Petroleum

Start with who needs crude oil and fuel products and why. Around refineries, fuel distributors and large industrial users drive demand in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the other emirates.

• List 10 offers or suppliers in the UAE with price per barrel in AED and who buys.
• Interview 5 people from refineries, fuel distributors and large industrial users: what do they buy now, how often, what do they pay, what annoys them?
• Learn three terms: Boiling range (the temperature band at which a part of crude oil turns to vapour); Permit to work (a signed paper that allows a risky job at one place for one time); Custody transfer (the exact moment when ownership and measurement pass to the next party).
• Write a one-page brief: user, need, hoped-for price, and the rule that matters most.

Activity. Complete the market table, five interview notes and the brief.

Standard to meet. Price ten offers, interview five users, and state one need in one sentence.

Know the rule before the work. Main hazards here: fire, gas release and pressure. Hazard thinking means list each step, ask what could go wrong, and decide the control.

• Ask your local authority or free zone which licence, permit or inspection applies. Write the answer and the date you asked.
• For each step (receive and measure; separate by boiling range; store and dispatch) write the hazard and the control.
• Use a hierarchy: remove the hazard, replace it, separate people from it, change the way of work, then protective equipment last.
• Keep a one-page incident rule: who you call, what you stop, what you record.

Activity. Draw the flow and mark hazard and control at each step.

Standard to meet. Name a hazard and a control for every step, and answer the licence question in writing.

The work is a short chain: receive and measure, separate by boiling range, store and dispatch. Learn each link, then link them with records.

• Write a checklist for each of the 3 steps: input, action, check, output.
• Time each step three times and note the slowest.
• Record a defect or delay each time it happens: what, where, cause, fix.
• Measure barrels moved safely per shift; this is your main number.

Activity. Run the chain three times (simulated or real) and fill the log.

Standard to meet. Complete three logs, and give the slowest step a cause and a fix.

What you do not measure you cannot improve. Your main measure is barrels moved safely per shift.

• Define barrels moved safely per shift: what counts, what does not, and over what period.
• Draw a simple chart of the last 10 results and mark the average.
• Find the top two causes of loss with a tally sheet, then fix the biggest one first.
• Check measuring tools: are they accurate, clean and in date?

Activity. Collect a tally for one week and make a Pareto chart.

Standard to meet. Complete the tally, name the biggest cause, and plan one fix with a date.

Know the cost of one barrel before you set the price. Include materials, labour, energy, transport, licence share, waste and a safety margin.

• Cost per barrel = total cost divided by barrels sold (not made).
• Margin = (price minus cost) divided by price.
• Break-even units = fixed costs divided by gain per unit.
• Test the price with two users and write down the answer.

Activity. Build the cost sheet with AED on every line and have your mentor check it.

Standard to meet. Check that no cost is missing, and calculate the margin twice by different routes.

Customers return when you keep promises. Promise only what your workflow can deliver.

• Write a one-page offer: what is included, what is not, price, time, how you fix mistakes.
• Write a short script for the first call or visit.
• Agree dates in writing; confirm each change.
• Handle a complaint in four steps: listen, apologise for the impact, fix, record what changed.

Activity. Present the offer to two users and note changes.

Standard to meet. Write an offer with scope, price, time and a fix rule, and collect comments from two users.

Small, real and recorded. Change one thing at a time and learn quickly.

• Keep a daily log: date, units, cost, delays, defects, safety notes.
• Hold a 15-minute review each week with your mentor.
• Write down every complaint and what you changed.
• Take photos only where allowed and never of people without consent.

Activity. Complete 30 days of the log and four weekly reviews.

Standard to meet. Log 30 days, give each defect a cause, and keep weekly notes.

A decision beats a feeling. Compare plan with result and choose to scale, change or stop.

• Make a before and after table: cost per unit, defects, delays, repeat users.
• Write three lessons.
• Decide scale, change or stop, with the numbers behind it.
• Give two peers one strength and one fix each.

Activity. Present to a review room and collect one written comment from a user.

Standard to meet. Justify the decision with numbers, and give two peer reviews.

Every job on a hydrocarbon site starts with two papers: the flow diagram that shows where the product goes, and the permit that says who may do what.

• On a flow diagram, trace one product from tank to dispatch and name each vessel, pump, valve and instrument on the way.
• A permit states the job, place, time limit, hazards, isolations and the signatures of issuer and receiver. A permit with a blank line is not valid.
• Gas tests come before hot work and are repeated at set intervals; write down each reading with time and tester.
• Handover between shifts must name open permits, isolated equipment and any abnormal readings.

Activity. Trace a flow diagram supplied by your mentor and fill a sample permit for a pump seal change, naming every isolation.

Standard to meet. Name every vessel and valve on the route, leave no blank lines on the permit, and state the stop-work trigger.

Oil is sold by measured quantity, so measurement accuracy is money. A balance compares what came in with what went out.

• Quantity depends on temperature: volume at observed temperature is corrected to a standard temperature before it is compared.
• Check the tank gauge, a manual dip and the flow meter against one another; differences beyond the allowed band are investigated, not averaged away.
• Mass balance: opening stock plus receipts minus dispatches minus closing stock should equal the loss, and the loss should be small and explained.
• Record each custody transfer with the time, meter readings, seal numbers and both signatures.

Activity. Complete a three-day mass balance from sample data and explain any gap above 0.2%.

Standard to meet. Check the arithmetic twice, state the loss percent, and name a cause or next check for every gap.

Most incidents begin as small deviations that nobody wrote down. The skill is to notice early and escalate clearly.

• Know alarm priorities: act on the highest first, never silence an alarm without a note.
• Use a short report format: what, where, when, how bad, what is done, what is needed.
• Practise three drills on paper: small leak, power loss, high tank level. For each write the first three actions in order.
• Review near-misses weekly; the point is to learn, not to blame.

Activity. Write the first three actions for each of the three drills and have your supervisor mark them.

Standard to meet. Put actions in a safe order, write reports in the six-part format, and file a near-miss review note.

On the slide: L1 Basic · What crude oil and its products are

Notes: Name crude oil, three fuel products and the main hazards of fire, gas release and pressure. Notes: use plain pictures only; learners do not enter any site and ask a supervisor before any visit.

On the slide: L2 Awareness · Permits, boiling range and custody

Notes: Explain boiling range, permit to work and custody transfer in your own words. Notes: show a permit with one blank line and ask why it is not valid; a permit with a blank line is never valid.

On the slide: L3 Foundation · Read a flow diagram and a permit

Notes: Trace one product from tank to dispatch on a supplied flow diagram and fill a sample permit with every isolation named. Notes: work only under a competent supervisor; check the stop-work trigger is written, for example a gas test reading above 0 per cent of the lower explosive limit.

On the slide: L4 Practitioner · Run a three-day oil balance

Notes: Apply the receive, store and dispatch workflow to a simulated site and complete a three-day mass balance with the loss as a percentage. Notes: use opening stock 40,000, receipts 12,000, dispatches 11,700 and closing stock 40,280 barrels, giving a loss of 20 barrels or 0.17 per cent; investigate any gap above 0.5 per cent.

On the slide: L5 Specialist · Compare gauge, dip and meter

Notes: Analyse three days of readings from the tank gauge, a manual dip and the flow meter, and decide which gaps to investigate and which to log. Notes: set the rule before looking at the data and keep it to the 0.5 per cent band; at AED 300 per barrel and AED 255 cost, each barrel gains AED 45, so a lost barrel is lost money.

On the slide: L6 Advanced · Coach a shift on handover and alarms

Notes: Lead a short drill for a small shift team on the six-part report and the first three actions for a high tank level. Notes: use an 82 per cent alarm on a tank due to reach 90 per cent in 40 minutes; sample five handover notes a week and check each names open permits and isolated equipment.

On the slide: L7 Super expert · Design the whole measurement and permit system

Notes: Design a measurement, permit and escalation system for a tank farm with audit checks, a risk register and a 12-month plan. Notes: the plan is a proposal for a competent authority to review and does not replace site rules; audit ten permits and ten custody records for blank lines, then present one risk, one saving and quarterly targets.