Qatargas recently conducted a major emergency response exercise in collaboration with the Ministry of Interior, Qatar Petroleum, and various shareholders. The exercise involved a simulated fire and a coordinated response from professional teams at a hydrocarbon storage tank in Ras Laffan Industrial City.

Hamad Al-Duhaimi, Civil Defense Operations Director, Ministry of the Interior, said: "We have been deliberate in our planning to include all necessary statewide resources to ensure readiness to respond to an incident that requires fully integrated, large-scale support to any industrial asset within the State of Qatar. This training was a great opportunity for all responding organisations, and was a good test of our ability to operate under a unified command structure. It gave us the opportunity to enhance our overall ability to succeed in future deployments, particularly with respect to communications and pooling of resources."

Hassan Jassim Abu Khamis, Emergency Management Services and Security Manager, Qatargas, said: "Exercising for a multifaceted incident enabled Qatargas to validate our world-class response plans and procedures. This joint exercise is testament to our readiness to minimise the impact of an event as safely and efficiently as possible."

The exercise included the successful deployment of response equipment, tested logistics, and validated command and control capability including the integration of all response organisations, thereby providing a unique training opportunity to all exercise participants.

Qatargas' Ras Laffan tank farm is a strategic resource and a key link in the supply chain of hydrocarbon producers within Ras Laffan Industrial City.

Qatargas was awarded the Qatarisation Crystal Award in recognition of its efforts in Support for Training and Development. This is the fifth Qatarisation Crystal award of Qatargas since the award was instituted nine years ago. 

The event was held under the patronage of His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, minister of energy and industry, and attended by Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, president and CEO, Qatar Petroleum, and chairman, Qatargas board of directors, and Khalid Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Qatargas CEO, as well as senior officials and representatives from the 36 companies implementing the strategic Qatarisation plan in the energy and industry sector.

On behalf of Qatargas, Al-Thani received the award from HE Dr Al-Sada .

Attracting, retaining, developing and motivating a high-calibre workforce is an important element of Qatargas’ Direction Statement. As the world’s premier LNG Company, the Qatari national employees have an important role to play in the future of Qatargas and the development of the country. As envisaged in the human development pillar of the Qatar National Vision 2030, development of the national workforce is a top priority at Qatargas.

Training and development at Qatargas are of high importance, as significant time and energy is invested in supporting and developing its workforce. The company ensures consistent delivery and quality learning that makes an impact to the business providing the required tools and training to broaden its internal network of facilitators within Qatargas, thereby generating meaningful impact in developing the national workforce. Qatargas strives to support the Qatarisation strategy through sufficient training to develop high calibre national workforce.