exclusive host Under the Patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud a weekly Saudi Aramco publication for employees January 8, 2020 Vol. LXXV, No. 2 Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Defense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia seeing the sights in Madain Salih Scores of Saudi Aramco employees and their families enjoyed the long Saudi Aramco will serve as the weekend on the outskirts of a small Vision to InternationalProsperity: APetroleum New Energy Era Emerges exclusive host of the prestigious town in the northwest region of the Technology Conference International Petroleum Kingdom known as Al ‘Ula.
comes to the Kingdom Technology Conference, which see page 13 Plan to Participate will be held in the Kingdom for Register Nowsee page 2 the first time in its history, from Jan. 13-15.
“This will be the first international multi-disciplinary, January 13-15, 2020 in search for oil inter-society oil & gas conference and exhibition to be held in Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom, with some of the world’s Dhahran Expo, KSA largest oil reserves, occupies a unique position at the 2020.iptcnet.org crossroads of Europe, Africa and Asia, making it a fitting location for one of the most prestigious international sponsoring societies under a sea oil & gas conferences.” Mohammed Y. Al-Qahtani IPTC 2020 Executive Committee Chair of sands Senior Vice President, Upstream, Saudi Aramco see pages 8 and 9
Deep in the heart of the Rub’ al-Khali, Saudi Aramco seismic specialists tackle the giant red sands of Shaybah.
Seismographic survey specialist Fahd M. Amri defines a new drilling site using precision scanners by means of the global coordinate system on the eastern outskirts of the Empty Quarter, hundreds of kilometers from the Shaybah facilities. Amri holds a bachelor’s degree in Surface Engineering from New Mexico State University. exclusive host Under the Patronage of His Royal Highness January 8, 2020 the arabian sun 2 companyPrince news Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Defense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Vision to Prosperity: A New Energy Era Emerges th SaudiPlan toAramco Participate ramps up to host International PetroleumRegister Now Technology Conference at Dhahran Expo by Shaistha Khan That will be followed by three days of ac- Pacific, IPTC is the flagship multidisciplinary practices, and multidisciplinary activities de- Dhahran — One of the oil and gas indus- tivities, with three plenary sessions (includ- technical event in the Eastern Hemisphere signed to emphasize the importance of the try’s most prominent events — the Interna- ing Saudi Aramco president and CEO Amin and brings together a who’s who of the oil value chain and maximizing asset value. The tional Petroleum Technology Conference Nasser participating on a CEO panel), more and gas industry. knowledge, capabilities, and strengths of (IPTC) — will be held at the Dhahran Expo than 800 technical speakers, and over 250 This year’s event will see a prestigious the participating countries and the sponsor- from Jan. 13-15. exhibitors featuring cutting-edge upstream lineup of global thought leaders, CEOs and ing society’s global membership — over the Held under the patronage of HRH Prince technology across a 6,900-square-meter ex- executives from leading national oil compa- spectrum of multidisciplinary technologies Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, Crown hibition. nies, international oil companies, and gov- — are central to the success of the confer- Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Delegates“This from will leading be the upstream first so international- ernment officials. multi-disciplinary, ence and the corresponding exhibition. of Defense, it is the first time the IPTC will cieties will have the opportunity to net- IPTC is sponsored by four industry or- JanuaryFor more information, 13-15, visit 2020.iptcnet. 2020 be held in the Kingdom. It is the largest oil work, inter-societydiscover, share and oil &exchange gas conference their ganizations and exhibition and societies to — be the held American org/media-registration. and gas conference ever to be hosted here. experiences,in Saudi successes, Arabia. and findingsThe Kingdom, with Association with some of Petroleum of the Geologists;world’s the Dhahran Expo, KSA Saudi Aramco is the exclusive host of the over 8,000largest like-minded oil reserves, professionals occupies from European a unique Association position of Geoscientists at the and 2020.iptcnet.org event. around the world. Engineers; the Society of Exploration Geo- To open the 12th IPTC, HRH Prince crossroads of Europe, Africaphysicists; and Asia, and making the Society it ofa fittingPetroleum En- for more Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud, Saudi Ara- about thelocation IPTC for one of the mostgineers. prestigious international sponsoringinformation societies bia’s Minister of Energy, will deliver a spe- Foundedoil in &2005 gas and conferences.” held in various The conference is focused on the dissem- cial keynote address. locations across the Middle East and Asia ination of new and current technology, best on the IPTC
Mohammed Y. Al-Qahtani IPTC 2020 Executive Committee Chair your voice Senior Vice President, Upstream, Saudi Aramco drawing the red line and ‘your dignified silence’ “Often, the most powerful statement it only takes a few seconds to lose that leaves a vacuum in between where the is your dignified silence.” control. How many times have we re- employer of the tactic is in better control This anonymous line whose author gretted our outbursts? “Of all the things of their emotions. That vacuum shuts chose to be silent caught my attention. I’ve lost, I miss my mind the most,” down the medium of exchange and the The person must have been so sure that sighed writer Mark Twain. abusive talker is held hostage by his un- the words are by themselves powerful I don’t advocate timidity, of course. expressed anger. That is a stinging dose that no signature was necessary to aug- The moment you notice the arrogant of their own medicine! ment their reality. person’s words are insulting, intimidat- By nature, we enjoy a kind working In moments of confrontation, arrogant ing, or worse, threatening, respectfully environment, in addition to the state-of- people expect us to be ballistic and fi- ask them to watch their words. Then the-art facilities for which Saudi Aramco ery in retaliation. They rejoice in bitter project a dignified silence, which can is known. As professionals, we love to exchanges because their abrasive words leave the arrogant rethinking. It can grow and learn. Mistakes come occa- can find a willing target in the firing make them wonder if they are even sionally and we should take responsibil- range. For them, this is a delightful exer- making a dent on our persona. ity of them. cise and they feel on top of the bullying Deep inside, they are not satisfied, Immediately, we proceed to resolution, by Jilbert Calpito game. and because they don’t have any basis and make sure such mistakes are not re- Ras Tanura But are we that helpless? On the sur- for further attacks, they will likely lose curring. We welcome feedback and op- [email protected] face, it might appear so but upon deep- the appetite to bully you. If despite portunities for improvement, but they er reflection, we have the power to deny your silence they go on pestering you, should be done by the right people, in the fuel to such people. you may escalate the issue for possible the right forum, at the right time — and Maintaining dignified silence requires breach of ethical and professional stan- not to be taken as a go signal for bullies mastery and absolute control. It is grace dards. to attack. Your Voice reflects the thoughts and opinions of the writer, and not necessarily those of the under pressure. It can take a lifetime Dignified silence is meant to deliver There is always a red line for every- publication. for some to master this, and for many, crucial messages aimed at correction. It thing. the arabian sun January 8, 2020 company news 3 Harvard Business School students hear about the power of teamwork from CEO by Eamonn Houston ‘working together Dhahran — Saudi Aramco’s president to reach solutions’ and CEO Amin Nasser spoke to MBA stu- dents from Harvard Business School earlier Nasser underlined the long-term impor- this week on how teamwork and empow- tance of reliable, sustainable, clean energy erment were key factors in leading the on the world economic stage. company through some of past year’s big- “It’s important for us to show that we gest challenges. have affordable, reliable, sustainable and Asked about the secret to staying fo- cleaner energy available for customers,” cused and motivated in the face of such he said. “When you look at what’s hap- complex challenges, Nasser told more than pening globally with climate change and 100 students from the Cambridge, Massa- everything around that, it is a valid concern chusetts-based institution that: “I think it for everybody, but at the same, we need to would have been impossible for me with- work together to reach solutions.” out a good team — a team that knows In a warm moment, he urged students to what we are doing and who you can de- “feel good” about themselves. pend on to execute with everyone know- “Worrying too much will impact upon ing what they are supposed to do. That’s the way you act,” he said. “You need to be very important.” logical. When you wake up, you need to be Nasser described 2019 as an extraordi- fresh without having to think too much. I nary year during the dialog session with Amin Nasser is joined by Fahad K. Al Dhubaib while addressing a contingent of some of the top need my eight hours of sleep every night!” the students, which was moderated by minds from Harvard Business School at the Plaza Conference Center in Dhahran. The president and During their tour, the Harvard group also Public Affairs general manager Fahad K. Al CEO shared his insights about leading the company through some of last year’s biggest challenges visited company operations at Shaybah, and the importance that teamwork and empowerment played in tackling those challenges. Dhubaib. (Photos: Moayed Al-Qattan and Hasan Al-Mubarak/MPD) the Oil Supply Planning and Scheduling De- With a genuinely historic moment al- partment (OSPAS), and the King Abdulaziz most every month, three events stood Center for World Culture (Ithra). above all the others with Nasser mak- the most valuable publicly traded com- ting carbon emissions, our cutting-edge Harvard graduate Yasser K. Al Oadah, ing particular reference to the SABIC pany in the world. approach to technology and innovation an acting staff analyst with Domestic Re- deal, the attacks on facilities at Abqaiq The CEO touched on a wide range of through Aramco’s 11 global research cen- fining & NGL Fractionation, also participat- and Khurais, and delivering the world’s other topics with the Harvard visitors, in- ters, and the resilient response of the com- ed in the visit, as did current Harvard MBA largest IPO last month, which confirmed cluding the company’s global commitment pany’s workforce to the attacks on facili- students Saud A. Alrabeaia and Khalid M. Saudi Aramco as the most profitable and to environmental stewardship through cut- ties in 2019. Gimlas.
During their tour, the Harvard group also visited company operations at Shaybah, OSPAS, and Ithra.