Case studies

Context / short description:

The existing 6-inch wastewater injection line was a bottleneck for production enhancement. Being a single pipeline used for sending industrial effluents for injection to deep subsurface Polygon 2, this line was non-piggable and had pit corrosion traces. Cumulatively, that created risks to production sustainability and limited the overall synergy of other water management projects.

Goal:

Unlocking full potential of projects aimed at removing production restrictions, taking into account predicted peak volumes of associated produced water, as well as improving integrity of KPO operations in whole.

Solution / actions:

Construction of a new 10-inch industrial wastewater injection line using line pipes available at the Company’s warehouse, thanks to which the project was implemented in the shortest possible time.

Result:

Implementation of the project has allowed to:

• Fully unlock the potential of short-term projects aimed at enhancement of capacities of the existing industrial wastewater re-injection network.
• Increase in the total capacity of wastewater treatment at the Field units (compared with 2019, current by 30 % and expected by 50 % upon completion of the other debottlenecking projects) and remove wastewater treatment limitations to liquids production.
• Reduce potential asset integrity risks associated with the existing 6-inch wastewater injection line.

Ultimately, the new industrial effluents injection pipeline is aimed at sustaining the production process upon the end of the service life of the old 6-inch injection line in 2027

Context / short description:

Both positive and negative behaviour of employees have significant impact on the HSE culture in the organization.

Goal:

In 2020, for better understanding and memorizing Golden Rules and Life Saving Rules by the Company and contractor employees, a mandatory e-learning was launched followed by testing.

Solution / actions:

Aimed at improving safety culture and reinforcing and motivating personnel to undergo e-learning, the Company management took a decision to make successful completion of e-learning as one of the criteria for meeting KPIs and annual bonuses in the area of health and safety.

The second criterion was to achieve a 12:1 indicator (near misses to recordable injuries), i.e. for each recordable injury there should be at least 12 near misses. The second criterion was aimed to motivate employees to report all kinds of incidents, minor and those without consequences, the investigation of which would prevent more serious incidents.

Result:

In 2020, the Company has registered 73 near misses against the six recordable injuries, i.e. established ratio of the 12 near misses to one recordable injury was achieved. By year-end, all KPO employees (except for those on long leaves) have completed this learning. Annual bonus for HSE performance was paid to employees

Context / short description:

In the period of 2017 – 2020, KPO launched the third intake of the Enhanced Development Programme (EDP) aimed at identifying high-potential local employees and further development of their skills. While implementing the programme, the main focus was made on creating a talent pool to meet the Company’s business needs, including the selection of talented employees, identifying their strengths and weaknesses, developing and implementing individual development programs, and as a result appointing them to planned positions.

Goal:

• Create conditions for employees to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for sustainable professional growth by applying the development tools, such as coaching, internship at the Parent Companies’ assets, formal training, certified programmes and mentoring.
• Ensure continuity of workforce planning.

Solution / actions:

From February through May 2017, KPO Training and Development Department had been selecting candidates to participate in the programme. Since the beginning of 2018, a number of events have been held to train and develop participants in accordance with their individual development plans, including quarterly meetings with current KPO Directors and Parent Company top management. It is worth mentioning that using the SAP application has helped us creating a unified platform for participants to work and interact effectively with line management, the assigned coaches and mentors.

In 2019, we paid considerable attention to coaching. The ‘International tendencies in coaching’ seminar received positive feedback from participants.

At the beginning of 2020, a forum titled ‘Inspire Yourself and Inspire Others’ was held with engagement of a famous coaching expert from Russia. As a result, participants mastered the coaching tools aimed at self-motivation and the motivation of others.

In total, five forums on the leadership development were held in the course of the program. According to the results, about 80 % of the surveyed participants noted that the activities carried out helped them raise their leadership competency level.

Result:

The final year of the programme in 2020 fell at the COVID-19 pandemic, which have adjusted its implementation. Despite that, the programme was successfully completed at the end of 2020. The total number of participants in the third training intake was 161 people. By the end of the programme, 56 % of the participants attained the roles as planned; and their individual development plans were completed by 77 %.

Participants, who did not attain the assigned roles within the programme, were put into the Company’s high-potentials pool.

Context / short description:

The issues of environmental protection and ecosystems of the territories adjacent to the Karachaganak field are always in the focus of KPO’s attention. In its production activities, the Company adheres to the highest standards aimed at minimizing the impact on the environment.

As part of the post-resettlement monitoring, KPO decided to green the courtyards of the houses built in Aksai.

Solution / actions:

In October 2020, KPO Community Relations team visited a number of farms in West Qazaqstan Oblast to learn how to grow various types of trees, both leafy and fruit trees and how to select the seedlings.

Result:

On 20 October 2020, with support of Aksai Mayor’s Office KPO staff delivered 150 saplings of mountain ash, Tatar maple and poplar for planting in the backyard of Apartment Blocks #24 and #25 in microregion 10 in Aksai. The saplings were handed over to the head of the Condominium.

The Condominium went to spread the tree planting also in the backyard of the apartment block No. 4/6 on Druzhby Narodov Street. All mentioned apartment blocks had been built for the households resettled in phases 1 and 2.

The joint efforts of the KPO Community Relations team, Aksai Mayor and the Cooperative of Apartment Owners have paid off. The ex-villagers highly appreciated the initiative for landscaping their yards. Taking care of the planted trees is the contribution of each resident to the environmental protection and preservation of the ecosystem in the area.

Context / short description:

In 2017, Qazaqstan announced its transition to the ‘green’ economy. This process implies radical changes in the national economy based on the up-to-date environmental legislation.

Since 2018, efforts for the development of a new Environmental Code were ongoing. The Company specialists actively participated at all stages of the development and review of this document.

Goal:

Contribute to the formation of a new Environmental Code based on KPO experience in conducting environmental activities at the Karachaganak Oil, Gas and Condensate Field.

Solution / actions:

The year 2020 was marked by successful completion of a huge effort over the draft of the new Environmental Code. Within a year, the Company environmental specialists were actively engaged in the working group comprising the RoQ Ministry of Environmental Protection, Geology and Natural Resources, the Association of Oil and Gas sector “KazEnergy” and the Lower Chamber of the RoQ Parliament to review the drafts of the new Environmental Code and related acts. Our specialists provided constructive proposals and comments to the drafts of the Environmental Code and supporting acts in the area of environmental protection, including Water, Tax, Entrepreneurship Codes, Code of Administrative Offences and other. An enormous work has been done to introduce changes and amendments to the current environmental legislation.

Result:

The new Environmental Code of the RoQ was signed by the RoQ President K.K.Tokayev on January 2, 2021 and put into force from July 1, 2021.

In the run-up to the new Code, a number of critical issues pertaining to operation had been resolved by the Company experts jointly with other major users of natural resources. Such as handling of waste, application for environmental permits, mechanisms of the automatic emissions monitoring, invention of national standards on Green Technologies and others. An active engagement of national companies in the law-making efforts have enabled the business community to introduce rational and balanced upgrades to their production capabilities through application of the best available technologies in full compliance with the state policy for transition to ‘green’ economy.

Context / short description:

Based on the outcomes of the fugitive GHG Emissions Monitoring Campaign from 2015 to 2019 it was identified that the actual GHG (methane) emissions are significantly lower (by 93 %) than GHG emission volumes calculated in line with the Guidelines on GHG Air Emissions Calculation for Gas Production, Transportation and Storage Facilities. Based on the provisions of the Article 94-11 of the RoQ Environmental Code and ST RQ GOST R ISO 14064-1-2010, KPO took a decision to develop its own methodology that would allow to utilize the outcomes of the monitoring and therefore minimize indeterminacy in future calculations of fugitive GHG emissions at the Karachaganak field facilities.

Goal:

KPO’s own methodology will support the delivery of the following objectives:

• It will enable for calculations of actual fugitive GHG emissions at a more advanced level based on the screening and monitoring data,
• It can be utilized during annual GHG emissions inventory at the Karachaganak field production facilities.

Solution / actions:

Considering the internal developed materials and based on the provisions of the Guidelines EPA-453/R-95-017, KPO Environmental Department has done huge work to develop and implement the Fugitive GHG Emissions Calculation Methodology. For this purpose, the following materials were studied and taken into consideration:

• Equipment Leak Evaluation Guidance materials issued by the USA Environmental Protection Agency (EPA-453/R-95-017).
• KPO Internal Fugitive Emissions Monitoring procedures and Fugitive Emissions Calculation Procedure.
• KPC, Unit-2 and Unit-3 fugitive emissions screening and monitoring results.

The new methodology was approved by the Ministry of Environment, Geology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Qazaqstan for using during the GHG emissions inventory at the Karachaganak field production facilities.

Result:

• The new methodology will enable KPO to obtain a more reliable data on the fugitive GHG (methane) emissions in Karachaganak;
• The methodology was applied during the GHG emissions inventory in 2020. According to the 2020 Inventory Report, application of this methodology allowed for reducing cumulative reportable KPO GHG emissions at least by 150 kt CO₂ equivalent or by 8 %

Context / short description:

From November 11 to 17, 2020, KPO held the Energy Week, dedicated to the Energy Saving Day in the Republic of Qazaqstan. As part of the event, a number of online webinars engaging professional speakers from different areas of energy saving and environmental protection were conducted. This also included the drawing contest “The Energy Saving With the Eyes of Children”.

Goal:

• Raise awareness of KPO and Contractor employees about the current trends, technologies and practices applied by industrial enterprises in energy saving and environmental protection;
• The drawing contest “Energy Saving through the Eyes of Children” was held in order to raise the younger generation’s environmental awareness and sustainable living skills. Participation in the contest has encouraged children to learn the energy saving principles, and along the way to enjoy unfolding their creative abilities.

Solution / actions:

The Energy Week webinars included a wide range of issues: energy saving and energy efficiency projects implementation mechanisms, the RoQ Environmental Code updates, the ‘green office’ principles, foresight research and digitization in the area of energy saving, and other.

For elder children, a review of promising areas in energy education was conducted with participation of professors from the leading RoQ University and the German University of Applied Sciences Westküste. For younger children an interactive lesson ‘What is energy efficiency and why is it important?’ was held by the environmental teacher – ambassador of the RoQ Ministry of Environment, Geology and Natural Resources.

The organisers received a lot of positive feedback from participants despite the fact that the event was held for the first time and in an online format. More than 100 children of KPO and Contractor employees were engaged in the drawing contest “Energy Saving by the Eyes of Children”. The contest winners were awarded with gifts and certificates of gratitude. As part of the event, KPO General Director Edwin Blom awarded KPO employees, who greatly contributed to the Company’s Energy Management System certification and its compliance with the ISO 50001 standard.