Reem Jabbour is Joint Venture Liaison Assistant at Syria Shell Petroleum Development (SSPD). She started her career with SSPD in 1994 as a telex operator and her business skills have carried her on up the career ladder. She talks to 'Shell in the Middle East' about her family, her career and her aspirations for the future..."

"I was born in the village of Qatana, some 35 kilometres south of Damascus, into a family of three girls and one boy. My elder sister is a mechanical engineer, my younger sister an English teacher and my brother works in the Ministry of Finance," says Reem.

"My father, now retired, used to work in the oil industry for an American company. My mother has always looked after us, bringing us up well and providing all of us with great support. I look up to both my parents as being friends as well as parents and they have both been extremely supportive and open-minded.

"I went to school in Qatana then on to the University of Damascus, where I studied English Literature for four years before graduating in 1992. My first job was with a recruitment agency in Damascus. It was through this job that I eventually came to work for SSPD as Shell asked the agency for someone to work for the company for one day a week over the weekends.

"The part-time job with SSPD was as a telex operator but after some time SSPD's Human Resources Manager offered me a full-time job. As I was not earning a great deal at the agency and as Shell is a company of good reputation, I accepted the offer straight away. So, in 1994 I began full-time work with SSPD.

"Shortly after, I was asked to stand in for the secretary of the Deputy General Manager in the Technical Department whilst she was on vacation. This then led to my being offered a full-time job as the department's administrator.

"When I joined SSPD's Technical Department I set about expanding my capabilities by undergoing further training and becoming more computer literate. Quite a bit of my time was spent carrying out translation and, as time went by, I took on more responsibilities within the department, moving into more of a technical support role.

"In 2000, SSPD created the post of Joint Venture Liaison Assistant. I applied for the job and this is where I am today," she says.

SSPD's exploration and production operations are carried out through AFPC (Al Furat Petroleum Company), a joint venture between SPC (Syrian Petroleum Company) with a 50 per cent shareholding, SSPD with 33 per cent and Petro Canada with 17 per cent.

Reem explains, "My role as Joint Venture Liaison Assistant is to be the co-ordinator for some of the technology-related issues surrounding the joint venture and between SSPD, AFPC, Petro Canada and Shell International. The goal is to maximise the value from the relationship and to minimise costs to the shareholders.

"The Joint Venture Liaison section is the first point of contact between AFPC and its shareholders so it is essential that a Syrian National is employed in the section to effectively co-ordinate all the parties and allow for good communication between them.

"The job falls into two main categories, the first being to deal with funding requests from AFPC to SSPD and the second being the brokering of technical services between AFPC and Shell International, or sometimes third-party suppliers.

"With the first part of the job, the services are usually requests related to the transfer of new technology, such as Underbalanced Drilling, Realising The Limit and Enhanced Oil Recovery screening. The second part of the job involves the brokering of technical services that AFPC needs either from Shell International or other international suppliers.

"The SSPD Joint Venture Liaison section effectively plays the role of middle man, concluding back-to-back deals with both parties whilst assisting in negotiations over prices.

"My job has become very interesting and has improved my understanding of the oil and gas business and increased my business awareness on an international level. I now feel that I am making a real contribution to SSPD's business operations here in Syria. My skills have improved considerably and working for SSPD has many rewards, not least of which are the good salaries we earn.

"I am not complacent. There is always room for improvement and we are continually challenged at work. So as long as I can make a useful contribution to the company and add value by being here, then I will stay with SSPD. And who knows? One day I may even go on to work for Shell abroad..."