The Solution of Shortage of Engineers in Oil and Gas Industry in the UAE - Case Study Example

The solution of shortage of engineers in oil and gas industry Name Course Professor Date Table of content Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..3 Information profile of gas and oil industry………………………………………………..3 The regulation of the industry…………………………………………………………….5 The problem of the gas industry in UAE…………………………………………………5 Solution to the shortage of engineers in gas and oil industry in UAE……………………6 How the gas and oil will attract talents…………………………………………………...7 Ways in which the industry will retain the talents……………………………………….8 Addressing the challenge of role of women……………………………………………..10 Recommendation…………………………………………………………………….........12 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………...12 References………………………………………………………………………………….14 Introduction The knowledge of is essential in identifying, transferring and capturing knowledge and information that people can use to create, improve and compete. It also, reduce the technical terms since many organizations tend to bind its application to automation and intelligence systems. However, management knowledge should not interpret in only terms that are associated with technical. Besides, the management education should be implemented taking into account that the knowledge is social, dynamic and embedded in individual interaction and social experience. Many organization in world especially industries have utilized this knowledge in their operation to facilitate smooth running. The paper aims at using the knowledge of management to solve the problem encountered by one of the industries in UAE. Consequently, management knowledge can be used to address the issue of shortage of talent in gas and oil industry in UAE. Information profile of gas and oil industry. The industry was established in 1971 and eventually has become the leading industry in the production of oil in the world. The industry has business interests in development, upstream exploitation, production and marketing of gas and oil and refining of downstream (Mobley,Higgins, & Wikoff,2008). The industry also, market and distribute the products of petroleum as well liquefied natural gas marketing and production. It has two refineries which it operates at Umm-al-Nar and Ruwais, a plant that treats gas at Habshan, pipeline distribution network of a gas and industries of chlorine at Umm al-Nar. Also, the industry operates in all sectors such as drilling, marine services, construction, fertilizer, distribution, and shipping. It contains three main companies that produce oil, five support enterprises that provide services, three companies of joint ventures, two companies for maritime transport, refine Product Company and one company for refinement (Mitchell, Marcel, Mitchell and Royal Institute of International Affairs, 2012). There are two major active companies of oil and gas industries which include, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and international company. The national company leads in daily operations and SPC directive implementation. It is also the principal shareholder in Abu Dhabi‘s upstream activities. Similarly, it operates in 15 subsidiaries of gas, oil, and petrochemical sector. Some of its companies include Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company, Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore and Zakum Development Company. The Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company operate the development, exploration and production activities of gas and oil in the concession area of Dhabi‘s offshore. Also, the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore leads in producing oil in the southern Arabian Gulf where it engages in activities like drilling, exploration, production and export in the areas of Dhabi’s onshore and coastal water areas that are shallow. Gas and oil outputs come from two fields that are, Zakum and Umm-Shaif. The gas and oil production from this area is taken to the Centre of operation of the company on Das Island for export through the terminal of the island and storage. Similarly, Zakum Development Company was started in 1977 to operate and develop the field of Upper Zakum on behalf of the industry (Royal Society of Chemistry , (1991). Besides, the Upper Zakum, the industry work in Umm al- Dalkh and field of Satah. The commercial quantity was discovered first on 6 June 1969 at the field of Fateh and on 22 September it was first exposed. The current production of oil and gas is about 170000 barrels per day. Moreover, the industry discovered a gas at the onshore of the Margham field whose production is about 6000 b/d of gas. The international oil companies include Shell, ExxonMobil, BP and Occidental Petroleum. The natural gas that is produced in UEA is nearly 1.9 Tcf; the trends have been rising since the 1980s. The dry production increases by an average rate of 16 percent annually which has enabled UAE to be among the first 20 globally. Despite the fact that production of gas domestically encounters some challenges, the UAE aims at boosting production of gas so as to meet the growing demand of the country. Moreover, there are several projects ongoing recently to increase the production reserves of the country and satisfy the need of the natural gas that is growing rapidly. Those projects include Integrated Gas Development, the Onshore Gas Development and Offshore Associated Gas project. The regulation of the industry The industry consists of rules that assist in the operation. Some of the regulation include; first, the supreme court of energy in Dubai oversees the energy-policy of Dubai for coordination and development. Also, for the seven emirates, each should be responsible for regulating the industry of oil within their limits, creating the arrangement for production-sharing and contract services. The Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi sets the policies and objectives of the petroleum in Abu Dhabi. Therefore, since Dhabi is the central player in the oil industry in UAE, Supreme Court council is the crucial body in policy establishment of oil. Lastly, the contract structure of Abu Dhabi is based on the long-term agreement of product sharing between the private actor and state-run with the majority share in all project being taken by the state. Besides, all the smaller Emirates deals of product-sharing like those of Dhabi except Dubai and Sharjah that uses service contract. The problem of the gas industry in UAE. The oil and gas sector in UAE are faced with a challenge of having the shortage of engineers that are experienced. This short exist because the aging workforce is not substituted quickly with the people with new talent as well having the step up an effort for employees retaining in an increasing talent battle. According to the discussions done in Abu Dhabi on ways to overcome the shortage of talent and maintaining employees, government and industry and officials and senior executive agreed that it is the only long-term strategy, and efforts that are concerted involving stakeholder of all sectors can comprehensively and sufficiently address the problem. They are many issues regarding the short of engineers and retaining employees. Some of the top issues include first, lack of communication of perspectives of career and the achievement of industry in an aggressive manner so as to raise the awareness of oil and gas regarding their performance and activities. Second, there are no efforts in providing the perspectives of carrier that are clear and making commitments significantly to mentoring newcomers and coaching so as to retain the talent in the industry. Third, there is the difference in wage between private and public sector companies where private and public to do not compete when seeking to retain talents and hiring. Besides, the role of woman has not been bolstered specifically in oil and gas industry across all levels of career considering cultural specifics. Solution to the shortage of engineers in gas and oil industry in UAE. The energy of the world depends on the choices that younger generation makes today. The younger generation is the engineers of tomorrow who will have to ensure that the energy flow to the world is not interrupted. Therefore, they should make sure that the demand for energy rises in the next decades despite the economic headwinds. At the same time, the industry of gas and oil is supposed to ensure that 50 percent of all engineer of petroleum reach the age of retirement over the next ten years. With this in mind, the biggest challenge for the industry is how to attract talent and ensure that the number of engineers, scientists, and researchers for petroleum is filled. However, the gas and oil industry also need to attract the talent another form of backgrounds like mathematics, geology, analytic and it to drive the future innovation technologies. The knowledge from this backgrounds will be needed to access harder and complex hydrocarbon resources and boost the processes of production and operation efficiencies. The gas and oil industry will achieve this only through incorporating key stakeholder from academia, industry and government. The development of joint strategies will inspire the generation to come with science from the level of primary and use university to sustain their interest, research of post-graduate and professional life to choose engineering career and research in gas and oil sector. Therefore, the future talent of the gas industry is required since the United Arab Emirates are entering an era of post- easy. This means that it will also utilize the rapidly growing talent of female because the majority of young women are in Gulf are entering programs in engineering. Besides, UAE should integrate the initiative of providing incentives for young women to choose energy sector carrier with Emiratization and other initiative aimed at evolving knowledge-based economy. How the gas and oil will attract talents. The industry need to put effort in developing and attracting employees who have right expertise since the world has long-term demand of energy. UEA will achieve this through reaching back into the programs of education by stimulating the industry interest from the level of elementary school, provide technical degrees that attract student as well providing the role of seminar in choosing the right talent. Therefore the industry should offer a greater number of schemes of engineering courses and also invest in the training of entry level. Generally, the industry should instill science interest, provide the youth with the energy and manufacturing, educational systems to be amended and boost change in cultural through critical and creative thinking. Many countries have solved the above problem using the listed strategy. For instance United States of America’s educational system are nurturing thinking that promote creation researchers, scientists, and entrepreneurs who are needed to withstand a knowledge economy. It is argued that changing perception is one thing, and generating interest is another thing. Therefore, IT and Banking are often seen as offering better opportunities for a career in gas and oil sector. However this is not the case, and the information has not spread enough to change the insight. Initiatives like Think Science founded by Emirates, Abu Dhabi Center for the education of technical vocation are part of those created to raise consciousness among the youths to realize the challenges of the country in the next decade and enhance science interest among them. Also, the gas and oil industry strive to attract the people it requires by working with the establishment of education and institutions to give young generation knowledge about the working carriers that are available. Ways in which the industry will retain the talents. Retention of the qualified talent has become the greatest challenge in the environment that is competitive. The gas and oil industry is having the retirement of employees which inevitable but some employees may prefer to quit the job. Consequently, the companies that are under oil industry should understand why employees prefer to go other jobs. Voluntary turnover of the employees creates an expense which requires hiring, recruiting and training the new workers. When necessary employees leave, it can result in safety incidents that are recordable or downtime of equipment that is not planned if they cannot replace immediately. Also, valuable knowledge of the institution will be lost when an employee transfers to another job. Some companies are employing strategies like incentives award and pay increase to retain the valued employees. Businesses in Abu Dhabi, public sector like Mandala International Petroleum Investment and others are offering attractive packages and high wages to attract and maintain the majority of the local talent. The benefits comprise everything including parental leave, life insurance to plans of health care retirement provision and education assistance. This, in turn, is challenging the private sector in UAE trying to compete for qualified Emiratis. Against this backdrop, the difference in wages between Emiratis and now- Emiratis and between private and public sector has been recognized as the major issue regarding retaining and attracting local talent in oil and gas companies especially the private sector both international and domestic. At the same time, companies of oil and gas industry that are private have seen some of their qualified employees being taken away by well-paying public sector. The employees are made after having been mentored, trained and invested in them. Although compensation can be is a solution to turnover of the employees, it is not a solution that is sustainable. Therefore, effective reward and recognition, leadership, and development and training availability are becoming essential in ensuring the company retain the employees. Conversely, the on -implementation or absence of definite plans of career progression is becoming a critical issue as cited by talent hired into international and national energy companies. Consequently, gas and oil industry should implement the processes that efficient to support personal growth and adopt better talent management as well developing the skills of leadership and pursuing the position of leadership. The implementation of those skills will end the frustration of ambitious talent and stop them from seeking the opportunity of career elsewhere. Besides, it will assist in closer coaching and mentoring to steer and guide young professional in their careers. Also, according to Abu Dhabi (2010), reward management, motivation and performance appraisal contribute primarily to satisfaction and retention of the employees. When they are given high salaries, the most trained are engaged and are less likely to move to another job. Similarly, the industry has to incorporate all levels starting from retaining to attracting. Although there some progress especially in the region of Gulf, there is need to engage more closely with research institutes, universities and government agencies. It is only through coordination and collaboration will the stakeholders able come up with strategies to enhance growth of deep pool talent with expertise, skills and motivation to facilitate energy industry of 21st century (Ghānim, 1992). Addressing the challenge of role of women Reinforcing the female in the oil and gas industry in the workforce of gas and oil industry has a potential to improving the talent shortage. Indeed, the gas and oil industry globally which initially were dominated by men has attracted the talent of the female into their industry. Therefore, the women talent has reduced the gap between talent and skill shortage. With the retirement of more and more of the experienced engineers and limitation of the number of new entrants, creating the workforce that is diverse is necessary. Therefore, it is essential that for the industry to meet a future challenge by training and employing more female counterparts. At the present, women take a small share in the work force in the oil industry, and even a small number hold the technical or engineering leadership positions. In U.K for instance, the interpretation of women is 51 percent of the population but the design professionals are 8 percent of the whole population according to the Royal Academy Engineering. Also, it is shown that female workers account for only 4 percent of the total workforce of oil and gas in U.K. Although the number of the female workforce in gas and oil industry vary from country to country, the overall trend seems to change slowly, with the growing of some women entering the industry. For example in U.S. women took 46 percent of all the new jobs in2 20143’s first quarter. Programs in Abi Dhabi’s such as Women in Science and Engineering at the petroleum institute of Abu Dhabi have successively developed female engineers’ new generation. 95 percent of 770 women are studying engineering under WISE at PI (International Business Publications, Inc., 2013). These trend of growing of women in the workforce of industry is a positive development. Though there has been progressing that is important in attracting and educating more women in the industry to provide more opportunities for them and close the gap of talent, there is the need for more proactive approach and greater awareness to support and identify talent of a young female. Drawing more women into the industry is not just a mean of filling the gap shortage and creating a more diverse and inclusive environment of work. The investigation carried out by U.S in 500 companies founded on the facilitator of non-profit organization show that the board with the highest number of female experience better average performance of financial. The performance is terms of return on equity and return on invested capital as well on return on sale. Finally, another way of solving the problem of shortage of engineers is by providing new technology in gas and oil industry. The new technology will offer the requirement information that will give the solution to the shortage of engineering. Also, the technology will provide data in a reliable and secure manner which will facilitate more competence. Moreover, the expertise and data for decision making will be everywhere hence the skill needs of the industry will be shifted. On top of that, the companies of the industry should grab digital initiatives when operating in remote offshore of the gas platform and oil. Recommendations The Abu Dhabi Company (ADCO) which is one of the largest company of gas and oil Company should embrace this solution to improve the performance of the organization. Therefore, ADCO should incorporate the key stakeholder from academia, industry and government. The development of joint strategies will inspire the generation to come with science from the level of primary and use university to sustain their interest, research of post-graduate and professional life to choose engineering career and research in gas and oil sector. Also, ADCO should integrate the initiative of providing incentives for young women to choose energy sector carrier with Emiratization and other initiative aimed at evolving knowledge-based economy. Moreover, the company should employ strategies like incentives award and pay increase to retain the valued employees. Conclusion To sum up, the UAE oil and gas industry has experienced a shortage of engineers over years due to talent gap in the energy sector. Although the industry is making some progress, there is need to make some initiative. For example, the oil and gas industry taking approaches that are long term and talent retaining through building the new pipeline of talent and strategies development to enhance competence. Also, the industry should provide paths that clear for careers and implementing them as well providing guidance, incentives and mentoring of talents of youth including women to enter the industry (Jeffreys, & Oxford Business Group, 2008).Besides, enhancing the science interest among the youths as part of the extension of reforms to local systems of education as they address the difference in wage between private and public sector. Finally, it is essential for the stakeholder from all areas including government, academia, and industry to engage in collaboration as the only approach that is holistic to equip the sector with the needed workforce. Therefore, the challenge of energy of tomorrow will be me, whether developing new technology, entering in territories that are remote for production and exploration or carrying out research breakthrough. References AAPG Annual Convention. (1994). AAPG ... annual convention. S.l.: American Association of Petroleum Geologists. Arab Information and Public Relations Establishment. (1983). Petroleum industry in the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Arab Information and Public Relations Establishment. Asian oil & gas. (1980). Hong Kong: Asian Oil & Gas Publications. Ghānim, S. (1992). Industrialization in the United Arab Emirates. Aldershot [England: Avebury. In Karataş-Özkan, M., In Nicolopoulou, K., & In Özbilgin, M. (2014). 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