruction, and Unit 3 and KCC.

SOME Kazakh firefighters have undergoneextensive training at one of the world’sleading fire training centres in Scotland.

Hand-picked from the local fire serviceteams that provide emergency cover atthe KIO facilities in the Karachaganakfield, they were introduced to rope accesstraining for the first time at the Montrosetraining facility, and then went on toAberdeen where they practised fightingmajor oil fires.

Craig Ginnett, superintendentemergency response and communitypreparedness said: “In an emergency, it isnot always possible to reach reallydifficult areas at high elevations of a

processing plant such as ours by usingladders or cranes, therefore rope accessis required.

“These men had never been exposedto technical rope rescue work before andwe felt it was essential that they gainedthis knowledge.”

Phil Poulson, Craig’s back-to-back,visited the fire fighters at the trainingcentre. He said: “They have respondedreally well to the training and havelearned a great deal. They all say howgood the training was.”

In their spare time they visited thelocal fire station to meet their Britishcounterparts. The local service put on adisplay of dealing with a major road traffic

accident, including cutting injured peoplefrom wrecked cars.

“Our lads were very impressed andvery keen to learn the techniques asabout 60 per cent of the calls they dealwith at home are road traffic accidents.

“We are now considering devoting oneday to this type of training when weorganise the next course,” said Phil.

The team who travelled to Scotland wereAmangeldy Dilmukhanov, Maxut Jumaliyev,Zhangeldi Istayev, Sailau Karabalkin,AlmatNaurzaliyev,Aman Niyetov,YertarginSarsembiyev,Alexandr Sevryugin, SamatSultanov,Valeriy Vanin and Victor Yefimov.They were accompanied by interpreters IrinaKolodiy and Xeniya Ushakova.

FIREFIGHTING teams from Unit 2 and Unit 3 have beenpraised for their efforts in tackling a major incident inthe village of Berezovka.

When the alarm was raised an AC 5-40 fire tankerand crew from Unit 2 were immediately sent to thevillage and found that both the Berezovka post officeand a former administrative building were on fire.

Five hoses were brought into action to fight theblaze and to prevent it from spreading to neighbouringbuildings. Because there is no fixed water supply inthe village, water had to be taken from the BerezovkaRiver about two kilometres from the village.

It soon became obvious that more help wasneeded and a second tanker and crew, accompaniedby watch commander B. Zimov, was called in fromUnit 3.

With the additional manpower, the firefighterswere able to tackle the blaze and salvage the contentsof the burning buildings.

Craig Ginnett, KIO’s superintendent responsible foremergency response and community preparedness,said: “This was a first-class performance by allinvolved. Prompt action by both teams meant that thelosses suffered were much less than those typicallyassociated with fires of this type and they prevented areally major incident by stopping the flames reachingadjacent buildings.”

The Akim of the village, Bazarbai Aryshev, haswritten to both the commander of the State FireService Department and the commander of the WestKazakhstan branch of the state enterprise OrtSondirushi thanking the fire crews for theirprofessional and efficient action.

Above: not just hanging around, but learning to use ropes to reach fireson high-rise buildings; left to right: Samat Sultanov, Alexandr Sevryuginand Sailau Karabalkin. Right: British firefighters show how they deal with a serious road accident

THE TEAM at Unit 3 has continued itsimpressive record-breakingproduction achievements.It has lifted the daily production records

to above 18,000 tonnes for condensate and

16,000 million cubic metres for gas. The18,000 tonnes barrier was broken on anumber of occasions in October, with thecurrent record of 18,928 tonnes set onOctober 27.

The new record for gas was set onOctober 24 at 16,643 million cubicmetres and beat the previous record of 16,460 million set on Christmas Day2000.

Operations director Mario Becheruccisaid: “This repeated setting of new recordsis proof of the commitment of ouroperations personnel, 95 per cent ofwhom are Kazakhs, and their constanteffort to reach the targets set. It is the bestguarantee we have for the future of thecompany.”

Total production of gas in June was418.6 million cubic metres, some 49million above the budget figure. It was thethird month in a row that gas productionhad beaten budget by a considerablemargin.

However, throughout the third quartergas production slipped to just below thetarget figures, although in Septemberthere was a one-week production outageso that planned maintenance could becarried out.

Oil condensate delivery in Augustwas 427,000 tonnes. This was thesecond highest monthly production ofthe year and some 28,000 tonnes abovebudget.

Now, with production at Unit 3 at thehighest level ever, it is possible that theproduction targets set at the beginning ofthe year will be achieved.

Jun 2002 Jul Aug Sep Oct0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Mill

ion

m3

BudgetActual

369.5 380 378.5 309.2 452.2418.6 349.9 388.9 277.4 477.2

Jun 2002 Jul Aug Sep Oct0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Tho

usan

ds

of

tonn

es

BudgetActual

391 399 399 336 482440 390.4 427 311 536

Gas delivery

Oil condensate delivery

From the Unit 3 team, left to the right: production foreman Mergali Nugmanov, production operator Alikhan Kesaev, production supervisorBakhtygali Biketov, production operator Baigali Kazanov and productionforeman Erik Sarbaev

Unit 3 sets record

KIO WAS again one of the majorexhibitors and conference delegatesat the prestigious oil and gas eventKIOGE, staged in Almaty.

PR and communications manager KuatDombai said: “KIOGE offered an excellentopportunity to communicate to key audienceswhat has been achieved this year and what isplanned for the future, our role in the country’seconomy and how we are performing as aresponsible corporate citizen.”

The project’s 77 square metre exhibitionstand featured four main themes:� the company’s success in the Republic ofKazakhstan vendor development programme� achievements in protecting theenvironment� commitment to the nationalisationprogramme� KIO’s contribution to the community.

For the first time, the impressive KIO standwas produced by Kazakh contractor JSJCompany. Their managing director, KairatZhanalin, said: “This project was both a bigresponsibility and a privilege for us and we areproud that KIO trusted us to perform thiswork.”

In addition to the exhibition, KIO was alsowell represented at the KIOGE conference.General director John Morrow addressedvendor development activities and HSEdirector Jack Hinton spoke of KIO’sachievements on protecting the environment.Both reports were well received by thedistinguished audience and got a widepositive coverage in national mass media.

KIO’s exhibition stand attracted manyvisitors, including government officials, themedia, industry colleagues and students.

Everyone could find something interesting— students and young professionals becameacquainted with KIO’s nationalisationprogramme and perspectives of working withthe company, journalists were glad to receivethe latest issues of KIO News and find theanswers to their questions, and countlesspotential vendors took the opportunity to talkto their colleagues from KIO vendordevelopment and qualification andprocurement departments.

NEWS6

Companysuccess on show

Kazakh employees given the chance to move up

Prominent ministerviews project progress

A MAJOR restructuring of the departments within the Health,Safety and Environment Directorate has resulted inpromotion to senior positions for a number of Kazakhemployees and the formation of a new section.

The new-look departmental structures have beendescribed by KIO service director Giovanni Zinnato as “amodel for what has been envisaged as the nationalisationplan for the whole venture”.

HSE director Jack Hinton said: “The venture is in adynamic mode and our departmental organisations have toadapt to meet the changes that are placed on them.

“Up until now, the venture has been primarily in thedevelopment phase and it has been a 12-hours-a-dayoperation, but as the new plants become fully operational wewill be moving across KIO to a 24-hours-a-day operation. Thatrequires a major change in how HSE works and the type ofteam we need.”

He added: “Looking ahead for a five-year programme totake us through to 2007 has given me the opportunity toproject what we need to do in terms of the nationalisationprogramme and to identify the people we need and thequalifications and training they require.”

Within the new structure, there are now two Kazakhnationals who are direct reports to the HSE director, with

security manager Vladimir Budyak being joined by AndreiRuhklin. Andrei has been promoted from section head andchief project engineer and now manages the permits,licences and approvals department.

Kazakh nationals have also been appointed to co-ordinator positions in three sections of the health andenvironment department — Tatiana Bogatova in soil and

water, Gabdrakhim Gabdeyev in air, and Zemphira Tulemisovain waste management.

Nationals in other departments have also been appointedto leadership positions — Kanatbai Ibagarov (section head,position), Yuri Bayashev (labour safety co-ordinator), ElenaKilyakova (incident investigation co-ordinator) and GulnaraDaulova and Elena Bulatova (data management andreporting).

“We do not have the people with occupational hygieneexperience we need at present and we are looking to appointKazakh nationals with the relative expertise,” said JackHinton.

The new section will also include four occupationalhygiene technicians and every effort is being made topromote existing Kazakh staff to these posts.

Jack said: “The people who have been promoted haveproved their ability. We are putting them in a position wherethey can succeed and we will give them all the support theyneed.

“With this new structure, more Kazakh nationals aredemonstrating their leadership and ownership of HSE. Theyare the ones I now hold responsible to deliver the assignedfunctions. Their counterpart ex-pats will now work alongsidethem to give support.”

ALEKSANDER PAVLOV, the first deputy prime minister ofthe Republic of Kazakhstan (pictured on the right talkingto WKO Akim Kusherbaev and John Morrow), was aninterested visitor to the Karachaganak Project.

He was accompanied by Zeynolla Kakimzhanov, theminister of finance, and both toured the field and saw forthemselves the significant progress being made at bothUnit 2 and the Karachaganak Processing Complex.

They met KIO’s senior management team, and generaldirector John Morrow gave them a detailed briefing on theproject, including the company’s successful implementationof the Kazakh content and vendor development programme.

The high-ranking government officials were alsobriefed on the company’s continuing investment in thesocial infrastructure of the region.

KIO HR co-ordinators Mira Abdrakhmanova and Aigul Kalaganova greet BG country representative David Skeels

Prime Minister Imangali Tasmagambetov visiting the KIO stand

Left to the right are Gabdrahim Gabdeev, KanatbaiIbagarov and Yuri Bayashev

SOME things never change. I arrived inKazakhstan on an early February morning three

years ago. It was cold, very cold, and there was a lotof snow on the ground. It took me two hours to getthrough customs.

It was very cold and snowy this February —and it still takes two hours to get throughcustoms.

On that first day, I reluctantly put my luggage on atruck and found a seat on a very crowded old, yellowand blue bus and waited for the rest of the party toclear customs. The bus was very uncomfortable,nothing like the new big blue buses with recliningseats that we use today.

We left Uralsk at 9am and I rememberedwondering why the road had been built with deepditches on both sides. I soon found out when thesnow melted.

I was also amazed that the trees seemed to growin absolute straight lines on each side of the road!

My first impression of Aksai was that it wasquiet, had a small market and very few acceptablerestaurants. In the mornings, when I went to work,you probably saw only one car. There was no buildingactivity and there was an abandoned shell of abuilding that was clearly meant to have been flatswhen it was started.

How things have changed in three years. Theroads are now bustling with traffic and crossing theroad is just as hazardous as back home. In fact, thereis an urgent need for traffic lights at the busiestjunctions (editor’s note: the traffic lights are now on).

The abandoned building has been converted intothe best, and most expensive, flats in the town and ithas a restaurant we all know as Renko’s. You cannotgo out today without seeing new construction workgoing on everywhere.

Even the Trnava shopping centre has changedand the outside market has expanded significantly.Of course, there were no M10 or New Worlddiscotheques back then.

I think my first visit to a restaurant, if youcould call it that, was to the Rendezvous in oldAksai. The food was edible, honest! Now, there

are many restaurants worth visiting and standardshave improved enormously, to the point where Ienjoy eating out in Aksai. Of course, I am stillwaiting for the inevitable Chinese restaurant toopen.

I have been much impressed by the Kazakhdancing and the colourful costumes and it would begreat if a theatre was to open in Aksai so that wecould see locally the type of entertainment that isonly available in Uralsk at present.

Oil brings money and this can attract thewrong type of people. This has been evident in theincreasing number of incidents affecting ex-patsand local people. However, I do believe that Aksaihas changed for the better,and will continue to do so.

NEWS 7

Entertainment from local youngsters in Aksai

The Karachaganak Project has changed the lives of many who have beeninvolved with it.

In this feature, we give individuals the opportunity to describe theirviews and experiences while working on one of the largest oil and gasprojects in the world.

BEING a mineral collector, I knewKazakhstan had a number of world-

class mineral localities — I even had a fewspecimens — so I knew where the countrywas on the map.

On hearing that I was coming here, oneof my neighbours, a Russian lady whotravelled widely in Soviet times, said theKazakhs were good people.

As a Scandinavian coming from a part ofthe world where the sky never meets theland in a long, level horizon, I cannot claimto feel at home on the Steppes. It seems tome to be a hard, unforgiving place — but ithas its compensations. The sunsets andsunrises can be spectacular and the wildlifeis so unusual. I can watch the antics of thegophers and the majestic glides and dives ofthe birds of prey for hours.

The snow-clad peaks of the ZailiyskyAlatau mountains around Almaty provide abeautiful contrast and the rolling landscapesforming the southern tip of the Uralmountains not far from Aktyubinsk provideyet another, softer kind of beauty.

I have many memories of the kindness oflocal people. I remember one evening, whenvisiting a geologist at his home in Almaty, Iflagged down an old Zhiguli. We duly arrivedin the usual jungle of flats with me notknowing which one I wanted, but the brotherof the driver got out to ask the way and 20minutes later returned, bringing my host withhim. There was no extra charge and onlyreluctantly did they take the tip I offered.

On another occasion, I shared a taxifrom Atyrau to Uralsk with a woman with ababe in arms. Because of the terrible state

of the road I had a pain in my rear for days,but the real memory of the 12-hour trip wasof the woman insisting that she shared herfood with me. My only offering waschocolate and a piece of fruit.

Travelling overnight on a train from Aksaito Aktyubinsk, I shared a four-berthcompartment with a geologist, a lawyer anda drunk. The lawyer was going home to getmarried and took great pride in showing methe finery he had bought for the occasion. Ialso had an interesting conversation aboutthe geology of Kazakhstan with the geologist.As for the drunk — he fell out of the topbunk, but suffered no apparent damage.

Then there are my colleagues. I have tothank them for their hospitality and theirhelp, insight, understanding and patience. Attimes I’m like a small boy who keeps asking:Why’s that? What’s that for? What’s thatcalled in Russian?

They have surprised me with theirlanguage skills and all speak better Englishthan I will ever speak Russian, but they stillindulge me by speaking Russian with me.

I stayed in a small Soviet-style hotelstaffed by a group of elderly ladies. They arewonderful and look after me as if I was agrandchild.

I do have some dislikes — toilets ontrains, for one, and the over-assertiveness ofsome individuals is another — but I do likethe place and my neighbour was right, they are good people.

Moltu Knut senior contracts administrator

A colourful country – and people

AKSAI is my home and everything that relatesto it is very dear to me and my family. Our

children have grown up here; my friends andrelatives are here, and the place I love to work.

It has been amazing to see the changes thathave taken place here. From being a provincialand, in some ways, backward village, it isbecoming a compact and more modern town.

This is all due to the development of theKarachaganak field and the investment boomthe region is enjoying. You can say, withoutexaggeration, that the project has changed thelives of thousands of people, including myself.

I work in the KIO training centre as a teacherof Russian and my students are mostlyexpatriates. They are full of enthusiasm to learnthe language because they want to be able tocommunicate freely with their local colleaguesand to learn about the culture and traditions ofthe country in which they are working.

Through working in the training centre I havemet many people from the project.

We want our town to continue to prosperand to turn green. We already have shops andcafes and, in the future, I would like to see asports centre where our young people couldspend their leisure time.

It is my hope that, as it continues to developand prosper, my home will become as dear to others as it is to me.

Khatima Utepovateacher of Russian, Aksai Training Centre

Oil project brings localprosperity too

One-car town nowhas rush-hour traffic

British ex-pat Chris Ellis corporate section head in Finance

❛

❛

❛

❜❜

❜

NEWS8 9

A view from the inside… what’s it’s been like to work on the project and how life has changed

Family’s holidaytakes in tour ofoil and gas field

JONATHAN BROWNE spent well over11 years working with theKarachaganak Project, but will missthe big day when Unit 2 goes live.

When his colleagues celebratefirst gas injection at the new plant,the former Unit 2 project engineerwill be in Egypt on a new postingwith British Gas.

“After working for so long onKarachaganak and seeing it growfrom a plan on paper to a state-of-the-art facility, it is disappointing notto be there with the team for the bigday,” he said.

Jonathan’s connection withKarachaganak started in May 1991when he came out to Aksai tosurvey Unit 3 — or Unit 16 as it wascalled then — but he sees his timeat Unit 2 as the most rewarding,even though it had its setbacks,disappointments and frustrations.

For the first six months at Unit 2,he was a member of a very smallteam. “We could all sit around one bigtable for lunch every day,” he said.

Over the next six months theteam expanded quickly; lunch hadto be taken in shifts.

Jonathan said: “Looking back,you tend to remember the problems,while the things that went right getforgotten. That’s probably becausethe responsibility of any projectteam is to solve problems and wehad more than our fair share. Theweather, of course, was a big factor.

“We could plan for the cold, butrain and mud caused the mainproblem. October 2001 was a tryingtime as the autumn rains did theirworst to the site.We struggled in themud, praying for winter just so that theground would freeze and we could

move freely around the site again.He added: “Kazakhstan is a

country of several cultures, but asUnit 2 moved from earlyconstruction work into the mainphase, the cultural and language mixon site increased dramatically.”

That produced some funnymoments. On one occasion,Jonathan found himself talking inbroken Russian to a pipe fitter whomhe later discovered was a Filipino. “Itwas not the most effective methodfor communication,” he added.

As he packed his bags for Egypt,Jonathan said: “I look back on mytime at Unit 2 with fond memoriesof the people I worked with andtheir hard work and dedication toovercome all the obstacles. I wish allconnected with the project everysuccess.”

I HAVE watched every phase of thedevelopment at Unit 2 and it has playedan important role in my career. It issomething that will live in my memory.

I always wanted to work for aninternational company and to be ofuse to our young republic and it hasbeen through KIO that I have achievedboth ambitions.

I joined the project developmentteam in 1998 and was lucky to meetGerry Albers because he was a greathelp to me in choosing the rightdirection at the start of my career.Since then I have worked as a secretaryinterpreter in social projects and withthe Unit 3 upgrade team before movingto Unit 2 as administration supervisortwo years ago.

I enjoy working at Unit 2. Whenconstruction started here, we were asmall, united family and I have goodmemories of Giorgio Pastorino, asuperintendent on the project. An

interesting man, eager to discover theculture of other countries, Giorgiospeaks Russian very well and has agood knowledge of Russian proverbs.

Young Kazakh people such asmyself are lucky to be able to workwith experienced colleagues and Ihave learned so much from them in ashort time. It is a pleasure to work fora leader such as Karl Roberts who isfair, tactful and always ready to givesupport to those working for him.

I often visit the construction site. Ihave watched the size of the workforcegrow from our small family to a bigarmy and seen how much progress hasbeen made. It is good that so manyKazakh nationals have been able tomake a contribution to the project.

Things have changed at the siteand in Aksai. There have been bigimprovements in the town and I thinkit is good that the local people havehad the opportunity to meet peoplespeaking different languages, to learnabout their cultures and to exchangeknowledge and experiences.

I CAN still remember the day I arrived in Aksai. It wasOctober 16, 2000, and I had just been appointed asan interpreter by the Italian company Sicim to workin its assurance and quality control department.

This was how I came to start work at Unit 2. Itwas very interesting, but also quite difficult for meas this was my first place of employment.

Major construction work on the site had onlyjust started and I have watched it grow throughevery stage. During that early period, life was hecticand we had much to do. I’m not only an interpreter,I also provided help for the quality assurance andquality control engineer.

It was hard work, but I gained so muchexperience working with different projectdocumentation.

I left Sicim at the end of my contract and joinedthe project development team at Unit 2 as atechnical translator. I have enjoyed working withthem very much. They are a friendly group and Ihave met people of many nationalities.

I am grateful and proud to have been part ofsuch a massive project; one that will play a greatpart in the growth and economic development ofthe Republic of Kazakhstan and which, hopefully,will provide improved social conditions for all ourpeople.

I ARRIVED at Uralsk airport in August 1999— before that I had only seen Kazakhstanon a map. It was the start of thepreparation works for the construction ofUnit 2 and I was the first expatriate to beemployed there.

We had a terrible start with theweather. There was rain, snow, slush and abig freeze. This was followed by the thawand deep, deep mud. All this madeconstruction work very difficult, butfortunately for me I had had a great deal ofexperience of winter working and we wereable to get the job done.

With the early works completed, wemoved on to the main work contract withCCC-Saipen which increased activity onsite and the number of people working onthe project. The workforce has grown tomore than 3,000.

We are now nearing completion. On theway we have had to resolve many issuesand for that I must thank my colleagues,both expatriate and Kazakh national. It hasbeen a real team effort and my one wishnow is to complete this project on time,safely and to the required quality.

THE construction work at Unit 2 issubstantially complete andcommissioning is well advanced. Thisis the first time that sour gas will be injectedat such high pressures anywhere in theworld so Unit 2 is the cutting edge oftechnology. Accordingly, there are a numberof modifications being implemented beforestart-up to enhance the performance of theunit.

“We have faced a tough challenge to getwhere we are and the focus is on usbecause we are the first of the new majorfacilities to come on line,” said Unit 2 projectmanager Karl Roberts.

“We made the decision to change ourstrategy to avoid having majorconstruction work taking place inside a

live plant and now the plan is to finish theplant in its entirety before testing it withsour gas.

“Having completed extensive studies,we believe this is the lowest risk strategy,both from a technical and a health andsafety point of view.

Throughout the spring and summer, thepriority at Unit 2 has been to finish systemsin the order required by the commissioningprogramme and to complete the mountain of

paperwork that goes with the constructionwork.

In some of the critical areas of the plantwhere most of the work had beencompleted, there were still vital finishingtouches required before commissioningcould take place.

“We knew we had to complete this work,and complete it quickly,” said Karl. “It wasthen decided that we should form special hitsquads to tackle the task,” said Karl. The firstmission for the hit squad was the hot oil area.This was 97 per cent complete and a 154-strong team, covering the mechanical, piping,and electrical and instrumentation areas,moved in and did the work in just five days.

Karl said: “There were some whodoubted it could be done, but we

succeeded. It was a first class team effortand everyone was committed.

“We did not waste a single minute; weeven used buses to take the team to andfrom the canteen for meals to save precioustime.”

Based on this success, a similarapproach was adopted to complete thefirewater building, the air compressorbuilding and the upper floor of the newadministration building.

Five integrated teams made up fromCOMIT and the main contractor workforceare working on other critical systems.

This success story captured theimagination of the local media and it wasfeatured on television and in localnewspaper articles.

WHEN Emma and Katie Roberts returned toschool after the summer break theycouldn’t wait to tell their friends about theirholiday destination — the Karachaganak oiland gas field in Western Kazakhstan.

Their father Karl, is project manager onUnit 2 and Infield, and the two girls andtheir mother, Sue, travelled from England tojoin him for their family holiday.

With all the stops being pulled out tomeet the target for first gas injection fromthe new plant, Karl had to extend his tourof duty from seven to nine weeks and thiscut into the school break and the holiday.

To solve the problem, Karl’s boss, GerryAlbers, suggested that they join him, andwhile in Aksai they saw at first hand theproject that has played such a major part inKarl’s life over the past few years.

“Now we know what he gets up towhen he’s away from home,” said Sue. “Ihad heard so much about the many friendshe has made while he has been on theproject and it was a pleasure to meet themface to face.

“I think we are the first family tochoose Aksai as a holiday resort. We havebeen bowled over by the friendliness ofeveryone we have met. The girls havebeen showered with gifts, they have beenhorse riding and played badminton atKCC.”

Emma and Katie brought their own giftswith them — books — and presented theseto local children during a visit to the schoolat Berezovka. They bought some of thebooks themselves, but others weredonated by a bookshop in Devon, England,after they explained what they planned todo with their purchases.

Before the family moved on to thesecond part of their holiday, Moscow and StPetersburg, the girls gave their owncomments on their Kazakhstan experience.

Thirteen-year-old Emma said: “It wasmindboggling,” while Katie, 11, said: “It wascool!”

All fired up at Unit 2

Karl and family at Unit 2

Jonathan Browne ex Unit 2 project engineeringmanager

Victoria Tyrtyshnikadministration supervisor, Unit 2

Ildar Rakhmankulovtranslator,Unit 2

LeonardoAnnicchiaricolead civilengineer, Unit 2

Many people have contributed to the development ofthe new facilities at Unit 2 and we have given a few of them the opportunity to express what the projecthas meant to them personally.

Plant readyto go on line

The hot oil system is completed Work at Unit 2, August 2002 Proud workers at Unit 2 Gas reinjection compressors at Unit 2, August 2002.

Above: putting the final touches to the plant… painting and lagging at Unit 2

NEWS10

Keepingthe wheelsturning…THE vital task of keeping nearly 300 KIOvehicles on the road has beentransferred to an Aksai company.

Aksaiautotrans, in partnership with KIO,has carried out major refurbishment at its siteclose to the project’s main offices so it canhandle the major workload.

Bulat Shabarov, the president ofAksaiautotrans, said: “We have named it theDiamond Workshop because it is a veryvaluable facility for us. Without it we could nothave been in a position to take on this veryimportant contract.”

The new workshop, with more than 5,000square metres of space and five autoliftscapable of lifting anything from a car to a bus,was officially opened on September 23.Renovation work and equipment installationcost more than $100,000 and was carried outwith funding assistance from KIO.

“This approach of developing a localsupplier through business supportdemonstrates our commitment to the KazakhContent Increase Programme and vendorassistance in particular,” said vendordevelopment and qualification managerHoward Burrows.

Procurement and logistics manager MikeKelly, who has been working withAksaiautotrans on the new venture, said:“They will now be responsible for servicing,repairing and providing fuel for all ourvehicles. Each has to be serviced every 10,000miles and the road and climate conditions arevery tough on vehicles. It is important they arewell taken care of.”

Aksaiautotrans started about seven yearsago with a filling station, six temporary

buildings, a small workshop and a handful ofemployees — but it has come a long waysince then.

Present facilities include workshops,paintshops, warehousing and parking,covering an area of 90,000 square metres,plus about 200 vehicles ranging from cars,buses and trucks to cranes, tractors andexcavators.

There are nearly 300 employees and thecontract with KIO will see this numberincreasing.

Mr Shabarov said: “I am proud of what wehave achieved, the way the business hascontinued to grow and the fact that we arecreating jobs for local people.”

In the past, Aksaiautotrans worked on KIOvehicles as a subcontractor to ISS, but it waslimited to trucks, buses and Russian vehiclesbecause staff had no training on Western typevehicles.

All that is changing and 22 experiencedmechanics from the Aksai workshops havebeen selected for two-week training coursesorganised by the KIO training centre with amajor Toyota dealership in Almaty.

“This training is another major boost forus,” said Mr Shabarov. “The fact that ourpeople are gaining certification to work on awide range of vehicles will provide us withfurther opportunities for new business.”

Summing up the results of this event, KIOservices director Giovanni Zinnato said: “Wehave managed to build a strong team which isable to realise any work given to them. Withno exception from top to bottom I would liketo thank everybody who made this projectreal.”

THE new liquid mud plant that will support drillingoperations in the Karachaganak field is one of thebiggest that top international contractors BakerHughes has built.

It has cost in the region of $7 million todevelop and will provide vital support for KIO’sdrilling operations. It contains a state-of-the-artrecycling plant and is due to be commissioned bythe end of the year.

The giant tanks that hold the liquid mud — aspecial material used as a lubricant during drillingoperations — can store more than 14,000 barrelsand the plant has the capacity to recondition anestimated 500,000 barrels of this vital materialeach year.

A total of 40 people will operate the plant, 36of whom are new Kazakh recruits. This will takethe total number of people working for BakerHughes in the integrated service contractcompanies on the Karachaganak Project to about550.

Baker Hughes is one of the world’s leading oilservice companies, employing more than 30,000people worldwide. It is one of America’s top 500corporations, with its head office in Houston,Texas.

The company first registered in Kazakhstan in1998 and now provides integrated drilling services to KIO, aswell as to similar projects at Aktobe, Atyrau, Kzylorda andMangystau.

These services involve virtually all areas of the operation,including geophysical studies, directional drilling, wellcompletion, well testing, coring and core analysis.

“Two years ago when we came to Karachaganak we setourselves pretty tough targets regarding the nationalisationand training of our workforce and we have worked hard toreach them,” said manager Glen Nimegeer, who heads theBaker Hughes Aksai-based team along with Kim Krushwitz.

“We started with just two nationals on the team, but nowthe number has grown to 340. All of our support and clericalstaff are Kazakhs and, as of October this year, 70 per cent ofour skilled and technical workers, 60 per cent of professionaland supervisory staff and 40 per cent of managers arenationals.”

He added: “We know that because our technologyrequires highly-trained personnel, it can take anything fromthree to five years to train nationals to replace expatriatespecialists.

“It has always been our aim to provide the ‘best in

class’ transfer of skills and technology for ourstaff.”

During the past two years, Baker Hughes hasprovided training for more than 250 nationals,spending nearly $7 million in the process. Althoughthe bulk of this training has been “on the job,”some has been carried out at training centres inthe USA, Britain and the Middle East.

Baker Hughes, like KIO, is also committed tosupporting the import substitution policy of theKazakhstan government and, at present, spendingon local materials and services is running at about34 per cent.

“Our goal is to see this rise to 40 per cent andwe are confident we will achieve this,” added Glen.

Baker Hughes involved local subcontractors inbuilding the liquid mud plant and refurbishing thebrine plant, another of the company’s Karachaganakprojects, they brought on board AksaiGasService.

Production facilities for the tanks used to storeliquid mud were set up at the Aktau plant of AKMO88 and a total of 68 per cent of the constructioncosts for the liquid mud plant came from utilisingKazakh companies.

Another initiative was fabricating the roll cagesfor the Baker Hughes vehicles at the Zenit Plant inUralsk. Baker Hughes was the first company

working on the project to adopt this safety measure and KIOsoon followed suit and placed orders for its vehicles.

Baker Hughes has also joined forces with AtyrauPetroleum Refinery to produce demulsifying agents and theUS giant plans to forge links with local companies toassemble drilling bits and produce stabilisers and perforators.

“To date, our involvement with Karachaganak and theKazakh people has been a real success story and, with thecommissioning of the new liquid mud plant later this year andother new initiatives, we intend that the story will continue,”said Glen.

Mud plant ready to back up drillers

Baker Hughes project manager Glen Nimegeer in front of the new plant

ABOVE: BulatShabarov (left)discusses theservicingcontract withMike Kelly(centre) andHoward Burrows

LEFT: KIOvehicles beingserviced inthe new workshops

ENVIRONMENT 11

Lab given a boost

Camera ace Jameswatches the birdie!

THE laboratory that keeps aclose eye on the quality ofwater and food in Aksai andthe Burlinski region is receiving amajor upgrade, thanks to KIO.

The company is funding majorimprovements to the Aksai-basedfacilities of the Burlinksi region’ssanitary-epidemiological station. Atotal of KZT 1.3 million is to be spenton much-needed new equipment thatwas identified during a recent reviewof the facilities carried out by a teamfrom London University.

The SES facility is a vital part ofthe public health service in the region.Its staff provide a testing service forboth water and food quality. It also

provides laboratory diagnosticservices for the Aksai hospital.

Professor Sean Kuan, a member ofthe university inspection team and aformer manager of a similarlaboratory in the UK, said: “I found theSES staff to be well-qualified and veryprofessional and the new equipmentthat they are to receive will help themto serve better the people of theBurlinski region.”

At a ceremony to announce thelaboratory sponsorship, SerikZhanabaev, head of the Burlinskiregion SES, thanked KIO for itsgenerous support.

Jack Hinton, KIO’s health, safetyand environment director, said: “We

work together with the SES to ensurethe health of both our workforce andthe local community and we arepleased to contribute to theupgrading of such an importantfacility. This will be of benefit to usall.”

The event was also attended byBurlinski region akim SagidollaErkebayev and he said: “I am verypleased that our laboratory will beable to provide an even better servicefor the people of Aksai and the entireregion.

“With this new equipment inplace, I think the health of the peopleliving in this region will improvesignificantly.”

THE work of some of the world’s top wildlifephotographers has been seen by thousandsof people throughout Kazakhstan, thanks tothe BG Group, one of KIO’s majorinternational partners.

BG has sponsored the WildlifePhotographer of the Year competition for thepast 13 years and a selection of the best ofthis year’s entries made up an exhibition thatvisited Kazakhstan as part of a world tour.

The show was held for a month in theSaken Gumarov Exhibition Hall, at theInstitute of Languages and Management inUralsk. It also visited venues in Astana,Almaty, Atyrau and Aktau.

TOP wildlife photographer James Warwickhad just finished a commission in theScottish Highlands when he received anunexpected phone call from KIO publicrelations manager Sean Bruen asking if hewas interested in photographing the wildlifeon an oil and gas field in Kazakhstan.

Sean wanted photographs for use in anenvironmental publication and for exhibitionsand other PR initiatives.

James realised this was a uniqueopportunity and quickly accepted. Thissummer, armed with his camera, he spent aweek working from dawn to dusk exploringthe Karachaganak field and hunting out itswildlife.

“It was my first visit to the country and Iwas immediately struck by Karachaganak’srich birdlife,” said James. “There were greatcrested grebes, grey herons, mute swanswith their families of cygnets andwonderfully colourful species, such as rollers,bee-eaters and hoopoes.”

On his first morning, James was luckyenough to photograph a young long-earedowl roosting in a tree close to the road.

Later, while exploring some of the grassmeadows, he came across a pair of beautifuldemoiselle cranes. “I had never seen thembefore and, with perseverance, I got closeenough to the cranes for a photograph andfinally succeeded in framing them with Unit 3in the background,” said James.

“This is my favourite picture from theshoot because it brought together the twoelements of industry and wildlife.”

Although he did see red foxes severaltimes and found sure signs of Europeanbeavers, the only mammals James was ableto photograph during the week were groundsquirrels, locally known as “sousliks”.

“These are highly-strung creatures andposed quite a challenge, but with patience Iwas able to photograph what appeared to betwo species — one much larger than theother — characteristically standing on theirback legs to look over the grasses forpossible danger,” said James.

He also took photographs of the

Karachaganak landscape to show the riversin the context of their industrial surroundingsand these were taken at either sunrise ortwilight when the light was at its best.

“It was good to see freshwater crabsthriving in the rivers as their presence is agood indicator of unpolluted water,” he said.

In his week with the project, James thinkshe only just scratched the surface when itcame to capturing all of Karachaganak’swildlife and, in particular, its birds. “To do itjustice photographically, you would need tospend many months in the field becausethere is so much out there,” he said.

“I think it would be very worthwhile for alocal field biologist to catalogue all thespecies that make Karachaganak their homeand so help to ensure that they continue todo as well as they appear to be doing now.”� These photos will be used in the new 2003calendar.

James Warwick’s favourite picture from his KIO photo shoot… a pair of demoiselle cranes near Unit 3

The larger ‘souslik’ on the lookout A long-eared owl pictured on the first morning of James’s stay

James gets ready to roll

Photos go on tour

Sagidolla Erkebayev, Jack Hinton, Serik Zhanabaev, and Pro-fessor Sean Kuan

NEWS12

Salute those Olympic heroes on three legs!

Course a splash hitHSE team members took to the wateron a lake close to Burlin as part of anew three-day developmentpotential course.

Over a five-week period, a total of 75people from the department, all Kazakhnationals, took part in the pilot scheme andtheir biggest team challenge was to build araft and to cross a lake on it.

Some were successful, managing to landon the other side happy and dry, but otherssank en-route and had to swim for it.

Jim Murphy, the leader of the MacGregorEnergy Services team that organised and ranthe course, said: “Although this was quite aserious challenge for the teams, everyoneenjoyed taking part, even those who got wet.”

Among the other challenges the

participants had to face during the three-dayevent were abseiling and an obstacle course.

“I think all who took part learned a lotabout themselves and their abilities and thecourse was a big success,” said Jim.

“We really put them through their pacesand we were able to see how individualsresponded to different challenges and howthey operated within a team environment.”

In the second phase of the scheme, allwho took part were visited at theirworkplace by a member of the MacGregorEnergy Services team with the aim ofidentifying individual training requirements.

Children from the school at Burlin wereinvited to visit the lakeside training area andthey tried their hand at abseiling and anumber of the other tests.

POOR weather failed to dent the enthusiasmof the competitors and spectators when theOlympic Games came to Aksai.

There were no places or invitations for the top Olympians such as OlgaShishigina, Michael Johnson or even SteveRedgrave — the only boat event being stagedon dry land.

Instead, nine teams came forward torepresent KIO and its contractors to competefor honours and to raise money from this funevent, the first of its kind to be staged at theCzech Camp.

It was evident that in some cases verylittle training had been done for suchgruelling events as the egg-and-spoon race,the three-legged race and the tug of war, buteveryone taking part thoroughly enjoyedthemselves and gave the spectators plentyto cheer and laugh about.

The big event of the day was thebottomless boat race in which teams had tocarry their vessel around a challengingcourse. Competition was fierce — so muchso that KPC Constructors, the first teamacross the finishing line in the final, weredisqualified.

In fact, the judges decided that Vanity

Fair, the only all-female team taking part inthe event, were the only ones who had notbent the rules and so they were named asthe winners.

The Vanity Fair team included AigulToumatova, Gulnar Kamysbaeva, SvetlanaLipnitskaya, Olga Gorokhovskaya, Inna Tenand Zhanna Dyusenbina.

The overall winners and Olympicchampions were the Magpies, representingcatering contractors ISS.

Their team included Colin Lowery, IvanMedlin, Oksana Kuzmenko, Vinod Krishna

Puram, Dejitaev Zhaksibek and Rajeev KumarSharma.

Organisers of the event were AnnieMacintyre, Dave McEwan, Dave Foster andJeff Bell. They were so pleased with the wayit went, they plan a similar event next year.

“We will make it bigger and better nexttime and we will also move it to an earlierdate to get the better weather,” said one ofthe organisers. “Everyone who took partthoroughly enjoyed themselves and weraised few thousand dollars, which we willuse to help local charity cases.”

going… gone!Going…

HSE technician,infield pipeline,

Andrei

Okhrimenko

A soggy ending for the raft-building exercise

Taking the strain in the tug-of-war

Three legs are better than two Isn’t the finish line the other way?

NEWS 13

Holiday to remember for pensioners

Youngsters on tour

Highland fling

Home of culture

Children’s lake treat

River’s Life storygoes into print

PRESIDENT Nursultan Nazarbayevdescribed as “a joyful moment” theofficial opening of the Kazakh DramaTheatre, which has been built in Uralsk withfunding from KIO.

The theatre is the first to be built inindependent Kazakhstan and KIO has invested$10 million in a building that will provide acultural centre for both the city and the region.

President Nazarbayev said: “I can seethat the city is developing along with thewhole of Kazakhstan. The streets are gettingbetter and we are seeing more newstructures and cultural facilities being built.The new theatre is a joyful moment both forthe city and Kazakhstan as a whole.”

General director John Morrow, whoattended the opening ceremony along withother KIO officials and representatives of theinternational partners, said: “The theatre ispart of our ongoing commitment to socialinvestment. During the lifetime of the FinalProduction Sharing Agreement, we will beinvesting $400m in social projects.”

Representing BG Group was executivevice president, policy and corporate affairs,Charles Bland; Karachaganak asset managerPaolo Campelli attended for Eni-AGIP, alongwith ChevronTexaco acting generalmanager, Karachaganak, Les Wood andAlbert Isangulov, director of Kazakhstanprojects of LUKOIL Overseas Holdings.

The theatre was designed in Kazakhstanby the Kazzhobalau Research Institute, incollaboration with Russian experts fromMosgiproteatr, and was built in just twoyears by main contractor Zhayikselstroi anda number of Kazakhstan subcontractors.

Up to 280 people can be seated in themain hall and there are two rehearsal hallsand a main lobby that can be used for public exhibitions. Other facilities includeworkshops, a sound studio and a VIP room.

Other projects in Uralsk that are beingfunded under the 2002 social programmeinclude:� the continuing refurbishment of theregional Philharmonic Hall in Dostyk Street,Uralsk, where almost $650,000 has beencommitted for replacing or upgradingexisting fixtures and fittings� the modernisation of the Atoyan sportsstadium at a cost of $1.2m — including thelaying of a new football pitch and runningtrack, new lighting and scoreboards, and therefurbishment or renewal of the east andwest stands, including changing roomfacilities, and a new skating rink� the building of a new $2.8m indoorswimming pool, gymnasium and children’saqua park complex. This pool will be built tointernational standards and will have top-class changing and viewing facilities.

A GROUP of pensioners from the Burlinskydistrict enjoyed a welcome summer holidaythanks to sponsorship from KIO.

The company spent KZT 600,000 andprovided transport to send two groups of 12people to a sanatorium at Ak-Zhaik for 20 days.While enjoying a well-deserved rest there, theyalso received free medical treatment.

The fortunate 24 were selected at asession of the district’s veterans’ council anda spokesman said: “We have over 8,300pensioners and invalids in the district, sothere were many who would have liked to goaway for a rest and treatment.

“We decided that the tickets should go tothose who had not had a break in recent

years and those who do not get assistancefrom other organisations.”

Asima Adilgereevna Shakenova, one of thelucky ones, said: “We mothers of manychildren and pensioners are rarely providedwith an opportunity to rest or receive medicaltreatment and this visit to the sanatorium willremain in our memory for ever.”

THE rich culture and environment of theRiver Ural is captured in a new bookpublished with funding from KIO.

It is entitled The River with a simplename — Life and is a collection of essaysfrom ecologists, graduates and studentswho have taken part in expeditions alongthe river during the past five years.

The book has been widely distributedto local schools and libraries and isproving very popular.

Uralsk deputy Akim Yelena IvanovnaTarasenko, who has co-ordinated theproject, said: “There has been a lot ofinterest: there are few publications aboutthe environment of western Kazakhstan.

“If, through this book, we can helpfocus people’s attention on the environmentand the problems it faces, then thisproject will have been worthwhile.”� To preserve Kazakh folk songs and thework of local poets, two books are to beproduced by the Uralsk-based Oner PublicFund with funding from KIO for the project.

THE people of Scotland have been introducedto Kazakh dancing by a group from Aksai.

The 12 dancers from the Zhuldiz groupwore traditional costumes as they performedat the Stirling Highland Games and, duringtheir visit, they also had a fun day out at theEnglish seaside holiday resort of Blackpool.

The trip was organised by KIO as a thankyou to the group for their support for anumber of events that have been staged inAksai to raise funds for local charities.

FORTY children from Berezovka and 30from Tungush took a holiday on LakeChalkar in the summer as the result of ajoint initiative between KIO and the WKObranch of the Baldyrgan Foundation.

As well as enjoying the entertainment,the children received medical check-ups.Further treatment, where necessary, is tobe continued at the TALAP clinic in Uralsk.

KIO is also providing the foundationwith much-need equipment, includingbedding and musical instruments.

AKSAI children had an opportunity to brush upon their foreign languages and to experiencean international environment in the summer.

ENI hosted one group at a summer campin Italy and another group took part in a visitto Scotland arranged by catering company ISS.While in Scotland, the group were guests atthe famous Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

THE 20 ethnic groups living in the town ofDariynskoye have established a NationalCultural Centre to help preserve theircultures and traditions. KIO is providingfunds to help the groups renovate thecentre and make new national costumes.

The president at the opening ceremony A tour of new facilities for guests at the ceremony

The River Ural

Aksai children on holiday in Italy

Skaters enjoy Uralsk’s new rink

The restored Philharmonic Hall… and one of its impressive rooms

Curtain up onnew theatre

Planning the future of the Atoyan stadium

NEWS14

THE training centre in Aksai is celebrating asuccess rate of over 90 per cent forKazakh students taking English languageexaminations.

After a course lasting nine months, 26 peopletook the internationally recognised FirstCertificate in English examination and 23 ofthem achieved a pass mark.

Those gaining A grades were Gauhar Assan,Julia Demitryuk, Svetlana Khomyakova and YuliaKim.

Passing with B grades were LauraAbulkhairova, Yulia Beketova, NataliaChapchikova, Elvira Gamurzakova, AdemaKhairakhmetova, Lyazzat Khabieva, Zhanylsyn

Tanashikova and Lumila Temchenko. Thesuccessful C grade students were ZalikhaAitmagambetova, Yelena Aksyonova, YevgeniyKolonitsky, Olga Lyskova, Asiya Mussagalieva,Asel Mendibayeva, Alma Murzagalieva, MaximNikiforov, Yelena Sharipova, Victoria Tyrtishnikand Lyazzat West.

The First Certificate in English examination isoperated both in the UK and internationally byCambridge University, and administered inKazakhstan by the British Council in Almaty.

To pass the exam, the students had tocomplete five components — reading, writing,listening, speaking and grammar — over a two-day period.

Course leaders Kevin Jordan and Barry Danielwere happy with the results. “They put a lot ofeffort into this and deserve their success,” saidKevin.

“The exam is an internationally recognisedbenchmark and they can all now be classed asadvanced users of English.”

All the successful students are continuingtheir studies with Kevin and Barry and they havenow moved on to an English for Business course.

In December, another nine candidates — sixfrom the production development team, twofrom the Uralsk KPO office and one from Aksai —are to take the First Certificate in Englishexamination in Almaty.

FORTY teachers from elementaryschools throughout the WesternKazakhstan oblast returned to theclassroom to attend a trainingcourse in Uralsk sponsored byKIO.

The course, organised byTulegen Ospanov, a professor atthe Almaty State University andhead of the collective for authorsof mathematics manuals for 1-4grades, was designed to introducethem to the best practices ofteaching mathematics in theKazakh language using newmanuals now being introduced.

For the first time, the teacherswere able to work with electronicversions of the mathematicsmanuals.

The course also provided anopportunity to provide theteachers with information on thereforming of elementary schools.

During their 10-day stay inUralsk, the teachers attendedseminars and lectures, as well astaking part in practical sessionsand business games. They alsomet representatives of the oblastauthorities, the Department ofEducation and the Institute ofAdvanced Training for Teachers.

There was also time to getacquainted with the cultural life ofUralsk and to take advantage ofmedical services that were put attheir disposal.

A spokesperson for theteachers on the course said: “Thiseducational initiative has come atthe right time as it coincides withthe publication of a newgeneration of Kazakh textbooks.

“The course has helpedpromote the professional growthof elementary school teachers inthe region and what they havelearned will be a good support intheir day-to-day work in theclassroom.”

The Kazakh language was alsothe main subject of a KIO-sponsored course in Uralskattended by more than 20 leadingprint and broadcast mediarepresentatives from the WKO,Atyau and Aktubinsk.

A number of KIO staff took anactive part in preparation of thetwo-day event organised by theNational Association of TV andRadio Broadcasting Companies inKazakhstan.

The main purpose of thecourse was to increase theeffectiveness of the work of theKazakh-speaking mass media. Itincluded theoretical and practicalsessions and also covered the useof the internet and co-operationwith international organisations.

WHEN Gianluca Chiarenza agreed to arequest from Kazakh colleagues workingwith him in the warehouse to teach themItalian he did not know what he was lettinghimself in for.

He started holding two evening classes aweek for his friends, but then othersdiscovered what was happening and askedto join the lessons.

Now, over 70 people have enrolled on thecourse and classes, for both beginners andadvanced students, which are being held atCzech Camp on four nights a week.

“It has just grown and grown,” saidGianluca, a materials maintenance specialistfrom Lodi, a small town near Milan.

“I had never taught before, but I really doenjoy it. Everyone is so enthusiastic and I geta great deal of satisfaction from the fact they

are learning my language and they keepcoming back.”

Things have got so hectic Gianluca hasrecruited others to help him. Keen studentLaura Balbulova is looking after theadministration and engineer GiuseppeOrlando, a former chemistry and physicsteacher who now works in Maximo team, hasvolunteered to teach the advanced course.

The student are studying usingRussian/Italian text books donated by KIO.

When Gianluca is not working or teaching,he finds time to paint and his artistic effortshave helped a children’s boarding school inUralsk.

He sold a number of his pictures anddonated the $700 raised to help buy 24 beds,four washing machines and four spin dryersfor the school.

Gianluca’s lessons prove popular

Gianluca Chiarenza keeps a close eye on Sariya Narymbetova

Students star inEnglish exams

Teachersback in theclassroom

RUSSIAN rhythm and blues band The Blues Cousins made the tripfrom Moscow to Aksai to put on three very successful concerts.

The talented trio of Levan Lomidze, Sergey Patroushev andSlava Ignatov performed for KIO employees at both the CzechCamp and Pilot Camp, and then put on a free show for the people

of Aksai that attracted a large crowd to the town’s fairground site.Training manager Dave Foster, who organised the event, said:

“The support we received was fantastic. It was such a greatsuccess that we are now looking to arrange a number of similarevents.”

Talented blues trio hit the right note at concertsThe Blues Cousins in action

SPORT 15

AKSAI may be many hundreds ofmiles from the nearest sea, butKIO can still boast a sailing crewthat can compete with the best.

The team, which included generaldirector John Morrow and colleaguesBernie Giles, Bobby Watson, JonathanFuller, Clive Christensen, Zdenek Janecekand Scott Wilson, came together for thefirst time to compete in a regatta on theSolent, off the south coast of England.

The event, which was organised byEPC Global in conjunction with Bechtel,was contested over four races and atotal of nine boats took part.

KIO had the best of starts with aconvincing win in the first race, and theyfollowed this with two second placesand a third. This gave them second placein the overall standings.

“It was a great weekend and wewere delighted to do so well on whatwas our first event together,” said ScottWilson, one of the active crew memberson board.

The KIO crew, left to right, John Morrow, KIO general director, Zdenek Janecek, CliveChristensen, HSE safety manager, Bernie Giles, PDT cost specialist, Bobby Watson, PDTbuildings engineer, Jonathan Fuller, PDT instrument engineer, and Scott Wilson,corporate reporting specialist

Top crew findsit plain sailing

DARSHAN Singh emerged as KIO’stable tennis champion when he won atournament staged at the Czech Campby the TradesUnions’ Committeeto mark the Day ofthe Oil and GasWorkers.

In the final,Darshan, head of theIT and T section, metthe experiencedMaxim Asanov whohas been bothregional and oblastchampion on anumber ofoccasions. Darshanwon a very closebattle 2-1.

Third place in thecompetition went toBisengaliev Alibek,an electrician withPDT who has alsocompeted in bothregional and oblastchampionships.

After receiving his prize of KZT5000 from Trades Union Committeechairman Sain Dusmailov, Darshandonated it to charity to help low-income families in the area.

Darshan winstable tennis title

Gym is welcome addition to