Shell sees two main drivers for its long-term presence in Abu Dhabi: Partnership and Sustainable Development. It is a clear two-way process and, ultimately, Shell wants the people and the Government to benefit from Shell's operations and involvement in Abu Dhabi. To do that in practice, Shell provides support for two existing partners, ADCO (Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations) and GASCO (Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Ltd), and for ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company), the state-owned petroleum company. This support is given through the supply of cutting-edge technology and the secondment of experienced staff into the ADNOC Group of Companies. In addition, Shell Abu Dhabi supports the training of UAE nationals through its backing of the Abu Dhabi-based Petroleum Institute, through courses and by cross-posting staff to Shell companies around the world. 'Shell in the Middle East' talks to two UAE nationals from ADNOC who are looking forward to their assignments with Shell in Rijswijk in The Netherlands...

Suhail Al Mazrouei, Production and Facilities Engineering Specialist in ADNOC's Onshore Exploration and Production Division, says, "I have been given the opportunity to take a cross-posting with Shell Global Solutions in its Oil and Gas Development Unit in Rijswijk in The Netherlands.

"During my time in Holland I will be focusing on Project Management and will also be spending time with Shell's Technical and Operations Excellence unit, where I will be concentrating on Asset Integrity.

"ADNOC's Human Resources Development Team offered me the opportunity of taking up an overseas assignment with one of the international shareholders. I looked at the various development programmes and chose Shell because of the company's reputation and excellence in Project Management and Facilities Integrity Management.

"I will be taking my wife and two children with me to Holland and I am looking forward to it very much," says Suhail.

Shaheen Al Mansoori, Production and Facilities Engineering Specialist with ADNOC's Offshore Division, says, "My assignment with Shell in Rijswijk will be for 14 months. It will have two parts, the first being with Shell's Technical and Operations Excellence unit, where I will be working in the Producing The Limit Team, the purpose being to focus on Production and Facility Engineering to obtain the best results.

"The second part of the assignment will be with Shell Exploration and Production Projects Division. Here I will be concentrating on Project Management skills.

"During my time with Shell I hope to acquire additional management and technical skills, and to learn more about Shell's Safety and Integrity Management systems. I will also be exposed to much more of Shell's latest technology, and all of this additional knowledge should help further my career in the UAE with ADNOC.

"I am also looking forward to experiencing Shell's management of people from diverse and multicultural backgrounds," Shaheen concludes.

Shell will have a strong presence at ADIPEC (Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference) 2004, to be held in Abu Dhabi from 10th to 13th October.

This year's theme for ADIPEC is 'Managing Resources & Opportunities for the Maturing Global Oil & Gas Industry', and Shell will contribute to the Conference with 15 papers and a poster presentation.

The Shell presentations, given by experts from a broad spectrum of technical disciplines, will cover a variety of topics, including: Gas Project Management, Competence-based Development, HSE (Health, Safety & Environment), Advanced Carbonates Reservoir Characterisation, Well Engineering and Production Optimisation.

One of the main features of the Shell stand at the ADIPEC Exhibition will be the Formula One Shell-backed Ferrari racing car, fresh from its success at the Bahrain Grand Prix, held in April.

The other main themes of the stand represent Shell's long-term commitment to and partnership with the Middle East, and the company's long history in the region. The stand focuses on Shell's technical capabilities in essential areas such as Reservoir Management, Asset Integrity and Well Engineering. It also reiterates Shell's priority of working closely with partners by supporting national oil companies' training programmes and the transfer of technology.

"Shell's Carbonates Workshop took place in Rome earlier this year and was the fifth Carbonates Workshop we have sponsored," says Nejib Zaafrani, Regional Vice President, New Business Development, Shell E&P, Middle East.

"These workshops are important to both Shell and the delegates who represent National Oil Companies [NOCs], oil ministries and the oil and gas sector in general. This year the workshop attracted over 130 experts from 18 different countries, with the majority coming from the Middle East.

"Between them, they represented more than 2,000 years of experience in carbonate reservoir development.

"Shell Italy hosted the event, which was championed by Christophe Mercadier, Senior Carbonates Expert with Shell E&P's Technology Directorate.

"The workshop focused on the Asset Life Cycle, the efficiency of Enhanced Oil Recovery and Water Management technology. There was also a field trip to the great Cretaceous carbonate exposures in East-Central Italy.

"For Shell this was an opportunity to continue to strengthen our relationships with existing and potential partners. One of the main issues in the oil and gas sector today is to increase cost effectiveness and maximise the value of existing hydrocarbon assets.

"This workshop focused on how to achieve this in carbonate reservoirs which are the major source of hydrocarbons in the Middle East. The workshop also gave participants the opportunity to mix with other carbonates experts and to learn from other companies about a variety of challenges and solutions when working in carbonate reservoirs.

"Presentations were made by both Shell experts and representatives from several NOCs from the Middle East.

"Shell is very proud to be able to host this sort of diverse gathering of technical professionals and to share its technology and best practices with such an illustrious group of people.

"Sub-surface experts in the oil and gas industry are challenged to manage uncertainties in an optimum way to minimise risk and maximise value. Over time, technology has helped professionals to manage those uncertainties but still more technology is required to meet aspirations to maximise oil recovery from the more complex and challenging reservoirs," concludes Nejib.

"Shell's Carbonates Workshop offers participants the opportunity to learn from case studies and from other delegates who come from all over the world," says Ali Al Habshi, Onshore Gas Team Leader working with the ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) Onshore Division.

"Solving the big mysteries of carbonate formations requires a comprehensive knowledge of the latest geophysical, geological, petrophysical and drilling technologies and applications and this workshop provided participants with information and knowledge of some of the latest developments from around the world in these disciplines.

"In the UAE most of our oil and gas reservoirs are in carbonate formations and these are more difficult to evaluate and more complex in terms of heterogeneity than most other formations. In carbonate formations it is possible to have rapid changes in depositional cycles within the same rock type being deposited. Other factors such as post-depositional diagenesis effects or impacts can affect the reservoir rock properties positively or negatively which can make carbonate reservoirs difficult to model.

"This is my second attendance at a Shell Carbonates Workshop. However, representatives from ADNOC and ADCO [Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations] have been attending these workshops for five years and I hope that invitations will be extended in future to include other major ADNOC Group operating companies.

"At this year's Carbonates Workshop I was proud to have been the first ADNOC staff member to be invited to address the workshop, which I did through a poster presentation featuring one of Abu Dhabi's onshore central gas prospects.

"There has been a long-standing relationship between Shell and ADNOC with regard to studying geological formations in the UAE, and this valuable relationship goes back to the 1960s when joint studies were carried out on the Sabkha salt formations," says Ali.