Interviews

Shell Egypt … 108 years of responsible investment in the Egyptian market

Published on : 2019-10-26

Nineoil and gas producing concessions … Four exploration concessions .. and notable offshore operations

Leading social investment and development programs focusing on human capital development of the Egyptian youth; especially enterprise development

 

In 2011 Shell celebrated its 100 year presence in Egypt. It first entered the country in 1911 to operate two concessions in Gemsa and Hurghada. Today Shell has a number of joint ventures and interests in Egypt and is continuing to explore for oil and gas in Egypt, investing in pioneering ventures, such as Deepwater drilling.

Safety, environmental and social responsibility are at the heart of our activities. Being an integrated energy company that aims to meet the world’s growing demand for energy in ways that are economically, environmentally and socially responsible, and a leader in the oil and gas industry, “Petroleum Today” seized the opportunity of the Mediterranean Offshore Conference to interview Shell Egypt’s Chairman and Managing Director Khaled Kacem to get more insights on the company’s global trends and local strategies.

 


-  Khaled Kacem Chairman and Managing Director of Shell Egypt, Accepting the invitation to answer our questions is a great honor to us, we would like to start with a brief story to your journey In the petroleum industry.

 

This is Khaled Kacem, member of Shell Egypt extended family. I have spent over 27 years in Executive Management, JV Management, Operations and Project Engineering Management most of them were gained in Shell’s premises all over the world. My journey within Shell started in 1998 where I held a variety of leadership positions in Tunisia, UK and Egypt delivering excellence as well as adding value and growth in complex assets in the Oil & Gas sector.

Worth mentioning that I am not new to the Egyptian market since I have occupied the position of President and Asset General Manager of BG Egypt after being the General Manager and Managing Director of Rashpetco.


- “Together Anything Is Possible”, under this slogan we would like to know about your company CSR

Policies and activities in Egypt

 

We are committed to support the communities where we operate through constructive initiatives that promote the communities in an innovative, productive and sustainable manner.

 

In Egypt, Shell had taken the Social Investments strategy to a whole new level either by creating company’s own social investments programs or even sponsoring other onesaiming to enhance and develop the capabilities of the Egyptian youth.

Our programs support local skills development, young entrepreneurs and in turn the local economy through the development of small projects and entrepreneurship initiatives like Shell Intilaaqah, the Shell Eco-marathon, Al-Amal programme,Imagine the Future competition, NXplorersprogram and Shell’s partnership with AUC V-Lab to develop startups in the field of energy and environmental sustainability.

We also signed a protocol of cooperation with the World Food Program for the development of community schools in MarsaMatruh in order to develop the community of our operations there.

 

 - Your Company had put a strategy to increase and sustain natural gas production in the Mediterraneanthrough a series of steps, we would like to have quick insight about these steps.

 

At Shell, we believe that abundant new gas production in the Mediterranean is now helping Egypt to meet its own rising demand for gas and will play a main role in Egypt’s transition into a regional energy hub.

 

Our strategy aims to increase and sustain the gas production in the Mediterranean by taking a series of successive steps, developing our existing assets and exploring new investment opportunities in the WDDM concession, in Rosetta concession and in the Nile Delta.

 

Shell Egypt has recently been awarded two blocks in The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) 2018 international bid round, making it one of the most important recent achievements by the company. The two concessions are in the Offshore Nile Delta. The record award results are in line with Shell Egypt’s growth strategy, aiming to expand the existing footprint and secure a material position in the country.

At the West Delta Deep Marine (WDDM) Phase 9b project, we applied a unique and integrated approach combining development and exploration activities, which resulted in starting to gain the project’s outcome, while leveraging Shell global expertise and technology – therefore extending the life of WDDM by unlocking potential for the entire West Delta Deep area.

We are working in progress in the 8 development wells in phase 9B by commencing production ahead of the schedule.

We are currently using advanced methods in deep water exploration at a depth of 20,000 feet below sea level in Montu well. This well is one of the first to drill to these depthsis considered a quantum leap in the oil and gas exploration field in Egypt, especially that the wells have the potential to create new opportunities for the oil and gas sector, leading to new exploration efforts at these depths

 

 - What are the most promising areas or concessions the company is working in?

 

The Mediterranean region is one of the promising areas in Egypt that will play a big role in Egypt’s transition into a regional energy hub.

That’s why Shelltogether with our JV Rashid Petroleum Company have put a strategy to sustain and increase natural gas production in the Mediterranean through the WDDM concession, and we’re looking forward to a promising potential in the newly awarded blocks.

 

 - What are your most feared challenges about petroleum industry? And what are your advices?

 

The history has shown that Egypt is resilient and competitive. Egypt’s prospects are getting much stronger and the government is making great and successful achievements.

I think the challenges in the industry are being addressed through the latest legislative reforms and the modernization efforts within the industry, especially after issuing new gas law which is a key step towards modernizing the sector by liberalizing the gas market in country.

Such reforms have given foreign investors the incentive to grow their investments in the country, trusting that such reforms would trickle down – Shell is no different. 

Egypt’s economic potential is closely tied to its ability to develop a robust energy industry. The government is laying down these foundations efficiently through the economic reforms and Oil and Gas Sector modernization program.

 

 - From your point of view, to what extent do you see the importance of such big events to the industryand how they affected in recent years?

 

Hosting two of the region’s key events in the oil and gas industry sends a message to the world that Egypt is a safe, economic stable country that has the capabilities to host such events.

 

These events are one of the main platforms we can share the industry’s latest technologies, technical capabilities andexpertise, which will help sustainthe Oil and Gas sector’s development and increase current investments and attract potential investments.

 

 - Finally, we would like to know about your company HSE policies and actions taken about it in Egypt?

At Shell, we apply our Global HSE standardsin all countries we operate in.A good example is achieving Goal Zero –at the WDDM Concession in Phase 9B. The Health Safety & Environment (HSE) performance has been world class. The project team, including company project management personnel along with contractor partners, made sure to set a positive safety culture from the beginning. The project has recorded close to 700,000 man hours worked with zero harm, no Lost Time Incidents (LTI)s and no recordable injuries. This top quartile performance was achieved as a result of implementing a series of HSE focused initiatives such as the project HSE vision, project HSE commitments, and the “better together” program part of Shell HSE policies.


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