In those early days, the process of integrating with the Rumaila way of operating was a real challenge for everybody: we had new systems and procedures to implement; new health and safety rules to abide by; and a new management structure for people and resources to follow. All of which was introduced by people who’d worked all over the world and lived by an international culture.

A great many of us Iraqis struggled with the uncertainty of this new direction: it felt a little overwhelming. In truth, we also had several gaps in various disciplines that we needed to bridge. But in 2013, an important step took place when our team merged with the Reliability & Maintenance Department. Things became clearer; our HSE development grew, and we became more used to working with international contractors.

The story since then has been one of growing confidence. The new approach of delivering work became routine. We learnt from each other. We took the opportunities to build our core and technical competencies. We also started to look into ways to assess risk and improve the quality of reports and safety performance. Then, ROO’s vision for QAWTP’s development became our vision.

Today, Rumaila is injecting around a million barrels of water per day (bwpd) into our reservoirs. This water comes primarily from the QAWTP.

To sustain long term production, we are embarking on new maintenance strategies, supported by a new training programme to provide the ongoing development of people and equip them with the qualifications that will help them become experts in their field.

Within the team, there is a deep sense of personal ownership – that each of our actions makes a difference. The way our team provides solutions and the leadership shown by team leaders means that all of us feel confident in our abilities, Rumaila’s future and in Iraq’s oil industry.