75 years of operations in Abu Dhabi, Total achieved major leaps in the oil and gas industry and renewable energy"

Al Hajji : "75 years of operations in Abu Dhabi, Total achieved major leaps in the oil and gas industry and renewable energy"

Abu Dhabi 30 -September -2014: TOTAL Emirates, leader in the oil and gas industry, has confirmed that it is committed towards providing the best energy in the United Arab Emirates and other countries, and it will continue its efforts in supporting and developing young talents from the UAE through social programs.

This came after conducting an interview with Mr. Sultan Al Hajji, Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer in Total United Arab Emirates, where he said that Total is involved with a number of oil companies in Abu Dhabi and it is always seeking to provide technical support in the field of oil and gas in the emirate.

He said in a press statement, that Total is also involved in many scientific and social initiatives in the United Arab Emirates and, most recently, participated in the establishment of research and development laboratories in the oil industry in partnership with ADNOC , Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi and Masdar .

"Total also provides scholarships for students in the UAE to study in French universities and institutes to support rehabilitation of UAE nationals to work in the oil and gas sector in Abu Dhabi," he said.

Total is an international energy company with the whole range of activities like hydrocarbon exploration and production, gas and power.

"We are also at the forefront of refining, petrochemicals and specialty chemicals, marketing refined products and associated services, trading and shipping of crude oil and refined product." Total was one of the very first international oil companies to recognize and point out that fossil fuels and renewable energies are not mutually exclusive. Our teams are committed to developing new sources of energy that can partner oil and natural gas to keep pace with global energy demand.

Al Hajji pointed out that the group was involved in solar energy since 1983, "We are now the world's second-ranked photovoltaic energy operator thanks to our affiliate Sun-Power."

Moving along the lines he said that Total's story began nearly a century ago, with the search for oil fields. This positioning also enabled them to adapt to market trends and proactively meet customers emerging expectations with a diversified energy mix - oil, natural gas, solar and biomass -- that delivers more value than any other global energy company.

Total, as the world's leading international oil and gas company has operations in 130 countries involving in all the above activities having nearly 100,000 employees. "We are associated with exploration and production in more than 50 countries and producing oil and gas in 30 countries."

Total's engagement with Abu Dhabi dates back to 1939, 75 years ago. What started as the first contract then grew over time. Today, Total is associated with 9 ventures in the UAE; eight of these are in Abu Dhabi. These are covering a wide spectrum like exploration and production of oil & gas by our subsidiary Total Abu Al Bukhoosh (Total ABK) as well as our share holding companies namely ADMA OPCO, ADGAS, Dolphin Energy and GASCO. We are a shareholder of Ruwais FertilizerIndustries (FERTIL) and a partner in the Taweelah A1 co-generation power plant in Abu Dhabi. We are pioneers in the new energies sector and a partner of Masdar in Shams 1, the world's largest concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in operation. TotalMarketing Middle East (TMME) based in Dubai is involved in the manufacturing and marketing of the entire range of automotive and industrial lubricants, greases, aviation and various speciality products. Today, our lubricants-blending complex in Jebel Ali Free Zone is the Group's third largest blending plant. As a part of "BIOjet Abu Dhabi: Flight Path to Sustainability" initiative a partially biofuel powered Etihad Airways Boeing 777 completed a test flight in the UAE. Total partially converted the biomass in Brazil used for this flight test with Takreer completing the refining process in the UAE, making it the first UAE-produced bio jet fuel. This initiative was in close collaboration with Masdar Institute and Takreer , aiming to deliver a sustainable and commercially viable biofuel product by 2019.

"We interpret that the flourishing growth of our industrial activities in the UAE over the span of time is recognition of Total as a reliable partner. We thank SPC, ADNOC, Mubadala and their group of companies for their trust in us. I feel that we have earned this respect because of our constant effort to share with the UAE our technology and know-how, combined with capacity development of the UAE nationals in different ways," Al Hajji said.

Total ABK is proud to have 123 including 17 female Emiratis employees including four on secondement from ADNOC Group, working in offshore field and different onshore sites like Abu Dhabi main office, Mussafah Logistics Base and Total ABK Academy in Shahama. In our quest and commitment to share with the UAE our know-how from global operations, we commission Emirati employees on international assignments. More than 10 Emiratis have benefitted from such placements in Angola, France and Yemen. Total ABK's top management team comprises of Emiratis with ladies in majority.

He moved on to speak about Total and UAE citizens, as he said that the group supports Emiratis for post-graduation and doctorate education abroad, mainly in France. "Till date, 43 Emiratis have availed Total scholarship and they are oil industry professionals having career in ADNOC , ADCO, ADMA OPCO, GASCO, ZADCO, Dolphin Energy, Schlumberger and others."

Some others are showing their excellence in varied professions: Emirates Nuclear Energy Operations, Mubadala, UAE Embassy in Japan, Ministry of Presidential Affairs and other highly respectable establishments. Of late, we have been sending university under graduate Emiratis to France for an intensive one week program called "Total Summer School" and so far nine Emiratis have attended the summer school.

In 2013, Alreyada, an initiative of Total UAE added a new dimension in the MENA region for empowering youth to bring forward their perspective. Alreyada is a forum for young undergraduate university students from the region to be familiarized with energy and future leadership challenges.

The seminar was inaugurated by His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, UAE Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development. The program featured presentation and workshops delivered by industry and community leaders, academia and experts from the UAE as well as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and France. The workshop session climaxed the seminar.

In smaller groups, students with young professionals acting as their mentors presented their ideas and suggestions for developing them further on "How to foster long lasting partnerships". Alreyada was adjudged the winner of ADIPEC 2013 Best CSR Initiative in the MENA region.

Total Abu Al Bukhoosh, our local subsidiary is a constant source of innovative solutions and case study for some of the challenges of Abu Dhabi oilfield operations. Here, we lead in the area of EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery), flare reduction, operations and HSE. Total is in collaboration with Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi on Dugong Conservation Program exclusively since 1999.

Total is proud of having shared many remarkable social innovations for betterment of the UAE community. With support of ADNOC , one of such programs Total has been running since 2008 is Total ABK Academy. This academy is a capacity building program for UAE nationals to make them employable in oil & gas industry. As on date, our academy graduates are working as offshore field personnel in Total ABK, ADOC, ADMA OPCO and Bunduq Oil Company.

Total in the UAE is also collaborating with initiatives like Al Bayt Mitwahid by the Crown Prince Court, Emirates Foundation and similar institutions. Total had been a participant in Abu Dhabi Science Festival since it started in 2011.

Total in the UAE continually strives to align its industrial and societal activities with the vision 2030 of Abu Dhabi's wise leadership. Total in the UAE demonstrates is committed to better energy which synergizes a mix of world class technology and innovation with safety of people, environment and assets as top priority. It strives to address local environment and community concerns and enrich the society of the host country by sharing know-how.

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