Without prior arrangement and from his office in Burg Boleila, we were welcomed by Engineer: Fathi Muhammad Ben Zahia, Engineering Department Manager, and answered our questions in an expressly interview, how does he, who practiced executive in the department before he was officially assigned in 2013, the tasks entrusted to the Engineering Department and important files on the table which he told us, so was this dialogue:
He started by saying that the Engineering Department is one of the main technical departments of the Management Committee is composed of four superintendence, which is Technical Services Superintendence consists of two sections, namely Electricity and Automated Control and Chemistry and Corrosion Superintendence consisted of the Department of Chemistry and Corrosion and the Laboratory at Es-sider terminal and the Surface Facilities Superintendence consisted of Mechanical and Chemical Treatment Section, and Engineering Studies Section, Engineering Design Section, as well as Construction Engineering Superintendence, which consists of Field Construction Engineering Section, Civil Engineering Section and Cost Accounting Section.
He added that the engineering department is charged with medium and small projects. "We are developing, replacing and maintaining existing surface equipment, where we start from wellhead to cargo tanker, which we follow in the main transport lines of the plants, also the whole plants starting from its establishment and development and the main oil networks and tanks in the fields and terminal is one of
our tasks, so the responsibility of Engineering Department is so important and it is part of our tasks to maintain and increase production rates.
On the latest developments and how to keep pace with them, Eng. Fathi said: We are following all the systems reached by science and others as we have the latest systems among companies in North Africa.
As for the development and training by the training department, we have already developed some welding technicians and have obtained the international certificate and sometimes we request special training programs that will increase the efficiency of the employee, and we also have another training which is about involving the employee in actual projects to gain experience through contact with local and international labor and from the management school keep pace with the development, we work on one of the latest systems which is under construction and now we qualify in some employees of the Tripoli offices to be trained and aware for the application of modern theories in the science of advanced project management.
He added that most of the existing plants due to obsolescence in time has become of low efficiency in the process of separation of water and gas from oil. A project to replace 17 units has been established ,in addition to a project process to replace the remaining units, as we have a project to study the bottlenecks in the plants to discover the places where the defect and repair because it disrupted the natural movement of targeted production, the bottlenecks are that the design of plants and separation vessels is old and dilapidated, so this study, which is under the tender committee through an international company, will study the bottlenecks in the system from the wellhead to the tanker and there will be recommendations at the end of Study and Engineering Department will submit to the Management Committee and the owners of the company in the form of projects.
Regarding our question on the important file on the Engineering Department table, he said, "All the worked files are important. We are changing two tanks that were destroyed during the wars in the region and also the project of changing the meters bank in Es-sider terminal and its well-known story and currently we have started engineering works for the project which is one of the latest international systems, and we have a large project which is related to the environment and the disposal of associated water in the Giallo field. Engineering works are about accomplished, and we are in the process of purchasing materials and manufacturing, as we also have a project to change the main pipelines of oil transportation, such as Zagot – Es-sider pipeline and the Department will, through the Tender Committee, supply the
necessary materials for the project, and the Engineering Department will implement the 276-km project,
Eng. Fathi added that the responsibility of the Engineering Department is very important as it is one of the important technical departments in the company and the training programs and actual work with local and foreign qualifications have a significant impact on capacity building because it cannot assign anyone to a project but in Engineering Department we provide opportunities to the qualified of employees to work and its good outcomes are so clear to the others that the local employees in the Engineering Department carried out all the reforms that the company system was exposed to in the period when the foreign element is absent in addition to other departments such as Operations Department and HSE Department.
Regarding the future visions of the department, he said that the aim of the department is to develop Waha systems and keep them in good condition so that we maintain and increase production and of course, the best investment is in local employees and their development and training them to be a building block in this building to manage the company successively, because Waha is characterized by the fact that its employees have the ability to solve problems and deal with them as a result of direct contact with projects and business, we are in the Engineering Department specifically do not only supervise the work, but we do engineering works, implementation, installation, operation and delivery and this saves in a lot of effort and money at the same time it effects is to increase the capabilities of employees.
Regarding the obstacles encountering the department, he said: "Often the security situation is the obstacle in delaying the completion of some work and sometimes the lack of materials, we are preparing the rest flours of Burg Boleila, which is one of our projects to accommodate the rest of the employees and by mid-2020 the place will be ready.”
Each Department has its tasks and projects and there is no conflict in tasks, we have continuous cooperation with HSE Department, Operations Department, Drilling and Workover Department, Major Projects Department and Planning Department. We have continuous and fruitful cooperation, and this success was not done by ourselves, but as a result of the cooperation of the above departments in addition to the cooperation of the Management Committee and the Advisory Committee. Reason for this success.
Finally: I wish goodness to all and hope that the country will settle down to achieve the objectives of management and development of systems.
He started by saying that the Engineering Department is one of the main technical departments of the Management Committee is composed of four superintendence, which is Technical Services Superintendence consists of two sections, namely Electricity and Automated Control and Chemistry and Corrosion Superintendence consisted of the Department of Chemistry and Corrosion and the Laboratory at Es-sider terminal and the Surface Facilities Superintendence consisted of Mechanical and Chemical Treatment Section, and Engineering Studies Section, Engineering Design Section, as well as Construction Engineering Superintendence, which consists of Field Construction Engineering Section, Civil Engineering Section and Cost Accounting Section.
He added that the engineering department is charged with medium and small projects. "We are developing, replacing and maintaining existing surface equipment, where we start from wellhead to cargo tanker, which we follow in the main transport lines of the plants, also the whole plants starting from its establishment and development and the main oil networks and tanks in the fields and terminal is one of
our tasks, so the responsibility of Engineering Department is so important and it is part of our tasks to maintain and increase production rates.
On the latest developments and how to keep pace with them, Eng. Fathi said: We are following all the systems reached by science and others as we have the latest systems among companies in North Africa.
As for the development and training by the training department, we have already developed some welding technicians and have obtained the international certificate and sometimes we request special training programs that will increase the efficiency of the employee, and we also have another training which is about involving the employee in actual projects to gain experience through contact with local and international labor and from the management school keep pace with the development, we work on one of the latest systems which is under construction and now we qualify in some employees of the Tripoli offices to be trained and aware for the application of modern theories in the science of advanced project management.
He added that most of the existing plants due to obsolescence in time has become of low efficiency in the process of separation of water and gas from oil. A project to replace 17 units has been established ,in addition to a project process to replace the remaining units, as we have a project to study the bottlenecks in the plants to discover the places where the defect and repair because it disrupted the natural movement of targeted production, the bottlenecks are that the design of plants and separation vessels is old and dilapidated, so this study, which is under the tender committee through an international company, will study the bottlenecks in the system from the wellhead to the tanker and there will be recommendations at the end of Study and Engineering Department will submit to the Management Committee and the owners of the company in the form of projects.
Regarding our question on the important file on the Engineering Department table, he said, "All the worked files are important. We are changing two tanks that were destroyed during the wars in the region and also the project of changing the meters bank in Es-sider terminal and its well-known story and currently we have started engineering works for the project which is one of the latest international systems, and we have a large project which is related to the environment and the disposal of associated water in the Giallo field. Engineering works are about accomplished, and we are in the process of purchasing materials and manufacturing, as we also have a project to change the main pipelines of oil transportation, such as Zagot – Es-sider pipeline and the Department will, through the Tender Committee, supply the
necessary materials for the project, and the Engineering Department will implement the 276-km project,
Eng. Fathi added that the responsibility of the Engineering Department is very important as it is one of the important technical departments in the company and the training programs and actual work with local and foreign qualifications have a significant impact on capacity building because it cannot assign anyone to a project but in Engineering Department we provide opportunities to the qualified of employees to work and its good outcomes are so clear to the others that the local employees in the Engineering Department carried out all the reforms that the company system was exposed to in the period when the foreign element is absent in addition to other departments such as Operations Department and HSE Department.
Regarding the future visions of the department, he said that the aim of the department is to develop Waha systems and keep them in good condition so that we maintain and increase production and of course, the best investment is in local employees and their development and training them to be a building block in this building to manage the company successively, because Waha is characterized by the fact that its employees have the ability to solve problems and deal with them as a result of direct contact with projects and business, we are in the Engineering Department specifically do not only supervise the work, but we do engineering works, implementation, installation, operation and delivery and this saves in a lot of effort and money at the same time it effects is to increase the capabilities of employees.
Regarding the obstacles encountering the department, he said: "Often the security situation is the obstacle in delaying the completion of some work and sometimes the lack of materials, we are preparing the rest flours of Burg Boleila, which is one of our projects to accommodate the rest of the employees and by mid-2020 the place will be ready.”
Each Department has its tasks and projects and there is no conflict in tasks, we have continuous cooperation with HSE Department, Operations Department, Drilling and Workover Department, Major Projects Department and Planning Department. We have continuous and fruitful cooperation, and this success was not done by ourselves, but as a result of the cooperation of the above departments in addition to the cooperation of the Management Committee and the Advisory Committee. Reason for this success.
Finally: I wish goodness to all and hope that the country will settle down to achieve the objectives of management and development of systems.