Energy major keen to develop Saudi talent

JEDDAH: Manufacturing plants in the King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) in Rabigh not only aim to meet domestic requirements but also consider the export option.

One such manufacturer is Total, which has recently opened its own state-of-the-art blending plant in the Industrial Valley at the King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) in Rabigh.
“Driven by our excellent growth in the Saudi market, our KAEC plant has been only producing for the local market; however, now with the new expansion, we will be in a position to export to the surrounding region,” Nizar Raydan, managing director of Saudi Total Petroleum Products Company, told Arab News in an interview.
The plant is producing a vast range of lubricants from all categories — automotive, industrial and marine lubricants — as per Total’s global quality policy and conforming to international quality and environment systems ISO 9001 and 14001, he added.
Total entered the downstream sector in the Kingdom in 2007 by partnering with Zahid Holding Group to set up the SATLUB joint venture (JV).
When asked about its progress, Raydan said: “The JV is doing very well; we have four branches covering main Saudi markets.”
He said the blending plant based in KAEC has already crossed the 30,000 ton lubricant sales last year to become among the top five players in Saudi Arabia.
“This excellent growth prompted us to increase the plant capacity from 25,000 tons/year/single shift to 42,000 tons/year/single shift with the possibility to increase further when needed,” he said.
He also touched on Total’s new international multimedia advertising campaign, launched simultaneously in 21 countries in October.
“The Saudi market is strategic for Total and the campaign has been very successful,” said Raydan, highlighting the group’s effort to promote brand awareness.
Raydan added: “As our group communicated during the campaign launch, Total is a leading global energy company. It needs a powerful brand over the long term to support the growth of its businesses.”
Explaining Total’s brand baseline, which is committed to better energy, Raydan said: “In this baseline, Total group has emphasized on producing ‘better, not ‘more.’ The group has shared its conviction that the path to a responsible energy future lies first and foremost in energy that is safer, cleaner, more efficient, more innovative and accessible to as many people as possible.”
Raydan emphasized that recruiting and developing local talents is in the heart of Total global HR policy. Whether SATORP or Saudi Total Petroleum Products, both organizations have reached their local recruitment objectives.
“We have reached the platinum category of Saudization level at Saudi Total Petroleum products,” said Raydan.
“We have implanted Saudi colleagues in all of the company’s activities, especially technical, marketing, IT, production, maintenance, administration and HR, and in the management team also,” he said.
“Our training program is comprehensive of internal training provided by trained staff — local, mostly provided by our partner Zahid Learning Center, and abroad at Total Paris head office or other Total affiliates. Also, we provide summer internship programs in cooperation with some local institutes like Effat University and we are going to start this year Total’s internship program — Young Graduate Program.
Raydan emphasized that the Saudi Arabia being a strategic market for Total, the company will continue to seize any opportunity arising to grow and diversify its presence.