We have been careful to ensure local communities benefit from our activities and in 1998 launched the Local Community Contractor (LCC) initiative to give people living in our concession area opportunities to establish their own companies that could provide services to PDO and bid for supply contracts. We have reserved an LCC scope in main contracts and offered guidance and support. There are now specialised LCCs in areas such as maintenance, logistics, electronics, civil engineering, manpower supply and well services, with more than 3,000 Omanis currently working for them.
This story has moved into an exciting new phase and we have also established four Super Local Community Contractors (SLCCs) – larger scale operations generating new employment avenues and entrepreneurship opportunities for thousands more Omanis. The SLCCs are businesses, working on hoists, well interventions and flow line replacement, which collectively have around 9,300 shareholders, all from within the PDO concession area. The SLCCs employ more than 700 staff and have been awarded contracts worth US$640 million. Recent share subscriptions have pushed their combined capital value beyond RO 23 million.
PDO has established a dedicated team helping SLCCs identify and develop business opportunities. This includes specially ring-fenced work in contracts assigned to each of the four SLCCs covering PDO’s core business. In addition to the allocation of these contracts, PDO has provided dedicated support to the SLCCs, including:
- Appointing a business consultant to help them establish corporate governance through selecting and training Board members and key executives.
- Developing business plans, setting up HSE and management systems to industry standards and providing dedicated technical support in whatever work scope the SLCC is executing.
- Seconding PDO’s experienced staff members to each of the four companies so that they better understand oil and gas operations.
- Training Omanis living in the concession area so that they are suitably skilled for employment by SLCCs.
- Allocating industrial plots and workshops at PDO-owned locations.
- Purchasing necessary equipment to execute the assigned work.
Overall, the four SLCCs are progressing very well, focusing on business growth efficiency and ramping up Omanisation. From the outset, the SLCCs have given utmost priority to recruit, develop and retain an Omani workforce especially from the concession area.
A fifth SLCC Al Khazain Oilfield Company has recently been established in Al Wusta Governorate (in the middle of the PDO concession area). This has 1,189 shareholders and capital ofRO 4 million. It’s core activity scope will be provided by another operator, while PDO will provide the supplementary scope.