WRS speaks candidly about the realities of doing business in Iraq

WRS speaks candidly about the realities of doing business in Iraq



10/13/2014 


Oil & gas recruitment firm WRS has set up a branch in Iraq despite growing conflict in the region to ensure it can provide contractors for the ‘next phase’ in the oil cycle. The new branch, which officially opens this week, is based in Erbil – the capital of the country’s Kurdistan region. Having played a key role in the fight against terrorist group Islamic State (IS), Erbil has seen its fair share of the conflict and, according to the latest news reports, a specialist team of British soldiers have been sent to the area to train Kurdish troops to use heavy machine guns donated by Britain. Mark Brown, managing director of WRS, told Recruiter the organisation has been preparing for the opening of its new branch since April. Eventually the recruitment firm, which works with the likes of energy companies Total, HKN and Viking, aims to have circa 100 contractors on the ground for when “commercially viable” oil starts coming out of the ground in 2015/16. So far much of the work in the region, said Brown, has involved drilling and exploration.
Of course operating in such a volatile part of the world has not come without its challenges and in September, WRS had to abort one of its trips after Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advised against all travel to the region. The security of staff and contractors is a top priority and WRS relies on both local knowledge and FCO advice.

Brown told Recruiter it receives support on the ground from a Western-educated Kurd, who helps out with fees, residency permits and security issues. “There’s an element [of] security to make sure we don’t stray off [onto] the wrong path.”
He added: “There is a very immature infrastructure in terms of legislation; it is evolving on a daily and weekly basis.” 

Brown told Recruiter that the insurances WRS has in place are driven by FCO advice and include exit plans and evacuations out of the country.

Brown, who was last in Erbil in August, said: “You certainly see increased military presence. We were probably about 50km away from Mosul when that was under attack. I think the biggest thing we saw were petrol shortages, which meant everyone came into Erbil. The actual queues to get petrol were literally six miles long. Locals were queuing day and night to get petrol.”

He added: “In terms of tanks, bombs and guns, we haven’t seen any of that at all.”

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