The Minister of Oil directs an increase in production from Kirkuk oil fields and prioritizing local employment.
Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair Al-Abadi stressed on Thursday the need to increase and sustain crude oil production from the four Kirkuk fields, while also promoting gas investment and employing local workers. Dailynews reports
This came during his chairmanship of the fourth meeting of the joint management of the field development project being implemented by the British company BP.
The Ministry of Oil’s media office said in a statement received by Shafaq News Agency that the minister opened the fourth meeting of the joint management of the Kirkuk Four Fields Development Project, which includes the Bai Hassan, Jambur, Khabbaz, and Kirkuk fields with its two domes (Avana and Baba).
Al-Abadi stressed the importance of increasing and sustaining crude oil production, as well as raising gas production and investment rates to meet the country’s needs, emphasizing the need to pay attention to providing services to the areas surrounding the fields through the project’s social benefit programs.
The minister also directed that priority be given to employing local labor in Kirkuk Governorate, and that this file be included among the priorities of the Joint Management Committee, as well as focusing on safety, health and environment standards, and working to achieve the goal of “zero accidents” in work sites.
He also stressed the importance of implementing quality training programs for national staff, which would contribute to raising their efficiency and keeping pace with the latest technologies used in developing oil fields, emphasizing that the training should be practical and effective, not merely formal.
The meeting was attended by the chairman and members of the Joint Management Committee from the Ministry of Oil, along with representatives of the British company BP, to follow up on the implementation of the stages of developing the oil fields in Kirkuk.
For his part, the representative of Kirkuk Governorate, Helo Qader Al-Jabari, confirmed that BP had pledged to give priority to the people of the governorate in job opportunities within oil field development projects, during a meeting held in the capital, Baghdad, with the company’s general manager in Iraq.
Al-Jabari told Shafaq News Agency that he held a meeting with the General Manager of BP in Iraq, Zaid Al-Yasiri, in the presence of Member of Parliament Dylan Ghafour, to discuss the company’s work mechanism in the Kirkuk oil fields.
He added that the meeting focused on the need to give the people of Kirkuk priority in job opportunities, and to allocate an appropriate percentage of jobs to them in their various components and specializations, in order to ensure justice and benefit from local competencies, and to contribute to supporting stability and development within the governorate.
He noted that company officials showed understanding of the demands made, and pledged to work on giving Kirkuk residents priority in appointments related to the company’s projects, according to the needs of the work and the required specializations.
Al-Jabari stressed that the issue of employing the people of Kirkuk will remain under follow-up with the company’s management and the relevant government agencies, to ensure the implementation of these commitments and the achievement of the best results, in a way that preserves the rights of the people of the governorate and provides job opportunities for local talents.
Shafaq.com