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

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 U.A.E. through social programmes. Sultan Al Hajji, Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer in Total United Arab Emirates, said in a statement yesterday 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 added 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 U.A.E. to study in French universities and institutes to support rehabilitation of U.A.E. 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 recognise 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 U.A.E.; 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 interpret that the flourishing growth of our industrial activities in the U.A.E. 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 U.A.E. our technology and know-how, combined with capacity development of the U.A.E. nationals in different ways," Al Hajji said. Total ABK is proud to have 123 including 17 female Emiratis employees including four on secondment from ADNOC Group, working in offshore field and different onshore sites like Abu Dhabi main office, Mussaffah Logistics Base and Total ABK Academy in Shahama. "In our quest and commitment to share with the U.A.E. 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 said. He moved on to speak about Total and U.A.E. 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, U.A.E. 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 U.A.E. 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 familiarised with energy and future leadership challenges. – Emirates News Agency, WAM – http://www.wam.ae/en/news/economics/1395270344336.html