Can you give us a brief about your company?
Petroplan is a global recruitment specialist that has a global footprint and has a presence in all of the major oil and gas hubs around the world. This year is their 40th birthday and they have been operating in the Middle East for 10 years. We opened our first office in Dubai in 2009. We also have representation in Abu Dhabi, Iraq, Oman and Kuwait.
What are some of the recruitment trends in the oil gas sector across the region?
We recruit for both contract and permanent roles. . At the moment, we have about 90 contractors working in the region. We also have recruited 80 permanent individuals in the last 12 months. There is a growing demand for nationalisation, which is absolutely the right thing to do. Having young, qualified, educated national staff is not only good for the oil companies but also for the whole country. So it is a demand that needs to be fulfilled. The problem is the practicality of reaching these goals.
It can be very difficult especially in countries like Oman where they have a quite small population but quite high nationalisation demands. What we are seeing in other countries like Iran is that they are opening up and if they want to meet their production targets, they need access to capital, modern technology and people. This demand will almost certainly be met by expatriates when local talent is not available.
What are the channels that you are using to reach this talent?
We extensively use technology channels. Recruitment in general has adopted technology in a big way. This is the way to get access to the international community. Candidates can apply to jobs through our website where they can also register.
Our challenge is that we have two stakeholders to manage. One is our clients, the companies we are working for, and the other is the important resources that we are matching with the clients. So we have to have a very good communication process that meets the needs for both of these stakeholders.
What brought you to ADIPEC this year?
We have been coming to ADIPEC for a while now, with this being our third year. This year, I was presenting a technical paper about sourcing talent in the Middle East. This is the primary reason that brought us here today.
But in general, ADIPEC is the most important conference for us, especially since we are trying to grow the Middle East portion of our business. The reason for that is there are still things happening in the Middle East that have stopped in other areas. For example, in North America, Norway, and the North Sea in the UK, the business has almost come to a stop. Whereas here, there are still projects happening.
How do you think the drop in oil prices affected recruitment in the upstream sector?
When the oil price dropped very quickly, the problem was the high cost base that was designed for the previous high prices. As a result, the oil companies were making a massive loss. Over the last 4 years, the costs have been gradually coming down but it is a very slow process, especially since a lot of these costs are in contracts of 3 to 4 years. Some companies were just waiting for the oil prices to go up, which of course hasn’t happened. So I think now people are realising that the oil will stabilise at this price for a while, and the costs have come down. In my early days in the industry in 1999, the oil was at $11 a barrel.
