Southern Gas and Basra Oil seconding employees to Total

INA - BAGHDAD

The South Gas Company announced on Saturday, the loan of a number of its employees of the Basra Oil Company to work officially with the French company Total to gain experience in preparation for starting the Southern Integrated Gas Investment Project.

“Employees from the South Gas and Basra Oil companies were loaned to work for the French company Total to gain experience in preparation for their return and work within the Integrated Southern Project for gas investment in five oil fields in the south of the country," said the director of the South Gas Company, Hamza Abdul-Baqi, in a statement to the Iraqi News Agency - INA.

He added, "The total number of workers who were loaned to start the project is 220 employees, 40 of whom are from the South Gas Company and 180 from Basra Oil, 120 of whom are workers in the Artawi field, which will include the headquarters of the French company, Total."

Abdul Baqi stated, “This loan of workers will be as a first stage, and the number will gradually increase after the completion of the project’s facility buildings.”

“The workforce in the Integrated South Project will be 60% Iraqi from oil sector companies, and 40% will be recruited with new, in addition to providing many job opportunities for various specializations," he included.

Regarding foreign workers, Abdul-Baqi explained, “It will be for those with advanced expertise and specializations, while leadership positions in this project will be shared equally between Iraqi and foreign staff.”

He concluded his speech by saying, "The gas investment project (Integrated South Project) is one of the largest and most important projects. It is part of the government program and was actually launched via the efforts of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Oil."