Life in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is among the most important geographies for the upstream sector. The country currently has the 11th largest proven reserves of both oil and natural gas. Estimate indicates that there is over 2.7 billion tons of petroleum scattered in about 160 deposits.

The 9th largest country in the world is bordered by Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, China and a significant part of the Caspian Sea. It is widely believed that the Caspian shore is only a small part of a much larger deposit and that 3.5 billion tons of oil and 2.5 trillion cubic meters of gas could be found in that area.

However, I do not intended to give you the facts and figures of Kazakhstan’s natural resource nor an account of its diversity in terrain – flatlands, steppes, taigas, rock-canyons, hills, deltas, mountains, snow-capped mountains, and deserts. What I would like to dwell upon in this post is the country and its people which energy professionals might find useful in case they take up a project in the country.

Let me begin by saying that Kazakhstan is not at all like the way it was stereotyped in the movie Borat! The cities are clean, complete with ample civil amenities. There are many wide boulevards, lots of trees, and the roads are generally well kept. Though there are no published routes, it’s easy to find your way around. There are city buses, trolleys, and trams making it easy to move around. However, things are not as well kept as you progress farther from the mountains towards the outskirts. It would be a tad harsh to expect the same level of convenience in all parts of a country where the population density is less than 6 people per square kilometer.


History

Kazakhstan was part of the Russian Empire. Kazakhstan declared itself an independent country on December 16, 1991. Nursultan Nazarbayev – its communist-era leader, became the country's new president. While the country's economic outlook is improving, President Nazarbayev maintains strict control over the country's politics.


People and Religion

Kazakhstan has historically hosted a wide variety of ethnic groups with varying religions. Tolerance to other societies has become a part of the Kazakh culture. One of the major reasons of ethnic and cultural diversity is because of mass deportations of many ethnic groups to the country during Stalin's rule. Kazakhs are the largest group, followed by Russians. Kazakhstan allows freedom of religion, and many different beliefs are represented in the country. Islam is the primary religion, followed by Orthodox Christianity. The official language is Kazakh, though Russian is still commonly used for everyday communication.


Food Habits

One of the major concerns of people going abroad to stay for a longer period of time is the eating habits of the host country. Generally, diet consist of lots of vegetable and livestock meat cooked in many ways and served with traditional bread. People belonging to the Western countries might be surprised by the amount of fried food here! A Peace Corp volunteer writes in her blog that “Every soup has a little oil floating on the top”

Most of us like our tea, coffee or even a cup of hot chocolate in cold winters while during summers, we resort to juice, lemonade or even iced tea. But Kazaks drink lots of tea throughout the year. Tea breaks are common, and along with the tea breaks there is a variety of cookies and candy. Another peculiarity is that there aren’t any designated breakfast, lunch and dinner foods and it is common to have the same soup for dinner and then breakfast the following morning.


Culture

Traditional moral values of Kazakhs are respect of the elders and hospitality to strangers. This makes it easy for foreigners to ask around and find out places. An average Kazak goes out of his way to help a tourist with language barrier. The country has an impressive 99.5% adult literacy rate, thanks to a well-structured education system comprising of many reputed universities, academies, and institutes, conservatories, higher schools and higher colleges.

Because livestock was central to the Kazakhs' traditional lifestyle, most of their current practices and customs relate in some way to livestock. For example, it is considered as good manners for an average Kazak to ask first about the health of a man's livestock when greeting him and later inquire about the human aspects of his life.

The country’s largest city – Almaty is considered to be the musical capital of Central Asia. Well-known artists such as Deep Purple, Tokyo Hotel, Atomic Kitten, Dima Bilan, Loon, Craig David, The Black Eyed Peas, Eros, Ace of Base and others have recently toured the country.


Kazakhstan is a very pleasant country with picturesque landscape almost everywhere. Once your Russian is good enough, it is almost like working in a picnic spot.

Oil & Gas Careers: Things to consider

The Dallas Morning News has suggested in one of its article by Elizabeth Souder that “This is a great time to look for a job in the oil industry.” Her report is largely based the oil prices and an aging industry workforce – something we have been following & acting upon for some time. With the rise in oil prices over the last two years (and notwithstanding the recent gyrations the past few weeks), there is increased enrollment in petroleum engineering and geology programs worldwide.

However, it is advisable not to base one’s career decision based on the commodity market. Before you decide to join the petroleum industry, here are a few things to consider.

Basic Aptitude
Strengths in science and mathematics are the backbone of petroleum engineering and geology careers. You will be doing a fair bit of analysis & modeling in your future roles. If you don’t have the the aptitude in the basic physical sciences you may want to consider other options.

Global Mobility
This industry is one of the most global in nature. Hydrocarbons are found in more than 80 countries, but its likely that in the next two decades extractable oil may be developed in more inhospitable climes. You can look forward to a fair bit of travelling in the Exploration & Production aspect of this sector, particularly if you join a oil services organization. This may strike a chord with you if you’re adventurous in nature, If frequent traveling is not your cup of tea you may want to evaluate other aspects of this sector; particularly in refining or marketing of hydrocarbons.

Cyclicality
The 90s saw a decline in prices which depressed the number and types of jobs in the sector. The past few years on the other hand has been characterized by a steep price rise as well as volatility. During boom times it does seem that the tipping point is far away, however know that Oil & Gas, much like other commodities, is a fairly cyclical industry. A future slowdown in the industry will effect the job market too. However the skills that you will pick up in this industry, including the managing complex engineering projects, data intensive modeling or opening new markets for hydrocarbons will stand you in good stead in other industries.

In summary, the industry is growing and is exciting. However you may want to take a longer term view as you plan on venturing into this field.

Petroleum Geoscientists: Fun @ Work

There are many reasons for someone to choose a career in the Oil and Gas industry. Generous salary and benefits packages, flexible work hours and company-sponsored, high end industry training are a few of them. However, during our many sessions with the people working in this sector, one thing that has came above all the other perks of working in Oil and Gas is the element of fun and excitement.

For example, the geologists affiliated to the energy sector actually get the chance to ‘do geology’ in a high-tech, high-data environment. These types of exposures are only dreamed of and talked about in most other geo-science professional jobs. During a typical career, petroleum geoscientists gather, process, and analyze seismic and well data to locate drill-sites for their companies. Obviously, this means that some domestic and foreign travel is a part of the job assignment.

Generally, petroleum geoscientists learn to locate three types of drill-sites –

Exploration drill-sites which are big scaled and high risk

Field Development drill-sites – medium size with some risk and

Producing field drill-sites which are smaller in scale and very low risk

One can start a career with a medium-to-large company with a bachelor's degree in geology or geologic engineering. A master's degree with specialty in structural geology, sedimentology, stratigraphy, or geophysics/seismology is highly sought after qualifications for petroleum geoscientists. Moreover, there are career opportunities for research geoscientists, paleontologists, and geochemistry specialists as well, but in fewer numbers.

There is a popular myth prevalent among people that the number of petroleum-industry jobs fluctuates with the price of a barrel of oil. However, it is only a myth. Almost all leading HR managers will endorse the fact that the employment outlook for new graduates appears to be bright for the foreseeable future, irrespective of the ups and downs of the oil business, All oil and gas companies plan to grow slowly regardless of the price of oil, and they have strategies that include hiring new talent into their maturing workforces.

Job openings are currently available for people with 3 to 15 years of professional experience. Most of these openings occur because many smaller companies are willing to pay a premium in salary and bonuses to people trained by larger companies. What has been a trend now is that companies preferentially seek out students with advanced degrees, broad-based training in the fundamental principles of geology, and complementary teamwork and commercial skills developed through summer internships.

Before signing off, here's a short video from the Documentary "Geo Families - how I learned to love the Rocks"

Riggers: Drilling for Black Gold

How do you feel about a career that takes you to all corners of the world?
A job under the big blue sky?
A job where you work only for six months in a year?
A job that gives you the opportunity to meet and live with people from all around the world as one big family?

That's exactly the life of an average oil rig worker – a job with lots of travel, adventure and a sense of immense satisfaction. After all, drilling out petroleum to keep the world running is one of the most important jobs on the planet. The importance is reflected in their pay-check as well!

A rig worker’s job is to drill deep into the earth and extract oil once Geologists find them. Huge driller at the rig’s platform is used to drill deep into the earth at an incredible rate. Drilling sites can be both onshore of offshore. Oil reserves are widely distributed throughout the world – from vast snow covered landscapes in Canada to arid deserts in the Middle East, from dense African forests to deep inside an ocean's bed. A rig worker has to be always ready to go to places wherever oil is. Much like the adventurous army life without the killings

The job has its share of danger too. Sometimes, oil may flow out in an unexpected way creating problems for everyone at the rig. But then again, what is an adventure without the element of risk? This is a job where everyday is a new day, everyday you get to learn something new or find a new way to make things work better.

A career as an oil rig worker is apt for those who seek a life beyond the comforts of a cubicle. If you are looking for a challenging yet satisfying job in the great outdoors, oil rig is the place to be.