Complying with the procedures that must be performed by anyone who will go to the platform, the journalists who departed from the mainland to the Totals offshore production facility must wear special boots, field work clothes, helmet and google as well as a life jacket as they have to cross the waters to get to the platform.
Such procedures should also be adhered to by all field-working employees of Total in order to prevent them from such undesirable risks as attacks of monkeys, snakes and crocodiles, the Head of Media Relations Department of Total E&P Indonesie, Kristanto Hartadi said while accompanying the journalists visiting the Handil oil and gas field.
"We are very strict on this issue (procedures). We definitely give strict punishment to the employees who violate this rule because it concerns life and death," Kristanto said, adding that Total very concerns about the safety of its employees, including those who are on their way to a place where they are assigned.
If the distance taken by an employee who is on his way to a place of assignment is still far while the day is already dark, he or she is required not to proceed but must spend the night at a nearby lodge for his or her safety, Kristanto said.
It is clear that discipline is the first thing to make Totals employees a success in dealing with oil and gas in the Mahakam Block, Kutai, East Kalimantan. In addition, Totals employees have high competence so that they are able to achieve successful performance.
Meanwhile, the Vice President of Field Operations, John Anis, said that Total E&P Indonesie currently has 3,920 employees who are mostly Indonesians and only 110 foreigners who work in the international company.
Even the position of President and General Manager, which are the highest position at the Total E&P Indonesie, is entrusted to an Indonesian.
"Indonesians are very reliable in working in the oil and gas fields. So we are able to manage the Mahakam Block. With the experience they have both at home and abroad as well as the transfer of technology that goes well, we are confident to operate the oil and gas fields," John Anis said.
"Our fields are increasingly complicated but we could control the fields. So it does not matter as we will maximize our capabilities and believe that Indonesians are great and experienced in the field with the support of appropriate technology," John said.
Total gives priority to talented local people to develop natural resources by maximizing their skills through, among others, trainings both in the country and abroad, John Anis said.
He added, in an effort to develop the human resources, Total has sent 109 employees to attend trainings abroad.
According to John Anis, Total also provides an opportunity for female workers that represent 13 percent of the total number of the employees. "We are now grooming a woman for site manager in the Handil field. The position is so far assumed only by a man," he said.
Meanwhile, the field manager at the Handil platform, Sujud Sujarwadi, said that the production process runs 24 hours a day for seven days.
"In two shifts, every employee works 12 hours a day for two weeks. They break for the next two weeks. Some return home, and some stay in the dormitory provided by the company," Sujud said.
Local Contractor
In developing its business in Indonesia, Total E&P Indonesie is also working with local contractor PT Meindo Elang Indah that provides services to international standards for the design, procurement and construction in the field of petrochemical, oil and gas industries.
The company constantly seeks for satisfaction to the customers with respect to quality, budget, time and safety.
Through the cooperation with PT Meindo Elang Indah, Total E&P proves that the French company is entrusting the construction of oil and gas production equipment on local contractors with highly qualified human resources.
A representative of the Total office in the UK, Fadi El Badwi who works with Meindo, said that the success of Total is really supported by the capabilities of Indonesian people who have the same international work standards and strategies with the oil companies over the world.
With those abilities Indonesians are welcomed in companies anywhere in the world, Fadi said.
"Our experience in carrying out this work in several countries, including Kuwait and Malaysia, prove our capabilities. It is because we are in partnership with the company (Meindo) whose employees are almost all Indonesians who have high skills and competence," Fadi said.
In line with Fadi, a senior employee of Meindo, Wira, said that Indonesian people, especially those from Kalimantan, are able to work on offshore oil and gas production equipment with the best quality.
"Currently they are working on the topsite weighing 1000 tons and 666 tons of heavy jackets for Total," Wira said.
These Indonesian workers had just returned from Malaysia and Kuwait, and they are ready to work abroad if there is no more job available for them in Indonesia, Wira said.
According to Fadi, the company is ready to continue working in this country if the Indonesian government decides to extend the contract with Total that will expire in 2017.
Total built oil and gas production platforms in the Handil field in 1974 and has produced cumulatively about 900 million barrels of oil and gas since then. Total supplies gas to a refinery in Bontang (northern part of the oil and gas fields) and oil to a refinery in Senipah (southern part).
Total E&P Indonesie was established in Jakarta on August 14, 1968 with the first field at that time around the Mahakam delta. Their first fields in Bekapai and Handil that time were supported by the discovery of the Tambora field in 1974 and the Tunu field in 1977. The Tunu field which was developed further in the 90s became Totals main gas supplier until now.
(B005/F001)
Reporter: Bambang Purwanto
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2014
