Chinese company transforms wasteland into a vibrant city in southern Iraq

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[size=52]Chinese company transforms wasteland into a vibrant city in southern Iraq[/size]

[size=45]Maysan, Iraq, Oct. 4, 2022 (Xinhua) PetroChina has transformed the arid lands of Halfaya oil field in southern Iraq's Maysan province into a vibrant small city that contributes to increasing oil and gas production and improving Iraq's economic situation as its economy is highly dependent on crude oil exports, which It represents more than 90 percent of the state's revenue.[/size]
[size=45]The field covers an area of ​​288 square kilometers and contains more than 300 oil wells, three crude oil central processing units, two power plants, a water treatment plant, a civil airport, office and living buildings, and a gas processing plant currently under construction.[/size]
[size=45]— Help Iraq[/size]
[size=45]The Chinese company contributed significantly to raising Iraq's oil production, benefiting from natural gas and providing job opportunities for the unemployed.[/size]
[size=45]"As one of the first Chinese companies to participate in Iraq's post-war reconstruction, PetroChina has not only created huge economic wealth for Iraq over the 10 years," Fang Jiazhong, head of PetroChina's Halfaya Project, told Xinhua. Not only the past,” but “our company has also actively participated in local social and industrial welfare projects, building kindergartens, providing water, electricity, roads and other infrastructure and training.”[/size]
[size=45]Fang stressed that the company has provided many job opportunities for Iraqis and encouraged Chinese companies to enter the Iraqi market, which has laid a good foundation for China-Iraq friendly energy cooperation and the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.[/size]
[size=45]In turn, He Yanhui, deputy director general of the Exploration and Production Department, said, "The Halfaya field is the largest project managed and supervised by PetroChina abroad."[/size]
[size=45]He added, "So far, after the first, second and third stages of building production capacity, we have achieved a great result for a large and modern oil field, with an annual production capacity of 20 million tons."[/size]
[size=45]He explained that the Iraqi Oil Ministry praised PetroChina's important role in enhancing Iraq's ability to produce oil and push economic development.[/size]
[size=45]The company is also establishing a natural gas processing plant in the Halfaya oil field, which helps Iraq to benefit from the gas that was burned in the atmosphere and pollutes the environment, as it is expected to be completed by the end of next year.[/size]
[size=45]"After commissioning, the gas associated with the field will be converted into natural gas and other products that can be used directly, which not only improve people's livelihood, but also protect the environment," said Ou Yang Wen, director of the project's Quality, Health, Safety and Environmental Protection Department.[/size]
[size=45]Du Boe, deputy director of the project's engineering and construction department, said, "I can say that from 2010 to the present, we have built a small city on this barren land, including oil, gas, power, water, communications and roads."[/size]
[size=45]"These are all things that we slowly worked on with one hand and one foot... It's really not easy," he added.[/size]
[size=45]-Preserving the environment[/size]
[size=45]Protecting the Iraqi environment is one of the priorities of ((PetroChina)), which abides by Iraqi laws and follows all international methods to preserve the environment in the best available ways.[/size]
[size=45]"We have invested more than 1 billion US dollars to build a natural gas processing plant, which converts oilfield associated gas into usable natural gas, LNG, sulfur and other products, and no longer burns in vain, reduces waste and carbon emissions and protects The environment".[/size]
[size=45]"We are building green oil fields as well as taking measures to improve the environment during construction," he added.[/size]
[size=45]PetroChina takes various measures to protect the environment and monitors air sulfide emissions data to see if it is harmful to the surrounding area.[/size]
[size=45]Domestic and industrial wastewater is discharged from the oil field with a collection pit, at the bottom of which are cement and rubber pads, to prevent the penetration of sewage into the groundwater.[/size]
[size=45]He continued, "The waste is dried in the sun and collected and processed by a professional local company and recycling, and we have also built a waste recycling center to treat oil drums, scrap iron and waste batteries."[/size]
[size=45]The company has also planted thousands of trees and created many artificial lakes to improve the atmosphere and preserve the environment.[/size]
[size=45]- Difficulties at work[/size]
[size=45]There is no work without difficulties and obstacles, but ((PetroChina)) humiliated all that and found a solution for it to continue working properly.[/size]
[size=45]The company’s employees work at least 10 hours a day until holidays, including senior managers and cadres, they start their work with a meeting at seven in the morning to summarize what has been accomplished the previous day and to avoid obstacles that may occur and to indicate the departments that need mutual support and cooperation, according to Du Beau Vice Director of the Engineering and Construction Department of the project.[/size]
[size=45]The company's employees continue to work despite the high temperatures in July and August that reach 55 degrees Celsius. To avoid this difficulty, they start work at four in the morning.[/size]
[size=45]Employees suffer from their distance from their families and their hometowns, and their inability to care for the elderly and children, as well as the five-hour time difference between China and Iraq, which leads to a lack of communication with their families.[/size]
[size=45]Staff also face a security problem when there are conflicts in which weapons are used, which poses a threat to them.[/size]
[size=45]Another problem is the presence of villages and agricultural fields that are not under control and management, whose residents do not have knowledge of the safety of oil fields, which may cause various problems and security risks, in addition to the presence of some mines from the remnants of the Iraqi-Iranian war.[/size]
[size=45]Training and gaining experience[/size]
[size=45]PetroChina implements many training programs for its Iraqi employees to provide them with expertise to qualify them to perform their duties in the best way.[/size]
[size=45]Aws Haitham, head of the company's Training Division, who has been working since 2010 and accompanied the work in all its stages, said, "We started hiring Iraqis and setting up rehabilitation programs for them, training and integrating them into work."[/size]
[size=45]Iraqis are hired in two ways, the first is for those who have experience, where they are integrated into work according to their qualifications, and the second is by selecting college graduates, entering them into training courses, qualifying them and distributing them to jobs.[/size]
[size=45]He stressed that these people, after five years of training, have good experience and are running the business themselves.[/size]
[size=45]"We are proud of the training programs that we have undertaken, because most of the workers in the project sites are the result of these programs," he said, noting that more than 1,600 Iraqis are currently working in the company.[/size]
[size=45]He described PetroChina as a school of learning, stressing that he had gained extensive experience by working with it, praising the excellent and smooth handling of his Chinese colleagues.[/size]
[size=45]In order to increase the experience of all employees, they are entered into training courses and evaluate their performance to find out their shortcomings and provide them with the expertise they lack.[/size]
[size=45]Among those appointed to the company is the engineer, Muhammad Sadiq Jaafar, who supervises the stores (PetroChina) in the Halfaya field.[/size]
[size=45]Jaafar said, "I currently supervise 11 warehouses for petroleum and drilling materials, four warehouses for chemical materials and four yards for drilling pipes."[/size]
[size=45]He added, "I gained a lot of experience as a result of working with Petrochina after I was sent to specialized institutes and admitted to several safety and health courses, as well as courses for the warehouse system and specialized, modern and advanced systems."[/size]
[size=45]He confirmed that his work with PetroChina improved his social, financial and family situation, like many of the company's employees.[/size]
[size=45]He concluded, "After working with PetroChina, I developed socially, got married, had a house and a car, and my social situation became good."[/size]
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