By Scott Baldauf
Excellence Recognized in Testing Times
"All of you, as one global team, are creating value for our customers and our shareholders. All of you are helping to secure Aramco's future. You have shown us that we really can be the world's greatest energy and chemicals company. And for that I am truly grateful."
— Amin Nasser
In a year of unprecedented challenges for the global economy and the world’s energy industry, Aramco has stood out with impressive accomplishments, which have enabled the company to remain a reliable energy provider during critical times when supply chains in different parts of the world were disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, the company did not waver on its strategy to strengthen its position as a global energy and technology leader. During the 2021 President’s Excellence Awards held this week, these achievements from last year were on full display.
Expanded Categories
This year the awards categories have been expanded to include Safety, Environment, Maintenance and Reliability, Operational Excellence (OE), Employee Engagement, and Affiliate Excellence. By focusing on a spirit of innovation and measurable improvements in efficiency, winning organizations are helping the company to develop best practices, and to achieve its long-term goals for growth and value creation, goals that help the Kingdom to achieve, in turn, its own ambitious economic and social objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.
Amin Nasser, Saudi Aramco president and CEO, congratulated the winners. “In testing times your determination to be the best has pushed our great tradition of excellence to even greater heights,” Nasser said during the awards ceremony. “All of you, as one global team, are creating value for our customers and our shareholders. All of you are helping to secure Aramco’s future. You have shown us that we really can be the world’s greatest energy and chemicals company. And for that I am truly grateful.”
Safety Excellence
Maintaining a keen focus on safety in operations helps the company not only sustain its commitment to the health of its people and our communities, it also enables the company to remain a reliable provider of energy to a world that is steadily recovering from the economic impact of a pandemic.
Six Aramco organizations were recognized for their excellence in safety performance as well as their efforts to drive continuous safety improvement. Criteria for these awards were determined by key performance indicators identified by the Loss Prevention Department.
Yanbu’ NGL Fractionation and the ‘Uthmaniyah Gas Plant won gold awards for Best Performing Operating Organizations, while Southern Area Production Engineering and Central Region Industrial Security Operations won gold awards for Best Performing Support Organizations. Southern Area Well Completion Operations and Safaniyah Onshore Producing won bronze awards for Most Improved Organizations.
Environmental Excellence
Aramco’s commitment to maintaining environmental safety in all its operations, through reducing emissions and promoting a circular carbon economy, is a critical way in which the company can contribute solutions to a range of global environmental challenges, including climate change.
Six organizations topped the company’s rigorous environmental safety performance in areas such as air quality, water treatment and conservation, environmental health and industrial hygiene, biodiversity conservation, waste management, groundwater protection, and green energy. Five of these organizations won Gold awards, including North Ghawar Gas Producing for Best Performing Operating Organization, Southern Area Well Completion for Best Performing Services Organization, Hawiyah NGL Recovery Plant for Best Gas Operations and NGL Recovery, Safaniyah Offshore Producing for Best Producing Operations, and the Yanbu’ Refinery for Best Refining and NGL Fractionation. The sixth, Shedgum Gas Plant, won a silver award for Continuous Improvement for an Operating Organization.
Maintenance and Reliability
This award targets line organizations that conduct maintenance as part of their function, recognizing those which strive for higher levels of excellence. The anticipated outcomes include: promoting stewardship of maintenance and reliability; creating a competitive work environment to drive performance; recognizing role models to learn from and create proposition value; developing a plat form for bench-marking and knowledge sharing; accelerating the implementation of corporate maintenance programs; and spreading awareness of the Aramco Maintenance Council’s initiatives and programs.
For operating organizations, the Sea Water Injection Department won gold, while the Abqaiq Plants Maintenance Department won silver. For service organizations, the Central Community Services Department won gold, while the Mechanical Services Shops Department won silver. The Shaybah Producing Department won the bronze award for the most improved organization.
Operational Excellence
Integrating the mindset of continuous improvement is critical for remaining competitive in a fast-changing world, and for Aramco the driving force for this mindset is OE. This award recognizes the top performing hydrocarbon operating facilities and service organizations that have successfully implemented OE in their organization, promoting process improvements, and introducing best practices that lead to excellence in performance.
For operating facilities, Berri Gas Plant came out on top with the gold award, while Safaniyah Offshore Producing received the silver award. For service organizations, Northern Area Power Operations received the gold award, while the Industrial Security Support Department won the silver award.
Employee Engagement
First introduced in 2019, the Employee Engagement Excellence Award recognizes champions who are leading the way in building exceptional experiences to engage employees, and to create a high performance culture within the company.
Northern Area Power Operations won the gold for Most Engaged Department, with Academic Programs and Partnerships taking the silver award. Oil Supply Planning and Scheduling earned the gold award for most improved organization, and Gas Drilling Engineering took the silver award in this category.
Affiliates Excellence
Formerly known as the Joint Ventures Excellence Award, the Affiliates Excellence award is designed to promote and recognize the safety and operational performance of refining and petrochemical affiliates and subsidiaries, as well as the sharing of best practices for the common good of the business and our most precious asset, our people.
The gold award for Best Performance in Health, Safety, and Environment went to Luberef, with SATORP taking the silver award for most improved. The gold for Best Performance in Asset Availability went to SAMREF, with SATORP taking the silver for most improved. The gold award for Best Performance in Energy Intensity went to Hyundai Oilbank, with silver going to Luberef. And the gold award for Best Performance in OE went to S-Oil, with SATORP taking the silver for most improved.
In his remark s, Nas ser told awardees he was proud of their achievements. “As we emerge from the pandemic, please know that your work is greatly valued … that it’s vital to Aramco, to our industry, and to Saudi Arabia,” he said. “The eyes of the world are on us like never before. So, let’s show the world what we are made of and what we can achieve together.”
— The Arabian Sun: June 16, 2021 | Vol. LXXVI, No. 23