ASTANA – Tengizchevroil (TCO), the company responsible for developing the Tengiz oil field in the Atyrau region, has expanded production through Future Growth and Wellhead Pressure Management (FGP-WPMP). The project has engaged 30,000 Kazakh employees and involved 92 percent of the staff.
Photo credit: kapital.kz.
“We visit various regions throughout Kazakhstan searching for local companies with goods that will meet our quality, services and costs standards. We urge foreign companies that are looking for opportunities doing business with TCO to pay attention to Kazakh makers,” said company general director Ted Etchison.
TCO spent $2.5 billion in 2017 to purchase Kazakh products, he added. Partners from the Atyrau, East Kazakhstan, Karaganda, North Kazakhstan, Pavlodar and West Kazakhstan regions supply metal structures, cables, chemicals, reinforcing iron, heat exchangers and pressure vessels for construction works.
“Most of the construction work must be completed this year. Now, we are working on finishing the necessary work for acceptance,” said TCO engineer Arsen Tagirov.
FGP-WPMP construction modules manufactured in Italy, Kazakhstan and South Korea will be transported to Tengiz for final assembly. The project will increase production by approximately 12 million tonnes per year (260,000 barrels per day), as well as develop the use of domestic goods and services.
“The project provides an economic effect not only to Atyrau region, but also to regions throughout Kazakhstan. Local producers strive [to meet] our standards of quality. TCO brought quality change to the culture of local production, working for a quarter of a century in Kazakhstan,” said public relations general manager Rzabek Artygaliyev.
Etchison noted Kazakh citizens fill 83 percent of the company’s jobs, including 67 percent of middle and senior managers.
“Since 2007, 156 Kazakh specialists have replaced their foreign colleagues in key management and technical positions,” he said.
TCO has a talent management system similar to any serious company, said HR manager Sholpan Altybaeva.
“The share of workers in TCO is not very high, but it is a highly skilled workforce. The staff turnover rate was 1.5 percent last year. We do not take leaders from outside; we have a policy of bringing them up inside the company. Employees need to know production processes from the basics and understand the prospects for their own growth,” he added.
More than 200 TCO employees travel abroad for internships annually and the most talented specialists have the opportunity to work for long periods of time in foreign nations, according to company statistics. Forty-five Kazakh employees worked outside the country last year and 19 earned their postgraduate education at company expense. The budget for training employees has grown 131 percent since 2008, from $3.6 million to $8.3 million in 2012.
The TCO benefits package includes medical insurance and interest-free home loans. Employees do not pay traditionally high mortgage interest rates and more than 1,400 loans worth $104 million have been issued since 2010.
Kenzhetai Tlegenov has worked for TCO since it was founded in 1993. Starting as a simple operator, he today heads the Tengiz export department and his career history is classic and very common.
“The key to success is you. The company provides equal opportunities for all employees to grow professionally. We need only to work well and use these opportunities,” he said.
