JCCP NEWS
Newsletter of Japan Cooperation Center, Petroleum

TopicsNo. 99February 2008

The 26th JCCP International
Symposium

In this issue:
TopicsJCCP International Symposium

1

Visits to the Middle East by
Mr. Yokoyama of JCCP

3

Seminar on “Energy Saving at
the Refinery” Held in Kuwait

8

Seminar on “Advanced Process
Control” Held in Kuwait

11

Study Tour on “MaintenanceManagement in Japanese
Refineries” for QP

13

Study Tour on “Refinery
Computerization” for Russia

15

Seminar on “Refinery MaintenanceManagement” Held in Mexico
17
Long-term Researcher Dispatch
Program20

Participants of the symposium

JCCP Participants Surpass 17,000 23
JCCP Participates in“3rd OPEC Summit Exhibition”

23

Personnel Exchange Programs
TC Program in S. America

25

TC Program in Russia andKazakhstan

30

Participant’s Voice

32

JCCP Regular Courses Completed
Oct. – Dec. 200735
Technical Cooperation
LOI Exchanging Ceremony
with QP36

The 6th Scientific Council
Meeting with UAEU

37

The 17th Annual Saudi-Japan
Joint Catalyst Symposium

38

Project on Flare Gas Recovery from
Oil Refining Facilities in the UAE 39
Announcement
Personnel Changes

40

The JCCP International Symposium has been held every year since JCCP’sestablishment. The symposium was held for the 26th time this year, from February
6 to 7, 2008, at the Palace Hotel near the Imperial Palace. Ten representatives fromeight major oil-producing countries discussed the main theme of the symposium,on “The Role of the Oil Downstream Sector from the Perspective of Stable Energy
Supply — The Necessity and Possibilities of International Collaboration.” A keynote
speech and special lectures were presented on the first day, and highly informative
presentations and discussion sessions were held in two separate sessions on thesecond day. The symposium produced significant results, and ended in great
success.
The symposium’s success was made possible by the participation of leading
figures from oil industries abroad, as well as by the large attendance of visitors.
In addition to the presentations and discussions, the three-day event provided an
ideal opportunity for members from JCCP, the Ministry of Economy, Trade andIndustry, and relevant industries, to achieve a highly meaningful exchange of views
with representatives from oil-producing countries, and strengthen both personal
and professional ties with them.
An overview of the symposium program and participants is shown on the next
page. A detailed report will appear in the next issue of JCCP News.
JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

• Topics •Program<First Day, February 6 (Wed.)>
14:00–15:00

15:15–17:40

Opening Ceremony:
Opening Address

Mr. Akira Idemitsu, President, JCCP

Guest of Honor Speech

Mr. Shinsuke Kitagawa, Director-General, Natural Resources and Fuel
Department, Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, METI

Symposium Proceedings

Mr. Mikio Kojima, Executive Director, JCCP

Keynote Speech

Mr. Akira Idemitsu, President, JCCP		

Guest Speeches:
Dr. Ken Koyama

Board Member
Director, Strategy and Industry Research Unit
The Institute of Energy Economics / Japan

Mr. Waleed H. Al-Bedaiwi

General Manager, Saudi Petroleum, Ltd. / Saudi Arabia

Mr. Sultan Al Mehairi

Director, Marketing & Refining, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) / UAE(Mr. Hashem Al Refaei, Marketing Research & Administration Div. Manager, ADNOC, made a speech on behalf of
Mr. Sultan Ai Mehairi who could not come to Japan.)
18:00–20:00

Reception<Second Day, February 7 (Thu.) a.m.>
9:30–12:00

Session 1 “Management Issues in the Oil Downstream Sector for Contributing to Globally Stable Supply ofEnergy”
Chairman:
Mr. Isao Kusakabe

Executive Officer & General Manager
International Ventures Department, Cosmo Oil Co., Ltd. / Japan

Panelists:
Mr. Gigih Prakoso

Manager, Corporate Business Planning and Development
PT PERTAMINA / Indonesia

Mr. Said Waleed Qassim Al Zadjali

Manager Procurement, Contracts & Inventory
Oman Refinery Company L.L.C. / Oman

Dr. Ali Hamed Al Mulla

Manager, Corporate Environment and Sustainable Development
Qatar Petroleum / Qatar

Mr. Sultan Saeed Al Muhairi

Abu Dhabi Refinery Division Manager
Abu Dhabi Oil Refining Co. (TAKREER) / UAE

Mr. Hirohiko Kato

General Manager, International Business Department
Cosmo Oil Co., Ltd. / Japan<Second Day, February 7 (Thu.) p.m.>
13:30–16:00

Session 2 “Technological Issues in the Oil Downstream Sector for Contributing to Globally Stable Supply ofEnergy”
Chairman:
Mr. Keiichi Matsumoto

Director, Senior Executive Officer
General Manager, Plant Engineering Center
Toyo Engineering Corporation / Japan

Panelists:

16:00–16:10

• Topics •Mr. Amin Allah Eskandari

Director Refining Affairs, National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution
Company (NIORDC) / Iran

Mr. Mohammed Ghazi Al-Mutairi

Deputy Managing Director, Mina Abdulla Refinery
Kuwait National Petroleum Co. / Kuwait

Engr. O. A. Anyaoku

Group Executive Director, Refining and Petrochemicals Directorate
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation / Nigeria

Mr. A. Al-Hazmi

Superintendent, Riyadh Refinery Operation Division
Saudi Aramco / Saudi Arabia

Mr. Tomomichi Tomita

General Manager, Process Systems Engineering Division
Toyo Engineering Corporation / Japan

Closing Address

Mr. Mikio Kojima, Executive Director, JCCP

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

Topics

Mr. Katsuo Yokoyama,
Managing Director of JCCP,
Visits the Middle East
Mr. Katsuo Yokoyama, Managing Director of JCCP in charge of technical cooperation projects, traveled to the Middle East
twice, between October-end and November 2007, and visited a total of six countries in the region. This was Mr. Yokoyama’s
first visit to the Middle East, since his appointment as managing director in July 2007. He attended important ceremonies,
paid calls on various counterparts to introduce himself and exchange views on future implementation of technical cooperation
projects. Major details of his visits are presented below.

I. Oman, Iran, UAE(October 26 – November 8,
2007)
1. [Oman] Contract Signing
Ceremony with ORC<October 30, 2007>
Mr. Masoud Salim Al-Msalmy,
General Manager of Oman Refinery
Company LLC (ORC), and Mr. Katsuo

Yokoyama signed a memorandumof agreement (MOA) for the joint
implementation of the “Study for
Process and Operational Improvementin Mina Al-Fahar Refinery in Oman”(FY2007 – 2009). The study aims
to enhance process and operational
performance levels at the Mina AlFahar Refinery, so that ORC may better
respond to the increasing demand foroil in Oman. Over many years, JCCP
has continued to introduce Japan’s
oil refining technologies to ORC, asa fundamental part of its technicalcooperation activities, and has built astrong cooperative relationship with
ORC. Based on this proven trackrecord, ORC and JCCP have agreed to
implement the joint study project.
The signing ceremony took place

Greetings by Ambassador Keiji Omori

Greetings by Mr. Tsuyoshi Kamijo, Deputy Director, METI

Exchange of the MOA
Left: Mr. Masoud Salim Al-Msalmy, General Manager of ORC
Right: Mr. Katsuo Yokoyama, Managing Director of JCCP

Exchange of commemorative gifts
Center: Mr. Yasushi Hotta, President, Cosmo Research Institute Inc.
Right: Mr. Msalmy, General Manager of ORC

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

• Topics •in a reception room at the Grand Hyatt
Hotel in Muscat, Oman. H.E. Keiji
Omori, Ambassador of Japan to Oman,
and Mr. Tsuyoshi Kamijo, Deputy
Director of the Petroleum Refining
and Reserve Division, the Agency for
Natural Resources and Energy, Ministryof Economy, Trade and Industry(METI), honored the ceremony with
their presence, and spoke briefly on the
project’s significant role in strengthening
the friendly relationship between
the two countries and in promoting
personnel exchanges. Mr. Msalmy and
Mr. Yasushi Hotta, President of Cosmo
Research Institute Inc., a participant
company in the project, also delivered
words of gratitude and expectations forthe successful completion of the project,
and thanked all parties concerned
for their cooperation. Mr. Yokoyama
delivered a greeting and extended
his appreciation to all parties. The
local newspaper covered news of theceremony, and contributed to increasing
public recognition of the JCCP technicalcooperation project in Oman.
2. [Oman] Visits to H.E.
Dr. Mohammed Bin Hamad
Bin Saif Al-Rumhy,
Minister of Oil and Gas, andSultan Qaboos University<October 31, 2007>
On the day following the signingceremony, Mr. Yokoyama paid a visit

MOA signing ceremony
Senior ORC officials, Mr. Nitta, Secretary at the Japanese Embassy in Oman,
JCCP members, and members from Cosmo Research Institute Inc.,
with Ambassador Omori and Deputy Director Kamijo

to H.E. Dr. Mohammed Bin Hamad
Bin Saif Al-Rumhy, Minister of Oil andGas, to thank him for his cooperation
and ask for his continued support of
JCCP activities in Oman. Dr. Al-Rumhy
spoke favorably about his experience inparticipating in a technical cooperation
project implemented by the Petroleum
Energy Center (predecessor of JCCP’s
technical cooperation department)
in 1996, when he was an associate
professor at Sultan Qaboos University.
He welcomed the developments that
JCCP projects have made in Oman sincethen, and expressed his wish to maintainfriendly relations with JCCP.
Dr. Al-Rumhy also explained thatAt the Omani Ministry of Gas and Oil
Right: H.E. Dr. Mohammed Bin Hamad Bin Saif Al-Rumhy,
Minister of Gas and Oil• Topics •he has been inviting large numbers ofuniversity students from Japan to Oman
every year since the 1990s, to promotea deeper understanding of Oman. He
wishes to extend this activity not only
to workers in oil and gas companies
in Japan, but to people in many othersectors as well. More recently, Dr.
Al-Rumhy has taken strong interest inJapan’s technologies for reducing CO2
emissions, and appears to have large
expectations of Japan.
Following the visit to the Ministryof Oil and Gas, Mr. Yokoyama visited
Sultan Qaboos University, where he
had the opportunity to meet with H.E.
Dr. Saud Nasser Ali Al-Riyami, Vice

At Sultan Qaboos University
Second from right, front row: H.E. Dr. Saud Nasser Ali Al-Riyami,
Vice Chancellor

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

Chancellor, and verify the progressof a JCCP project that is currently
being implemented jointly with theuniversity.
3. [Iran] Courtesy Call on
Mr. Mohammad Reza
Nematzadeh, Deputy Ministerof Petroleum and President of
National Iranian Oil Refining
and Distribution Company(NIORDC), andVisit to National Iranian Oil
Company (NIOC)<October 29, 2007>
In Iran, Mr. Yokoyama paid acourtesy call on Mr. Mohammad
Reza Nematzadeh, Deputy Minister ofPetroleum and President of NIORDC,
and senior officials of NIORDC.
Mr. Yokoyama discussed JCCP’sachievements in relation to its training
courses and the huge number ofparticipants who have so far participatedin them, as well as exchanged views
with the NIORDC members on future
NIORDC support in implementing
JCCP technical cooperation projects
in Iran. Mr. Nematzadeh responded
in a positive manner, expressing his
intentions of pr ior itizing humanresource development as an issue ofcompany-wide importance, based on his
previous experience working at National
Petrochemical Company (NPC).
Mr. Yokoyama also visited National
Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), a major

At NIORDC
Right: Mr. Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh,
Deputy Minister of Petroleum andPresident of NIORDCAt NIOC
Left: Mr. S.M.A. Khatibi Tabatabai,Vice Executive Director

producer and distributor of oil and gas
in Iran, and paid a courtesy call on
Mr. S.M.A. Khatibi Tabatabai, Vice
Executive Director for International
Affairs.
4. [UAE] Visit to Mr. Jasem Ali
Al-Sayegh, General Manager of
TAKREER<November 6, 2007>
In UAE, Mr. Yokoyama visited
Abu Dhabi Oil Refining Company(TAKREER), to pay his respects to Mr.
Jasem Ali Al-Sayegh, General Manager,
as the new managing director of JCCP,
and to thank him for TAKREER’scooperation in JCCP projects. Mr.
Al-Sayegh expressed his appreciationof JCCP projects and his expectationsof further cooperation from JCCP indeveloping engineers and conducting
joint projects.

Presenting a commemorative gift from
JCCP to TAKREER
Left: Mr. Jasem Ali Al-Sayegh,
General Manager

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

5. Visits with Other Senior Officials<November 3 – 7, 2007>
In addition to the above figures,
Mr. Yokoyama also met with senior
officials and leaders of other companies
and institutions in Oman and UAE, andexchanged views on their cooperationand implementation of future JCCP
activities. Other gentlemen with whom
Mr. Yokoyama greeted included Mr.
Ahmed Mohammed Al-Haddabi, Acting
CEO of Sohar Refinery Company inOman; H.E. Dr. Hadef Bin Jouan Al
Dhahiri, Vice Chancellor, and H.E. Dr.
Maitha Salem Al Shamsi, Assistant
Provost for Research Affairs, of UAE
University; and Mr. Ali Mohd. Al Jaberi,
Division Manager of TAKREER’s
Ruwais Refinery.
T he Sixth Scientif ic Council
Meeting with UAE University washeld on November 4 and 5, during Mr.
Yokoyama’s visit to UAE. An article on
the details of the meeting is provided in
the Topics section of this newsletter.
<by Wataru Maekawa,Technical Cooperation Dept.>

II. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait(November 15 – 30, 2007)
1. Contract Signing Ceremony withKing Abdulaziz City for
Science and Technology(KACST)<November 19, 2007>
H.H. Dr. Tu rk i bin Saud bin
Mohammed Al-Saud, Vice Presidentof KACST, and Mr. Katsuo Yokoyama
signed a memorandum of agreement( MOA) to conduct a project on“Experimental Application of InSAR
Technology in Saudi Arabia to Assess
the Effect of Reservoir Activity on
Surface Subsidence” (FY2007 – 2008).
The signing ceremony took place at thehead office of KACST in the Kingdomof Saudi Arabia.
In FY2006, JCCP conducted apreliminary study on the assessment ofpartial ground deformation (upthrust• Topics •MOA signing ceremony with KACST
Right: H.H. Dr. Turki bin Saud bin Mohammed Al-Saud, Vice President
Center right: Dr. Mohammed ibn Ibrahim Al-Suwaiyel, President
Center left: H.E. Shigeru Nakamura, Japanese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia

and subsidence) in Saudi Arabia,
using InSAR (interferometric synthetic
aperture radar) analysis technology,
which numerically analyzes InSAR
data (microwave data reflected from asatellite) to assess ground deformation.
As KACST has taken a strong interestin the technology, JCCP has promptly
initiated a study for the creation of asystem for technical transfer and dataprocessing, and designed the study
with the objective of developing andtransferring technology that is capableof managing risks to oil facilities andareas caused by ground deformation in
Saudi Arabia.
The signing ceremony was attended
by Dr. Mohammed ibn Ibrahim AlSuwaiyel, President, H.H. Dr. Turki bin
Saud bin Mohammed Al-Saud, Vice

Exchange of commemorative gifts
Right: H.H. Dr. Turki bin Saud bin
Mohammed Al-Saud, Vice President
Center: H.E. Shigeru Nakamura,
Japanese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia

• Topics •President, and Dr. Tariq A. Alkhalifah,
Director, on the KACST side; and by
H.E. Shigeru Nakamura, Ambassadorof Japan to Saudi Arabia, Mr. Masanori
Tsuruda, First Secretary, and Mr.
Tadanori So, Second Secretary, from theJapanese Embassy in Saudi Arabia, as
well as Mr. Hirokazu Kanai, Executive
Director of Nichiyo Engineering
Corporation, and a representative fromCentral Computer Services Co., Ltd.
(CCS), as representatives of participant
companies on the Japan side.
Firstly, Dr. Al-Suwaiyel expressed
his appreciation and his sincere wishes
for the success of the project and for thefurther deepening of the cooperative
relationship between JCCP and KACST.
Dr. Al-Saud also expressed his gratitude
for the implementation of the “extremely

Article featured in the local newspaper:“KACST and JCCP have signed an MOA
for a joint study, with the attendance of
H.E. Ambassador Nakamura”

significant technical project,” andconveyed his expectations of its successful
completion as well as his hopes that it
will lead to the implementation of manyother cooperation projects in the future.
Ambassador Nakamura stressed thesignificance of Saudi-Japan technicalcooperation as declared by then Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe during his visit
to Saudi Arabia in spring 2007, andexpressed his hopes for the successful
implementation of the project, as wellas thanked all parties concerned fortheir cooperation. Mr. Yokoyama, after
delivering a few words of greetings as

At the signing ceremony
Center: Dr. Mohammed ibn Ibrahim Al-Suwaiyel, President

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

the new managing director of JCCP,
pronounced his commitment to theproject, and thanked KACST for its
continued cooperation over many years.
On behalf of the participant companies,
Mr. Kanai from Nichiyo Engineering
Corporation expressed his firm resolve
to carry out the project with success andsteadily transfer the InSAR technology
to KACST.
After both leaders of the projectsigned the agreement, presentations
were given on example applicationsof the InSAR technology. KACST
reported on an effective applicationof the InSAR technology in capturing
ground deformations caused by anearthquake that had previously struck
the northwestern part of the country.
The representative from CCS used
actual case examples to show how theInSAR technology could be used tocapture deformations of the groundsurface. The ceremony ended on a
successful note, and was covered by
local newspapers. Implementation of the
project is expected to promote further
understanding of JCCP activities in
Saudi Arabia.
2. Visits to JCCP Counterpartsin Saudi Arabia, Qatar, andKuwait(1) King Fahd University ofPetroleum and Minerals(KFUPM)<November 20, 2007>
Mr. Yokoyama met with H.E. Dr.

Attendees of the meeting with KNPC
Center: Mr. Sami F. Al-Rushaid, previous Chairman of KNPC (current Chairman of KOC)
Second from left: Mr. Fahed Fahhad Al-Ajimi, Deputy Managing Director
Third from left: Mr. Asa’ad Ahmad E. Al-Saad, Deputy Chairman

Khaled S. Al-Sultan, Rector, and Dr.
Sahel N. Abdul-Jauwad, Vice Rector,
and thanked KFUPM for its pastcooperation in JCCP activities. The
Rector stated that “the university has
participated in the HS-FCC project, so
investigating the commercialization of
the HS-FCC technology is a welcome
development, from which the university
expects great results.”(2) Saudi Aramco<November 21, 2007>
Mr. Yokoyama met with Mr. Isam A.
Al-Bayat, Vice President, and Dr. Omar
S. Abdul-Hamid, Manager, to thankthem for their long years of cooperationin JCCP activities, and to seek further
development of t he cooperat ive
relationship between Saudi Aramco and
JCCP. Saudi Aramco thanked JCCP for

Exchange of commemorative gifts
Left: H.E. Dr. Khaled S. Al-Sultan, Rector

its generous support and cooperation,and exchanged views on future technicalcooperation projects.
(3) Kuwait National Petroleum
Company (KNPC)<November 28, 2007>
Mr. Yokoyama first paid a visit
to KNPC and exchanged views ontechnical cooperation projects with Mr.
Sami F. Al-Rushaid, previous Chairmanof KNPC, Mr. Asa’ad Ahmad E. AlSaad, Deputy Chairman, and Mr. Fahed
Fahhad Al-Ajimi, Deputy Managing
Director.
(4) KNPC’s Mina Abdulla
Refinery (MAB)<November 29, 2007>
M r. Yokoya ma met wit h M r.
Mohammad Ghazi Al-Mutairi, Deputy

Exchange of commemorative gifts
Left: Mr. Isam A. Al-Bayat, Vice President

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

• Topics •Attendees of the meeting at KNPC’s Mina Abdulla Refinery
Center: Mr. Mohammad Ghazi Al-Mutairi, Deputy Managing
Director
Second from left: Mr. Ousama H. Shammas, Manager

Managing Director, and Mr. Ousama
H. Shammas, Manager, and exchanged
views on the progress, issues, and future
strategies of the “Development Studyof Residue Hydrocracking to Distillate
in KNPC ARD Units (Phase II),” athree-year project that KNPC and JCCP
launched in FY2005.
(5) Kuwait Institute for Scientific
Research (KISR)<November 28 & 29, 2007>

Attendees of the meeting at KISR
Second from left: Dr. Nader Al-Awadhi, Deputy Director General
Right of Mr. Yokoyama: Ms. Marafi, Manager
Third from right: Dr. Abdulhameed Al-Hashem, PRSC Director

M r. Yokoya ma met wit h D r.
Nader Al-Awadhi, Deputy Director
General, and Dr. Abdulhameed AlHashem, Director of the Petroleum
Research & Studies Center (PRSC),
and thanked them for KISR’s long yearsof cooperation in JCCP activities. Drs.
Al-Awadhi and Al-Hashem outlined
future issues that KISR, including
the PRSC, needs to address in the
future, and exchanged views on various
cooperation issues. They also expressed

their deep appreciation for the technicalcooperation they have received from
JCCP to date.
A contract signing ceremony with
Qatar Petroleum (QP) was held on
November 26, during Mr. Yokoyama’s
visit to Qatar. An article of the ceremony
is provided in the Technical Cooperation
Section of this newsletter.
<by Takeyoshi Haishima,
Technical Cooperation Dept.>

TopicsSeminar on “Energy Saving at theRefinery” Held in Kuwait
1. Background
From October 22 to 29, 2007, a JCCP
team visited Kuwait to hold a seminaron “Energy Saving at the Refinery”(ES-20-07) under the Expert Service(ES) scheme. The team was comprisedof Mr. Shigenobu Takahashi and I,
Shinichi Satake, lecturers from JCCP’s
Training Department, and Mr. Hisato
Aoyama from JGC Corporation and Mr.
Tsuyoshi Inoue from the Cosmo Group,
as experts in the field.
One of JCCP’s recent priority issues

has been the promotion of countryspecific programs that are specially
tailored to meet the respective needs ofoil-producing countries in the Middle
East, in addition to regular courses thatare open to participation by various
countries. Based on this policy of
promoting tailor-made programs,
a JCCP promotion mission visitedseveral countries in the Middle East,
including Kuwait, in April 2007. In
response to themes and implementation
drafts proposed by the JCCP mission,
Kuwait National Petroleum Company



JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

• Topics •(K N PC; a subsidia r y of Kuwa it
Petroleum Company (KPC) in chargeof oil refining) readily consented, andformally requested a number of ES andST programs. The recent seminar on“Energy Saving at the Refinery” wasthe first such seminar to be implemented
following the JCCP mission’s promotion
campaign.
As though to mark the fresh startof JCCP’s enhanced ES/ST programs,
prior communications and preparations
for the sem ina r proceeded moresmoothly than ever before. To finalizeAt the KNPC Head Officedetails of the seminar, we lecturers met
three times for discussions, prior to
making the trip to Kuwait. We designed
the program to include lectures on“global warming countermeasures”
and “advanced process control forenergy saving,” which are not offered inregular courses, enriched the content ofother lectures, and unified the English
translations of technical terms. KNPC’s
Human Resources Department also
worked with outstanding efficiency,
and notified us about pre-printing, thelist of participants, and the detailed
agenda of the seminar, well in advance,
via e-mail communication. After our
arrival in Kuwait, they attended to us
with kind consideration and efficient
professionalism, and greatly contributed
to the successful implementation of theseminar.

The seminar was held from thefollowing day, over a period of fourdays, with the participation of 13
members from KNPC’s three refineries(7 from the Shuaiba Refinery, 3 from
the Mina Abdulla Refinery, and 3 from
the Mina Al-Ahmadi Refinery). The
attentive attitude of the participants
as a whole, greatly contributed tomaking the seminar a substantive event.
Following Arabic custom, the seminar
was held each day from 8 o’clock in themorning to 2 o’clock in the afternoon,
without lunch break. This style was
effective in maintaining concentrationin the seminar throughout the day’spresentations.

3. Seminar Program
On the first day of the seminar,
Mr. Takahashi and I showed a video

presentation on “Introduction to JCCP,”
and lectured on “Overview of Japan’s Oil
Industry,” “Oil Alternative Energies,”and “Energy Saving Activities inJapanese Refineries.”
On the second day, Mr. Inoue fromthe Cosmo Group gave a presentation
on “Refiner y Energy Saving 1,”
and introduced actual examples ofenergy saving activities th roughoperational improvement and small
capital investments. Following Mr.
Inoue’s lecture, Mr. Aoyama from JGC
Corporation gave a brief introduction of“Pinch Technology,” an energy saving
measure for heat exchange systems,
and Mr. Takahashi lectured on “Global
Warming Countermeasures,” which
was specially included in this program.
As the final speaker on this day,
Mr. Jasem Al-Muhanna from KNPC
spoke on “Energy Saving Activities in
KNPC.” This included a descriptionof a company-wide energy-saving
campaign that a 14-member project
team carried out over a period of six
months from April 2007 (raising airconditioning temperature settings from19 to 23°C, turning off unnecessary
lights, etc.). Apparently, however, fullscale energy conservation activities(efforts to improve energy consumption
rates) are yet to be initiated by therefineries. Moreover, power generation
by refineries is still beyond their territory
at present, because the power generation
sector is controlled by the government(Ministries of Electricity and Water).
The third day’s lectures were

2. Overview of the SeminarOn the day we arrived in Kuwait, we
paid a visit to KNPC’s Human Resources
Department in the Head Office. We
met with Mr. Waleed Al-Hamad(Deputy Director), Mr. Ali Abdullah(Team Leader, Career Development),and Ms. Haifa Al-Youha (Specialist,
Career Development), and discussed
the details of the seminar schedule, as
well as reconfirmed our commitment
to promoting the friendly relations
between the two organizations.

At the Hilton Kuwait Resort Hotel, the seminar venue

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

• Topics •Presenting JCCP completion certificates

Closing ceremony(third from left: Mr. Hideyuki Urata, First Secretary at the Japanese Embassy in Kuwait)

essentially the highlights of theseminar. In “Refinery Energy Saving2” (Mr. Inoue), “New Energy Policies
in Japan” (Mr. Takahashi), and “NewTechnologies for Energy Saving” (Mr.
Aoyama), the three lecturers discussed
the rearrangement of heat exchangers,d i r e c t c h a r g i ng sys t e m s , A PH
installation, and many other examplesof large-scale capital investments, aswell as introduced a variety of newenergy saving technologies, such as
internal separation-type distillation
columns, regenerative furnace burners,
new heat exchangers that provide
higher heat-transfer efficiency, andtheir implementation examples. The
information-filled lectures and active
discussions made for an exciting andfulfilling day.
On the fourth and last day of theseminar, the four of us respectively
gave lectures on “IPP at a Refinery,”“Utility Optimization,” “Estimationof Energy-Saving and Promotion,”and “Advanced Process Control for
Energy Saving.” In the lecture on
advanced process control, which was
specially included in this seminar, theparticipants showed strong interest in
learning that model-based predictive
control (MPC), real time optimizer(RTO), and other such new processcontrol technologies play a significant
role in energy conservation.
After the final lecture, a closing
ceremony was held with the attendanceof Mr. Waleed Al-Hamad, Mr. Ali
Abdullah, and other members fromthe HR Department. We presented
completion certificates that had been
prepared in advance in Japan to eachparticipant, and took a commemorative
picture with the entire group.
Evaluation forms filled out by theparticipants indicated that the seminar
was satisfactory and well-received byall. Furthermore, the attendance of
Mr. Hideyuki Urata, First Secretary
at the Japanese Embassy in Kuwait,at the third day’s program and thefourth day’s closing ceremony, despite
the short duration of the seminar, wasappreciated by the KNPC side. It also
inspired strong motivation on the partof us lecturers. During free periods
before, during, and after the seminar, we
took the opportunities to visit the KPC
Training Center, the Mina Abdullah
Refinery, the Kuwait Office (Japan
Desk) of the Japan Cooperation Centerfor the Middle East (JCCME), and the
Kuwait International Fair, which was
being held at Kuwait’s largest exhibition
center. Through these visits, we wereable to acquire precious information that
could contribute to further enhancing
JCCP activities in the future.

4. Summary
To the relief of all parties concerned,
the first seminar in the Middle East
that was conducted under JCCP’s newpolicy of promoting tailor-made courses
in response to specific needs in oilproducing countries was completed insuccess. Unlike regular courses thatare offered in Japan, such tailor-madeprograms are attended by members
from a certain counterpart organization
only, and lectures can focus on issues
specific to the relevant country, in linewith requests from the counterpart.
Therefore, the transfer of technicalinformation and discussions between
the lecturers and participants are held
efficiently, and are highly meaningful toboth sides. As things stand, the selectionof participants is placed entirely in thehands of the counterpart organization,
but in the future, an even more carefulselection of suitable participants with
sufficient knowledge and experienceis expected to enhance the quality
and significance of these programs.
JCCP also intends to routinely upgrade
its lectures and win the trust of its
counterparts, to continuously improve
its tailor-made programs.
An ST program on energy saving
for KNPC engineers is scheduled to
be implemented next February, based
primarily on practical training in Japan.
JCCP is extremely pleased to have suchopportunities of technical exchange with
Kuwait, a country with one of the richest
oil resources in the Middle East, and isstrongly committed to strengthening
and developing this important bond.
<by Shinichi Satake, Training Dept.>

10 • Topics •JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

Topics

Seminar on “Advanced Process Control”
Held in Kuwait
1. Background
From October 28 to 31, 2007, JCCP
held a joint seminar on advanced processcontrol (APC) with Kuwait National
Petroleum Company (KNPC), at a bijou
resort hotel near the Head Office of
KNPC and its 3 refineries. As with the
KNPC seminar on “Energy Saving at
the Refinery” that is introduced on pages
8-10 of this newsletter, this “Advanced
Process Control Seminar” has also been
implemented in response to proposals
made by a JCCP promotion mission
visiting the Middle East last April.
With the cooperation of Messrs. K.
Nishioka from Nippon Oil Corporation
and Y. Noguchi from JGC Corporation,
Mr. Yuji Nito and I, Keiichi Saegusa,
from JCCP organized and implemented
the seminar in Kuwait.

2. Focus of the Seminar
We were aware that KNPC had
already introduced advanced processcontrol to its refineries, because there
have been KNPC participants to JCCP-

With seminar participants

initiative courses on advanced processcontrol. We therefore designed theseminar as a forum for sharing thecontrol experiences and practices of
Kuwait and Japan. Specifically, as
shown below, the seminar featured casestudies of refineries in the two countries,
a Q&A session on development,
introduction, maintenance, and training
issues, a detailed explanation of model
predictive control (MPC), which is themainstream control method today, andkey points for the implementation ofcontrol projects.

Day 1 (Oct. 28)• Opening ceremony• Introduction of JCCP
• Outline of Advanced Process
Control
Day 2 (Oct. 29)• Outline of Model Predictive
Control• Outline of Real Time Optimizers
Day 3 (Oct. 30)• Example of Advanced Control
Applications from JapanDay 4 (Oct. 31)• Example of Advanced Control
Applications from Kuwait• Discussion about APC-related Items

3. Overview of the Seminar

At the Mina Al-Ahmadi Refinery
Center: Mr. Asa’ad Al-Saad (Deputy Managing Director)
Far left: Mr. Mohammad Al-Mutairi (Manager, Operations)

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

The seminar was attended by atotal of 13 engineers in charge of
APC, instrumentation, operations, andtechnical services in KNPC’s threerefineries (the Mina Al-Ahmadi, Mina
Abdulla, and Shuaiba Refineries).
Unfortunately, not all participants
were able to attend the seminar in full,
due to their busy schedules, but there
were consistently about five to sevenparticipants to each session.
The seminar underscored the factthat both Kuwait and Japan have a• Topics • 11

Seminar scene

At the Mina Al-Ahmadi Refinery
Meeting with refinery staff members

proven record in the introduction of
APC, and that the application of APC
to various types of equipment has
produced significant results. KNPC
has participated in the Solomon Survey,
and has even been ranked among
the top groups in the area of APC
performance. One of Japan’s concerns isthat maintenance tends to be neglectedduring personnel transfers amongdevelopment staff members, but Kuwait
does not seem to be affected by thisissue. The seminar also revealed somedifferences in management styles
between the two countries. In Japan,
a head office department that governs
all refineries exercises control overproduction plans, facility expansion/
remodeling plans, and all other companywide plans. At KNPC, the head officedoes not have an organization forgoverning the technology sector, butinstead, each refinery is held responsiblefor its own operations.
With questions ra nging f rom
basic questions concerning control
to advanced technical questions on
property estimation, the seminar covereda wide range of issues. Also throughpresentations of implementation caseexamples, KNPC members and we wereable to share common experiences andengage in a constructive exchange oftechnical information.

Mohammad Al-Mutairi (Manager,
Operations) hosted a presentation
session on the history of the refinery andan introduction to its refinery operation
training system (unified management ofoperation manuals, emergency response
training for all types of emergency
situations, etc.), which illustrated
the refinery’s committed stance on
ensuring safety. We then received atour of the facility. Despite the widearray of equipment that filled the site,
the vast refinery was well-organized
and clean, and showed no trace of oilor steam leaks. Additionally, all theequipment and piping were free of rust,and appeared to be properly maintained.
There are plans to expand the refinery,
which is hardly an issue, considering
the wide open land still remaining
around the present refinery grounds.
Mr. Asa’ad Al-Saad (Deputy Managing
Director) generously spared some timefrom his busy schedule, which included
an inauguration ceremony for the new
KNPC chairman, to greet us and join

us for lunch.
In the afternoon, we visited thePetroleum Training Center (PTC)of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation(KPC), and was introduced to thetraining center’s programs by Mr. Fouzi
Al-Qassar (Team Leader, General
Training). The PTC boasts a hugebuilding, and offers 360 different typesof programs in response to the needs ofeach KPC subsidiary company.
We wish to acknowledge the support
and assistance of Mr. Ali Abdullah(Team Leader, Career Development)
and his staff, in mak ing carefularrangements for the seminar andabove visits. We would also like toextend our special appreciation to Ms.
Haifa Al-Youha (Specialist, Career
Development), for attending to us
throughout our stay in Kuwait. JCCP
extends its deepest gratitude to them; thesuccessful completion of the program
could not have been possible without
their support.
<by Keiichi Saegusa, Training Dept.>

4. Visits to Relevant Facilities
On the day following the completionof the seminar, we visited the Mina
Al-A hmadi Refiner y, where Mr.
12 • Topics •At the Petroleum Training Center
Second from left: Mr. Fouzi Al-Qassar (Team Leader, Training)

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

Topics

Study Tour for Qatar Petroleum
on “Maintenance Managementin Japanese Refineries” Held in Japan
1. BackgroundAs with the two seminars held in
Kuwait, this study tour on “MaintenanceManagement in Japanese Refineries”(ST-20-07) came to be implemented
in response to a proposal by a JCCP
promotion mission that visited the
Middle East last April, following aseries of discussions with the JCCP
counterpart in Qatar. The program
was designed for personnel in themaintenance department at Qatar
Petroleum (QP), and was held over a
period of 10 days (8 days excluding
the weekend), from October 31 toNovember 8, 2007.
In recent years, long-term andcont i nuous sa fe / st able ref i ner yoperations, maintenance cost reductions,and environmental conservation havebecome common issues throughout
the oil industry worldwide. As ameans of responding to this situation,
QP requested a training program on
maintenance management, and JCCP
consented. JCCP and QP mutuallydesigned and organized a coursethat features an introduction of new
maintenance strategies for achieving
safe refinery operations that are basedon proper maintenance management,

Participants of the study tour at JCCP

and practical training on kaizen
activities and creative teamwork for
improving organizational performance.
This was the first time that a study tour
specifically designed solely for Qatar
had been held, and marked a new phasein Qatar-JCCP relations.

2. Structure of the Program
2.1 Training at JCCP Headquarters
Firstly, JCCP lecturers presented
an overview of Japan’s oil industry,

Orientation (JCCP)

by discussing the share of petroleum
among the primary energies in Japan,
the demand and supply of crude oil,the changes in global competition thathave occurred as a result of increasing
globalization and deregulation, and thetrend toward corporate consolidation andbusiness alliances. These perspectives
not only provided a representative viewof today’s oil situation in Japan, but also
underscored the significance of Qatar’srole and its meaning to Japan.
With respect to the theme of theGroup discussion

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

• Topics • 13

At the Idemitsu Kosan Chiba Refinery

At Sumitomo Metal Technology, Inc., Kansai Division

2.2 Onsite training
Following the lectures at JCCP
headquarters, the participants visited
various oil-related companies in Japanto see for themselves the concrete
maintenance management measures
employed by the respective companies,
and the actual state of their maintenancemanagement systems.
At the Idemitsu Kosan Chiba
Ref i ner y, st a f f members of t heOperation Department explained theirvoluntary maintenance efforts based on
TPM (Total Productive Maintenance)
activities, by showing an actual activity
board in the operation control room.
This lecture provided the participants
with a deta iled over view of theefficiency and actual state of quality
management, as well as examples ofoperational improvement, at the refinery.
Furthermore, by observing the status ofactivities inside the refinery units, theparticipants were able to get a firsthand feel for the actual achievements
made by the maintenance activities. The
participants especially appreciated thelecturers’ active response to their manyquestions.
At the Nippon Oil Refining Company
Osaka Refinery, the participants
were introduced the maintenancemanagement system that Nippon Oil
Corporation employs at all its refineries.
The system seemed to particularlyinterest a participant who is in chargeof systems at QP, so much so that he
was observed asking many difficult,concrete questions about the details of
the system. A lecture was also given
on how TPR activities are effective inallowing operators to prevent accidents
and failures before they occur, as wellas in increasing reliability.
At the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries,
Ltd. Takasago Machinery Works,
the participants received a detailed
lecture on gas turbine maintenance,
supplemented by various case studies.

14 • Topics •JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

course, “Maintenance Management,”case studies of major plant accidents
that have occurred in Japan’s oilrelated industries were introduced
and their causes and social effects
explained, to present a general pictureof the present and future directions ofmaintenance management in Japaneserefineries. The fundamental principlesof “reliability management,” which are
now being adopted by many refineries
to ensure safe and stable operations,
was also introduced through a lectureon the necessity and importance of
maintenance management and Japaneserefineries’ initiatives for accident
prevention.
A lecture on “creative teamwork,”a management method unique toJapan, was also given, and effectively
explained why, despite the lack ofresources, Japan has been able toachieve such remarkable growth. Owing
to the lecturer’s speaking skills anda captivating content, the lecture waswell-received by all participants.

They also had the opportunity to
step foot inside a modernized plant,
where special heat-resistance metalcomponents of gas t u rbines a reprocessed, and turbines, blades, andother parts are manufactured. The
participants seemed overwhelmed by
the sheer enormity (the huge variety
and large scale of production equipment,etc.) and dominating atmosphere of theplant.
Finally, at the Kansai Division of
Sumitomo Metal Technology, Inc., theparticipants observed a state-of-the-art,
automated stainless pipe production
line for the very first time, and received
a lecture on the characteristics ofstainless steel, damage cases, and theircountermeasures.

3. Participants’ Evaluation
and Impressions of theProgramAccording to the evaluation forms
filled out by the participants at the endof the course, they all felt that the course
was highly useful with regard to theirjobs. There were opinions that some
portions of the onsite training sessions
were irrelevant to the maintenancemanagement topic. However, after
listening to the views of the JCCP side,
all participants realized that knowing
first-hand what type of materials areused and how they are processed to
manufacture the components of a unit,
including the tower, tank, and pipework,will be indispensable in creating
future maintenance management
plans, and that no part of the training
sessions should be considered at all
irrelevant. This is a good example offrank interaction providing a basis
for deepening mutual understanding,and is in a way another significant
achievement of the course.
If any improvement is to be made,it should be in providing a thoroughexplanation of the reasons for selecting
the destinations for onsite training andtheir relevance to the study tour, at the
beginning of the program. Had thatbeen done, misunderstandings suchas that mentioned above may not haveoccurred. We shall take heed of thismatter, to enhance future courses.
<by Fumihiro Tone, Training Dept.>

My Impressions of the Study TourMr. Salem Al-Wadaani(Manager, Operations Engineering, Qatar Petroleum /Qatar)
				On behalf of QP and my colleagues, I would like toexpress our deepest thanks and appreciation to the
JCCP Executive Director and all staff members for their
excellent organization of this course, and for their kind cooperation andcoordination during our stay in Japan. We are especially grateful to ourcourse coordinators Tone-san and Nakazawa-san, who have devoted muchcare and attention to us. We have received warm hospitality at the companies
we visited during the course. In fact, we have received only kindness andfriendliness from the Japanese people, since our arrival in Japan.
The course was well organized, and the presentation and discussion
sessions gave us the opportunity to share our experiences, in addition tolearning about maintenance management.
Once again, I would like to extend my appreciation to all JCCP staff for
their time and effort in organizing such a meaningful and successful course.
Please keep up the good work. We wish good luck to you all.
Domo Arigato Gozaimashita.

TopicsStudy Tour for Russia (LUKOIL-Inform)on “Refinery Computerization”
Held in Japan
1. Background
During the past few years, JCCP has
been exploring opportunities to broaden
its relations with Russia and the countries
of Central Asia, as they are major
suppliers of oil and energy. Therefore,
when JCCP received a request for an
Expert Service (ES) and Study Tour(ST) program from LUKOIL-Inform,
JCCP readily assented.
Lukoil operates four refineries
in Russia and three more outsideof Russia. LUKOI L-I nfor m is a
subsidiary of Lukoil, in charge ofthe construction and maintenance ofcommunications facilities, information
systems in general, and instrumentation
systems for the entire Lukoil Group.
It is presently working to upgrade

At Idemitsu Kosan’s Tokuyama Refinery

the Group’s instr umentation andinformation systems.
In early July 2007, a JCCP teamvisited the Head Office of LUKOILInform and implemented an ES seminaron “Process Control” (detailed article on

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

pp. 4-6 in JCCP NEWS No. 98). This
past September, a group of participantsfrom LUKOIL-Inform came to Japan toparticipate in a ST program on “Refinery
Computerization,” an overview of which
is described below.

• Topics • 15

At Nippon Oil Refining Company’s Negishi Refinery

Twelve system managers from the
Lukoil Head Office and refineries
participated in the 11-day Study Tour,
from September 25 to October 5.

•••

2. Introduction
To accurately convey the progress andhighly advanced state of computerizationin Japan’s refineries, onsite training
formed the large part of the program.
Visits were made to two refineries andtwo instrumentation companies.
(1) Lectures and training at JCCP
• P rocess cont rol t heor ies a ndpractice• Study of DCS trouble cases andoperational support• Modern instrumentation(2) Onsite training• Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd., Tokuyama
Refinery

Nippon Oil Refining Company,
Negishi Refinery
Yamatake Corporation, Shonan
Factory/Fujisawa Techno Center
Yokogawa Electric Corporation,
Mitaka Head Office

3. Evaluation and Impressionsof the Program
The participants possessed basic
knowledge and ample experience
in instr umentation, control, andinformation systems, and contributed
many concrete questions and opinions to
the lectures, so much so that several of
the lectures had extended beyond theirallotted time schedules. Many of thosequestions were about the benefits ofintroducing APC, control compatibility
with other third-party DCSs, and theadvantages of application software, allissues that appear to be of immediate
interest toward advancement of systems

JCCP’s CAI (Computer Assisted Instruction) room

16 • Topics •In a demonstration room at Yokogawa Electric’s
Mitaka Head Officeat Lukoil.
Overall satisfaction of the program
was extremely high. Mr. Alexander
Zheludov, leader of the study tour group,
conveyed the group’s appreciationof the opportunities to talk directly
with, and receive highly informative
responses from, frontline engineers
at the refineries and instrumentationcompanies they visited. Evaluation
forms filled out by the participants at
the end of the program included several
opinions to the effect that perhaps moretime should have been allotted to toursof refinery sites, but evaluation-wise,
eight participants rated the program“highly beneficial,” and four rated it“beneficial.” They also evaluated thestudy materials and course coordination
favorably.
Study tour lectures are normallyheld in English, but since this program
was designed solely for members from
Russia, all lectures were translated

At Yamatake Corporation’s Fujisawa Techno Center

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

directly from Japanese to Russian,through an interpreter. This was a timeconsuming process, but thanks to theinterpreter’s skills and his preliminary
review of technical terms, lecture
sessions proceeded smoothly.
As all participants belonged to thesame company, they appeared to enjoy
the program in a cheerful and relaxeddemeanor. They seemed content toremain standing on the train evenwhen some seats became available,
and showed no signs of weariness or
fatigue even when they had to walksome distance.
The participants also graduallyfamiliarized themselves with Japaneseculture, and were all able to use chopsticks
by the end of the program. Although
there were some rainy days and extreme

temperature differences depending on
the day, the group completed the entire
program and smilingly returned to
Russia in good health.
Lastly, JCCP would like to thankall the lecturers and companies who
generously received the study group for
their support and cooperation.
<by Yuji Nito, Training Dept.>

My Impressions of the Study TourMr. Alexander Zheludov (LUKOIL-Inform / Russia)
On behalf of the group of engineers

We especially appreciated the technical exchanges

f r o m LU KO I L- I n f o r m w h o h a v e

we held with engineers at the facilities we visited, on

participated in the Study Tour program

topics relating to process automation and solutions. The

on “Refinery Computerization” (ST-50-

study materials used in all lectures were also extremely07), I would like to express our deepest

well-organized, and lectures given by JCCP lecturers andgratitude to JCCP. At refineries and manufacturers ofstaff members of visited facilities were highly informative

instrumentation devices and DCS systems, we observed

and easy to understand.

intelligent automation (IA) systems, the manufacture of

We shall apply the knowledge we have gained in this

instrumentation devices, and software packaging, andprogram to future IA installation projects that Russia andlearned about the installation status and maintenance

East European countries are planning to launch in theircharacteristics of IA systems in Japan and future trends inoil refining plants.

IA systems, as well as about Japanese corporate culture.

Again, I would like to thank JCCP for giving us theThrough direct discussions with plant engineers, officers

opportunity of this program, and in closing, I wish forresponsible for installing IA systems, and maintenancefurther development of the cooperative relationshipmanagers, we were able to receive high-level answers andbetween JCCP and LUKOIL-Inform.

acquire invaluable information.

TopicsSeminar on “Refinery MaintenanceManagement” Held in Mexico (PEMEX)
1. Background
Over the years, JCCP has received
many participants from PEMEX,
Mexico’s state-run oil company, andenjoys friendly relations with theorganization. Recently, in response toa request from PEMEX, JCCP has helda seminar on “Refinery MaintenanceManagement,” from October 16 to 19,
2007. The seminar was implemented by
Messrs. S. Miyawaki and K. Nakazawa,a nd I, A. H igash i, at PEM EX’s
Minatitlán Refinery.

At the PEMEX Head Office

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

• Topics • 17

In recent years, issues that therefinery maintenance sector is pressedto address, such as long-term andcontinuous safe/stable operations andreduction of maintenance costs, havebecome issues of common concern
throughout the world. Japan has beentackling the issues for more than 10
years now, and has made significant
achievements. PEMEX, wishing to tap
the experience and expertise of Japan’s
refineries, thus requested the seminar.
The Minatitlán Refinery is Mexico’s
oldest refinery, which began operationsin 1905 under PEMEX’s oil refining
sector. It is a venerable refinery, also
called the Lázaro Cárdenas Refinery,after former Mexican president Lázaro
Cárdenas, who is also the founder of
PEMEX.
With the completion of the expansion
project that began in 2003, the refinerywill have almost double the original
capacity to process crude oil (from190,000 to 350,000 b/d), and the newheavy oil cracking unit will be able
to increase the processing ratio of
heavy Maya crude from 30% to 60%.
Despite its being an oil-producing
country, Mexico presently imports acertain percentage of gasoline to meetdomestic demand, but the upgradedrefinery would contribute significantly
to remedying this situation. There is
no doubt that the Minatitlán Refinerywill come to assume a greater role thanever before.

The program was implemented
according to the following schedule.
Day 11) Courtesy call on senior refinery
officials (Mr. Tomas Avila Gonzalez,
Director)
2) Introduction of the Minatitlán
Refinery3) Tour of the refinery (including thesite of the expansion project)
Day 21) Opening ceremony2) Introduction of JCCP (with a focus
on maintenance-related JCCPinitiative courses in 2008)
3) R e l i a b i l i t y m a n a g e m e n t i n
refineries
Day 31) Case studies of static equipment
damage and their countermeasures
Day 41) Maintenance management of rotary
machines
2) Q&A session3) Closing ceremony and presentationof completion certificates

The participants showed interestin the various reliability improvement
activities that Japanese refineries are
actually employing, although it tookthem some time to absorb culturaldifferences. They assimilated theinformation provided to them in theirown way, and sought to find activities
that they could apply to their refinery, toimprove reliability, achieve long-term,
continuous safe/stable operations, andreduce maintenance costs.
In the lecture on static equipment
damage, case studies were categorizedaccording to fundamental causes, tointroduce damage countermeasures in
concrete terms, and offer specific hints
for improving refinery activities.
T he le ct u r e on m a i nt ena nc e
management of rota r y machinespresented case examples that showed
how the upgrading of parts materials
and str uctural modifications candramatically improve reliability.
This convincing lecture captured
the participants’ interest and invited
questions from them, concerning

2. Seminar Content
The semina r was designed tomainly introduce various maintenancemanagement issues in the areas of longterm, continuous safe/stable operations
and maintenance cost reduction, which
JCCP lecturers have experienced at
Japanese refineries, and examples
of countermeasures to those issues.
It specifically featured three topics:
reliability management in refineries,
static equipment damage and its
countermeasures, and maintenancemanagement of rotary machines.
18 • Topics •Lecture sessions

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

such technical aspects as cost andmaintenance perfor mance of themeasures discussed.

3. Overview of the Seminar
Presided by Mr. Abec Tocedo,
Manager of the Personnel Training
Department, the seminar opened witha congratulatory message by Mr.
Antonio Hernandez Escobar, Managerof the Production Unit and second
highest-ranking member of the refinery
staff, who expressed his appreciationand expectations of the seminar. Mr.
Escobar also delivered a few words atthe closing ceremony, thanking JCCP
for the successful and productive
implementation of the seminar, andencouraging the participants to actively
apply the knowledge they have acquired
from the seminar to their respective
workplace.
During the seminar and particularly
during the subsequent Q&A session, theparticipants posed so many questions,that the lecturers were barely able torespond to them all. The majority ofthe questions pertained to compellingissues facing refineries today and thedifferences between maintenancemethods in Mexico and Japan.
A total of 30 participants attended
the seminar. In addition to members
from the Minatitlán Refinery, 2 members
each from the PEMEX Head Office andthe Salamanca, Cadereyta, and Salina
Cruz Refineries also participated.
T he sem i na r wa s conduct e dthrough Spanish/English simultaneoustranslation. Thanks to the interpreter’s
preparation for the seminar by reading
the presentation materials in advance,
the exchange of information throughpresentations and Q&A sessions
proceeded extremely smoothly.
At the end of the seminar, theParticipants of the seminar with the JCCP teamparticipants responded to a questionnaire,in which they rated the seminar “verybeneficial,” and commented that what
they have learned would be useful intheir present/future jobs.

4. Visit to the PEMEXHead Office
After completing the seminar, we
paid a courtesy call on the PEMEXHead Office, and had the opportunity
to meet with members of the personnel
department, the counterpart department
for JCCP training programs.
Mr. Sergio Juan Ortiz Bautista,
Jefe de la Unidad, warmly greeted us,
and expressed his appreciation for the
implementation of the seminar. Mr.
Bautista also spoke about his thoughtson the necessity of strengthening thecapacities of refinery engineers anddeveloping outstanding engineers forthe future. In this respect, he stated that
he holds great expectations of JCCP
training activities, as they provide
first-hand experience in the industries
and technologies of Japan, which heconsiders one of the world’s mostsuccessful countries. He also expressed
his wish to continue sending PEMEX

employees to participate in JCCP
courses.

5. Impressions
The seminar proceeded smoothly,as planned, thanks to the meticulous
arrangement and coordination by Mr.
Mario, the coordinator at the refinery.
We deeply appreciated his time andcooperation.
The participants gave the seminarpresentations their undivided attention,
and were so focused that, even when we
asked if they would like to take a break,they expressed their desire to continue
on with the presentation. They wereable to deepen their understanding ofrefinery maintenance management byraising many pertinent questions andreceiving detailed answers.
Lastly, we would like to thankeveryone who participated and gave theirsupport and cooperation in the successful
implementation of the seminar. We
would also like to extend our special
thanks to Mr. Mario, Ms. Paola, Ms.
Patty, who supported us throughout ourstay in Mexico, and to Mr. Tomas, Mr.
Fidel, and Mr. Elias at the PEMEX Head
Office. Thank you very much.
<by Akio Higashi, Training Dept.>

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

• Topics • 19

Topics

Progress Report on the“Long-term Researcher Dispatch Program”
1. Background
JCCP launched the Long-term
Researcher Dispatch Program in
FY2007, as part of its research assistanceactivities under the International Joint
Research Scheme. Through the program,
JCCP sends honora r y university
professors and senior researchers fromprivate companies in Japan, who havemade remarkable achievements intheir specialized field, to universities
and research institutions in major oilproducing countries. The researchers
reside in their respective host country
long term, and routinely assist in the
R&D activities of local researchers, in
response to the needs of the counterpart
organization. In addition to providing
guidance, Japanese researchers who aredispatched to oil-producing countries
apply their expertise to improving
research methods, identifying new
and promising research themes, andotherwise promoting the advancement
and vitalization of research activities
within their counterpart organizations.
By providing research assistancein response to the requests of theDr. Hattori in a meeting with the Vice Chancellor of KFUPM, Sept. 2007

counterpart organization, the program is
not only expected to strengthen personal
exchanges in the R&D field, but also
to build and increase the counterpart
organizations’ trust in Japan.
King Fahd University of Petroleum
and Minerals (KFUPM) in Saudi Arabia
and Kuwait Institute for Scientific
Research (KISR) in Kuwait have been
selected as counterpart organizations of
the program. Over many years, the twoorganizations and JCCP have built a solid
relationship through the implementationof joint research projects under the

Dr. Hattori inspecting KFUPM’s research facilities, Sept. 200720 • Topics •JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

international joint research schemeand technical cooperation programs,
and by holding joint symposiums on aregular basis.

2. FY2007 Program(1) Overview
Following meticulous planningand preparation among the Japanese
researchers and their affiliated andc ou nt er pa r t orga n i z at ion s, t wo
researchers have been dispatched to
KFUPM and KISR this fiscal year.
They have already commenced theirresearch guidance activities at theircounterpart organization, and arescheduled to reside in Saudi Arabia
and Kuwait, respectively, for a periodof three months, from November to
February.
Dr. Hideshi Hattori, Professor
Emeritus at Hokkaido University, hasbeen asked to work under appointment
with KFUPM. Dr. Hattori is a prominent
researcher in the field of catalytic
research, specializing in the action
mechanisms of solid-base catalysts.
At KFUPM, he is engaged in joint
research on solid-base catalysts withlocal researchers.

Dr. Higashi inspecting KISR’s research facilities, Sept. 2007

KFUPM’s vast campus consistsof educational and research facilities,
residential facilities, a medical center,and various other faculty and student
facilities. Dr. Hattori commutes to his
research laboratory from a guest housein the faculty residence area, which
is only about a 15-minute walk fromthe laboratory. Taking advantage ofthe holiday break in the latter half ofDecember, Dr. Hattori temporarily
returned to Japan to celebrate the New
Year holiday in Japan, and has left once
again to Saudi Arabia to continue his
research until the end of February.
Dr. Hidehiro Higashi from Catalysts
and Chemicals Ind. Co., Ltd. has beenasked to work under appointment with
KISR. Dr. Higashi is a leading researcher
in the development of oil refining
catalysts. In response to a strong request
by KISR, he has commenced researchguidance activities for improving theassessment performance of a pilot
plant. As KISR has no corporate guest
house, Dr. Higashi has a long-term
accommodation arrangement at a hotel
located about 20 minutes by car fromthe institute, and is daily driven to theinstitute.
The two researchers began theirlong-term stay in the Middle East in
early November, when the lingeringsummer heat was still intense. By the
middle of December, however, they

had acclimated themselves to their new
environment, and had begun providing
steady research assistance and guidance
to researchers at their counterpart
organizations.
At the moment, JCCP’s primary
goal is the successful completion of
the three-month-long program for thisfiscal year. Hopefully, this particularexperience will be applied to enhancing
next fiscal year’s program, upon hearing
the views of the researchers, andgaining an accurate understanding of
the researcher acceptance situation at
the counterpart organizations.
(2) Send-off gatheringP r ior to the two resea rchers’

departure in November, JCCP organizeda small send-off gathering for them on
October 22. The gathering took place ina fraternity house at Tokai University,and was attended by members fromPetroleum Refining and Reserve
Division at the Ministry of Economy,
Trade and Industry, namely Mr. Shuzo
Ta kada, Director, Mr. Ta kanobu
Yasunaga, Deputy Director, and Mr.
Tsuyoshi Kamijo, in addition to Messrs.
Mikio Kojima, Executive Director, andKatsuo Yokoyama, Managing Director,
from JCCP.
The small party began with a brief
speech by Mr. Kojima. He stated that
this new scheme of cooperation to oilproducing countries has been “madepossible by the generous cooperationof the two distinguished researchers,”
and that he has “strong expectations
for its successful completion.” To that
end, he also promised JCCP’s full
support in all aspects of their long-term
stay in the Middle East. Dr. Hattori
expressed his commitment to the effectthat he intends to “fully apply himself
to research activities” at KFUPM, andhas prepared to “respond flexibly to thesituation and requests of the counterpart
orga n izat ion.” D r. H igash i a lso
articulated his resolve to direct his best
efforts toward the effective applicationof Japan’s world-class hydrogen refining
catalyst technology to the counterpart
organization. Finally, Mr. Takada

Mr. Kojima (right), Executive Director of JCCP, speaking at a send-off gathering forDrs. Hattori and Higashi

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

• Topics • 21

Brief speech by Dr. Higashi (center)delivered words of encouragement to
the two researchers. Based on his strong
conviction that cultural exchanges are
just as important as technical guidance
and transfers, he expressed his highexpectations of the two researchers’
steady activities at their counterpart
organizations, and wished them ahealthy and fulfilling sojourn. Afterexchanging words of encouragement
and resolve, over lunch the members
engaged in animated conservation,
mainly on topics about cooperation tooil-producing countries.
(3) Letter from Dr. Hattori
After completing the first halfof his appointed period, Dr. Hattori
temporarily returned to Japan on
December 13 to spend the New Yearholiday in Japan (Sapporo, Hokkaido).
He has written to JCCP on the occasionof his return, and reported on the statusof his research at KFUPM so far, as wellas various aspects of his stay in Saudi
Arabia, as follows.
<Research status>
Prior to assuming theappointment at KFUPM, I visitedthe organization in September andspent two days discussing various
matters related to the dispatch

Mr. Takada (left), Director of the Petroleum Refining and Reserve
Division, METI, giving his best wishes to the two researchers

program. During that meeting, the
KFUPM side asked me to proposea research theme, and I responded
by proposing a theme concerningsolid-acid catalysts and anothertheme concer ning solid- basecatalysts, both of which were related
to zirconia catalysts. We ultimately
decided on both themes, and agreed
on the participation of postgraduate
chemical engineering and chemistry
students in our experiments.
By the end of the first one and ahalf months of my stay until the Hajji
holiday, we finished preparing 19
types of catalysts and successfullylaunched a high-pressure reactor.
In the latter one and a half months,
which will begin after New Year’s,
reaction experiments will probably
comprise the main part of ouractivities. By all means, I hope toreach a point where we can obtainsufficient basic data to write apaper.
<Personal views on the research andlocal life>
KFUPM’s Center for Refininga n d Petrochemical ResearchInstitute is slightly different fromresearch laboratories in Japanese
universities, perhaps partly owing

to its proven achievements inthe development of processes forpractical application. When asked
which is more important, publishingan academic paper or acquiring apatent, some KFUPM researchers
immediately responded in favorof the patent. This mentality, I
think, differs from that in Japanese
universities, where novelty andoriginality of invention are valued
above all. I hope to somehow
convince the local researchers thatbasic research is also important,particularly in universities.
Officially, our work hours arefrom 7:30 am to 4:00 pm. The
university has offered me the useof an on-campus guest house thatis larger than 100 m2 in total area.
I can obtain food and other daily
necessities at a supermarket thatis only a stone’s throw away, so I
basically want for nothing, unlessI get the urge to go out into thecity. Prices here are reasonable.
Although I cannot leave the campus
without a car, I am lucky to be in
an environment where everyone
around me kindly offers his help
when needed.

<by Kazuhisa Okumura, Technical Cooperation Dept.>

22 • Topics •JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

Topics

Total Number of Participants
to JCCP Courses in Japan
Has Surpassed 17,000!
November 27, 2007 was a landmark
day for JCCP. With the two coursesthat were begun that day—T T-1(Training Management) and TR-16(Gas Processing for LNG)—the total
number of participants JCCP has
received since its founding has surpassed
17,000. As the commemorative 17,000th
participant, Mr. Mohammad Ali AlQahtani received congratulatory words
and a commemorative gift from Mr.
Mikio Kojima, Executive Director of
JCCP. At that moment, all the membersof JCCP, wrapped in feelings of profoundfulfillment and pride, were convincedthat JCCP’s 26 years of steady efforts
in assisting oil-producing countries has
resulted in the remarkable achievement.
Many of the 17,000 participants havegone on to become refinery directors
and senior officials in national oil
companies in their respective countries.
JCCP is convinced that they willplay a central role in the continued
implementation of JCCP activities,

toward further strengthening thefriendly relationships between Japanand oil-producing countries.
Encouraged by the astounding result,
all of us here at JCCP have renewed
our commitment to continue directing
steady efforts to implementing effective
and meaningful cooperation activities.
Below is a message from the
17,000th participant, Mr. Al-Qahtani(Saudi Aramco / Saudi Arabia).
Message from the 17,000th participant
Mr. Mohammad Ali Al-Qahtani(Saudi Aramco / Saudi Arabia)
I am very honored to be the 17,000th participant at JCCP, since its
establishment in 1981. I hope to return home to Ras Tanura Refinery andacquire more experience in my field. I am also looking forward to beparticipant number 20,000.
Since I came to Japan, I have discovered many fabulous things about
JCCP and Japanese industries, particularly in the LNG field.
Japanese people are very kind and friendly, and I would like to thankthem.
Finally, I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to JCCP.

TopicsJCCP Participates in“Third OPEC Summit Exhibition”
in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
1. Background
The Third OPEC Summit washeld in Riyadh, the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, on November 17 and 18,
2007. Under the three primary themesof “Reliability,” “Prosperity,” and“Protection,” the heads of delegationsof OPEC member countries adopted the

Riyadh Declaration, which highlighted
environmental issues for the first timeas OPEC. Prior to the summit, a fourday international oil exhibition washeld from November 13 to 16, under
the sponsorship of the Saudi Ministryof Petroleum. JCCP participated in the
exhibition as part of its efforts to build
friendly relations with oil-producing

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

countries, and introduced and promoted
increased awareness of JCCP activities
to representatives from oil-producing
countries attending the exhibition.

2. JCCP Exhibition
In a booth occupying a 15 m 2 (3 ×5 m) space, twelve information panels• Topics • 23

provided details of JCCP’s training
programs and technical cooperation
projects, and an introductory DVD
presented a n over view of JCCP.
The booth received as many as 200
visitors throughout the duration of theexhibition. On the first day, it had thehonor of receiving a visit from H.E.
Ali Al-Naimi, Minister of Petroleumof the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
It was also honored by visits from
H.E. Gholamhossein Nozari, Acting
Minister of Petroleum of Islamic
Republic of Iran, H.E. Dr. Purnomo
Yusgiantoro, Minister of Energy andMineral Resources of Indonesia,and H.E. Abdullah bin Hamad Al
Attiyah, Deputy Prime Minister andMinister of Energy and Industry of
Qatar. To each visitor to the JCCP
booth, JCCP members handed out
brochures introducing JCCP activities,
and provided detailed information on

With H.E. Ali Al-Naimi, Minister of Petroleum of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

its training programs and technicalcooperation activities. Many who
visited the booth showed strong interestin the fact that JCCP offers technicalassistance in cooperation with Japanese

private companies.
Near the JCCP booth were the large
and attractive booths of Iranian oil
companies such as NIOC, NIORDC,
and NPC, in addition to Saudi Aramco,

Mr. T. Kinoshita, General Manager of the JCCP Riyadh Office,with H.E. Al-Naimi

H.E. Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, Deputy Prime Minister of
Qatar, visits the JCCP booth.

H.E. Gholamhossein Nozari (second from right),
Acting Minister of Petroleum of Islamic Republic of Iran,at the JCCP booth

H.E. Dr. Purnomo Yusgiantoro (center),
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of Indonesia,
listens to an explanation at the JCCP booth.

24 • Topics •JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

With Iranian exhibition participants in front of the JCCP boothExxonMobil, Saudi Arabian Chevron,and ADNOC.

3. Impressions
During the exhibition, many JCCP
graduates visited the JCCP booth andconveyed their support of JCCP, but evenpeople who, for example, had only heardof JCCP’s technical cooperation projects
visited the booth, which indicated anincreased awareness of JCCP activities
in oil-producing countries. Visitors

JCCP boothcommented that Japan’s cooperation
is “deeply appreciated by all oilproducing countries,” and that they
hope JCCP will continue to implement
its personnel exchange activities,“as human resource development
is becoming ever more important.”
Others expressed their support of
JCCP technical cooperation projects,
saying that “the practical nature of the
projects bring tremendous benefits” tothe counterpart organization.
At this exhibition, visitors wererestricted for the most part to people
from within the oil industry, but with theattendance of important dignitaries fromvarious countries, the exhibition provided
an ideal opportunity to effectively
promote JCCP activities. Taking toheart the precious views and requests
it has received at the exhibition, JCCP
intends to further enhance its activities
in the future, and plans to continue
participating in such opportunities as
this exhibition, to increase its profile
among oil-producing countries.

<by Nobutaka Sumikawa, Technical Cooperation Dept.>

Personnel
Exchange

Report on the Cooperation with
Training Centers Program in South America—Venezuela, Colombia, and Brazil—
1. Background
From September 30 to October
13, 2007, a JCCP delegation visited
Venezuela, Colombia, and Brazil under
the Cooperation with Training Centers
Program (TC-30-07). The delegationconsisted of Mr. Akio Yamanaka,
General Manager of the Administration
Department, Ms. Mieko Onai, AssistantManager of the Operations Department,
and I, Yoshiaki Ueno, Master Lecturerof the Training Department. SouthAmerican oil-producing countries are

not necessarily strategic suppliers ofoil and energy to Japan at present, but
JCCP considers it important to explore
the possibility of strengthening JCCP
activities in these countries, for Japan tosecure a stable supply of oil and energy
in the future. Based on this awareness,
we have held direct discussions with
JCCP counterpart departments incharge of human resources development
and training in state-run oil companies
in the three countries, to promote deeper
understanding of JCCP activities,
identify training needs, and exchange

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

views on improving the effectivenessof JCCP programs.
In Venezuela, which has been
gaining widespread attention for thegreat potential of its crude oil reserves,
we visited the Head Office and El Palito
Refinery of the state-run oil company
Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA).
In Brazil, where an increase in offshore
oil production is expected to make thecountry a major oil exporter in the
future, we visited the Head Office ofPetroleo Brasileiro S.A. (PETROBRAS)
and the Duque de Caxias Refinery.

• Personnel Exchange Programs • 25

Finally, in Colombia, the four thlargest oil-producing country in SouthAmerica, we visited the Head Officeand Cartagena Refinery of the country’s
national oil company ECOPETROL. At
each of the companies, we introduced
JCCP activities and courses, and heldinterviews to learn about the present
state of and issues within each company,
their education and training situation,
as well as their training needs. These
visits essentially helped deepen JCCP’sclose relationships with its counterpart
departments.
The three countries are vigorouslys t r iv i n g t o i n c r e a s e c r u d e o i l
production, and to this end, they arepromoting the construction of new
refineries and improving the refining
capacity of existing refineries. In
the meetings, the aforementioned oilcompanies gave detailed accounts of
the need to secure human resources
and implement personnel education
programs in order to realize their
future augmentation plans. They
expressed full understanding of JCCP’srole and activities, and specifically
discussed how best to participate in
future JCCP programs. As proposedby the JCCP delegation, they agreed tomaintain consistency in the selectionof participants to JCCP courses, and to
take advantage of JCCP programs that
dispatch experts from JCCP member
companies in Japan.
A general overview of the meetings
held in each country is introduced
below.

At the PETROBRAS Head Office

2. Venezuela
Venezuela has 79.7 billion barrelsof crude oil reserves, which is thesixth largest in the world. Its crude oil
production has been hovering aroundthe 3 million b/d mark in recent years,
but it has plans to increase production
to more than 5 million b/d by 2012. The
country also has abundant reserves of
unconventional Orinoco extra heavy
crude, which amounts to a crude oil
equivalent of 270 billion barrels ofrecoverable reserves. This is a volume
that rivals Saudi Arabia’s crude oil
reserves of 260 billion barrels, andVenezuela intends to accelerate future
development in this area.
(1) PDVSA Head Office
On October 2, we visited the PDVSAHead Office. JCCP has received about
100 participants from PDVSA, up to

At the PDVSA Head Office

26 • Personnel Exchange Programs •2003. There had been a short period
of discontinuation thereafter, but thisyear saw the participation of PDVSA
employees in a JCCP regular course,
for the first time in 4 years. JCCP has
taken this opportunity as marking a new
beginning of a full-fledged relationshipwith PDVSA, and has sent the delegation
to introduce JCCP activities and FY2008
programs in detail to the PDVSA Head
Office and its El Palito Refinery.
Despite its temporary termination ofparticipation in JCCP courses, the
PDVSA side very warmly welcomed us.
In the meeting with Mr. Durio Merchan(Executive Director in charge of the
Human Resources Department), we
discussed various issues amid a highly
amicable atmosphere, and deepened
our relationship with the counterpart
department at PDVSA.
PDVSA is presently planning a
number of large-scale projects in

At PDVSA’s El Palito Refinery

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

response to the surge in oil prices, andone of its major concerns lies in thedevelopment of high-level engineers.
Given this situation, the PDVSA side
had many questions concerning JCCP
activities, and expressed its strong intent
to send young and promising employees
to participate in JCCP courses in the
future.
(2) El Palito Refinery
On October 3, we left our hotel in
Caracas at 6:00 am to visit the El Palito
Refinery, located about two and a half
hours away by car. The deputy directorof the refinery and the heads of the
Operation, Maintenance, and Human
Resources Departments welcomed us
and participated in the meeting on JCCP
activities and programs.
The refinery members showedstrong interest in JCCP’s programs for
2008, and requested the implementationof an Expert Service (ES) program
for the Maintenance Department. In
addition to regular ES programs, we
also promoted ES programs that are
implemented in cooperation with JCCP
member companies.
(3) Japanese Embassy in Venezuela
On October 4, we visited the Japanese
Embassy in Venezuela, and met with
H.E. Ambassador Shuji Shimokoji
and Mr. Kobayashi, First Secretary.
Ambassador Shimokoji, who had justrecently assumed office as Japanese
Ambassador to Venezuela (after serving
as Japanese Ambassador to Panama),

listened attentively to ourdescription of past andpresent JCCP activities in
the country, and together
with Mr. Kobayashi, gavea detailed overview ofcurrent situations, security
and environmental issues,and the state of economic
a nd socia l a ffa i rs, in
Venezuela.

3. Colombia

With Ambassador Shuji Shimokoji,
at the Japanese Embassy in Venezuela

E C O P E T RO L h a s
been sending increasing numbers ofparticipants to JCCP courses during
the past several years, but we took
the opportunity of our recent visit topromote a deeper understanding of
JCCP activities at the company’s Head
Office and Cartagena Refinery.
ECOPETROL is strongly committed
to environmental conservation, andis implementing a number of joint
projects with foreign companies. As
the development of capable engineers
is an issue of primary concern tothe company, the ECOPETROL side
expressed strong expectations of JCCP.
Moreover, ECOPETROL employees
who had participated in JCCP regularcourses in the past shared their views
that their JCCP experience has enhanced
their capacities to perform their duties.
(1) ECOPETROL Head Office
On October 5, we visited the
ECOPETROL Head Office. From theAt the ECOPETROL Head Officeplanning stages, the ECOPETROL side
displayed much enthusiasm for our visit,
and Mr. Federico Maya, Vice President
in charge of the Refining Department, inparticular, actively contributed his views
and opinions on various issues, during
the actual meeting. Mr. Byron Miranda,
Director of the Cartagena Refinery, and
JCCP graduates who hold important
positions at the refinery also attended
the meeting and took part in the highly
active and energetic exchange of views.
Through the meeting, we deepened ourmutual friendship and understanding
with ECOPETROL.
(2) Cartagena Refinery
On October 6, we visited theCartagena Refinery. Cartagena is a cityof world-class scenic beauty that boasts
a commanding view of the Caribbean
Sea and a treasure trove of ancientbuildings dating back to the period of
Spanish rule. Although we visited the

At ECOPETROL’s Cartagena Refinery

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

• Personnel Exchange Programs • 27

refinery on a Saturday, Mr. Miranda,
Director of the refinery, and a numberof senior officials gathered to greet andextend their warmest hospitality. Mr.
Hugo Barcelo, who was a participant in
a JCCP regular course last year and is
now in charge of capacity improvement
planning at the refinery, gave a detailed
overview of the refinery’s future plans.
We urged the continuous participationof refinery personnel in JCCP courses.

his vast knowledge of South American
affairs with us, and described in detailthe economic and social situations in
Brazil today, emphasizing infrastructuredevelopment, education, security, andaccumulated financial deficits as fourpriority issues that Brazil must addressin the future. We explained the purposeof our visit, introduced JCCP’s activities
and recent undertakings, and exchanged
views with Mr. Watanabe on future
JCCP cooperation in Brazil.

4. Brazil
Brazil’s crude oil production is
expected to surpass 2 million b/d by theend of FY2007, and the country is poised
to become an exporter of crude oil in thenear future. As of last year, it has become
the world’s leading producer of bioethanol. Brazil’s state-run oil company
PETROBRAS is an enormous company
that employs 60,000 employees. It islisted on the New York Stock Exchange,
and is an excellent company even byinternational standards. PETROBRAS
University, from which JCCP has lately
been receiving an increasing numberof participants, is single-handedly
responsible for the education and R&D
aspects of PETROBRAS. During thisparticular visit to Brazil, we visitedthe Head Office of PETROBRAS,
PETROBRAS University, and the Duquede Caxias Refinery, a PETROBRAS
refinery nearest to Rio de Janeiro.
We gave a detailed overview of JCCP
activities and regular courses in 2008,
and answered questions from thePETROBRAS side concerning Expert
Service (ES) programs.
Through this visit, we acquired ageneral picture of the status and roleof PETROBRAS University within
the PETROBRAS Group, as well as of
its educational system, and deepened
friendly ties with members of thecounterpart department.
(1) JETRO Saõ Paulo Center
On October 8, we met with Mr. Yuji
Watanabe, Director of the JETRO Saõ
Paulo Center. Mr. Watanabe shared
28 • Personnel Exchange Programs •(2) Duque de Caxias Refinery
On October 9, we visited the Duquede Caxias Refinery, located about
an hour’s drive from Rio de Janeiro.
The refinery is a historic refinery thatcommenced operations in 1961. It boasts
the country’s third largest refining
capacity, and leads all other refineriesin terms of the capacity and complexityof its secondary units. It also occupies
a strategic location, in close proximity
to both Rio de Janeiro and Saõ Paulo.
The refinery has plans to invest some
4.5 billion dollars by 2014, to increase
the production of white oil and othervalue-added products. The refinery’s
next target, therefore, is to promotehealth, safety and environment (HSE)and energy conservation.
We gave a detailed overview of
JCCP and its activities, including
its regular training courses, to therefinery members, and again to Mr.
Joaõ Machado, General Manager, wholater arrived at the meeting. We also
requested the refinery’s participation in
regular courses.
(3) PETROBRAS University
O n O c t o b e r 10 , we v i s it e d
PETROBRAS University. With theattendance of Mr. Walter Brito, Directorof the Human Resources Department,
and heads of relevant specialized fields,
members of PETROBRAS University
and the JCCP side alternately gave apresentation. Mr. Brito explained theorganization, curriculum, and policies
of PETROBRAS University in detail,and discussed the characteristics andpriority policies of each department.
PETROBRAS University is an
institution dedicated to educating
PE T ROBR A S employe e s a ndunder ta k ing va r ious studies andresearch activities. It offers a diverse
educational curriculum, including
programs for employees who work inforeign countries and tie-up programswith foreign educational institutions
and universities. In addition to its
30 or so exclusive instructors, theinstitution employs part-time lecturers
from external institutions, as well as
being under contract to dispatch experts
to a number of foreign oil companies
and organizations.
The members of PETROBRAS
University showed strong interest in
JCCP regular courses on human resource
management, refinery management,

At the Duque de Caxias Refinery

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

Giving a presentation at the PETROBRAS International Forumand environmental management, andexchanged views with us on future JCCP
cooperation.
(4) PETROBRAS Head Office
Also on October 10, we visited thePETROBRAS Head Office, and met with
Mr. Edson Castilho, General Manager,
Equipment Division-Headquarters,
and personnel in charge of refinery
operations and facility management. We
introduced JCCP activities, explained
the content of JCCP regular courses indetail, and requested the participation ofrefinery employees in regular courses.
The PETROBRAS side actively inquired
about the Expert Service (ES) program,
and we responded by introducing ES
programs that are implemented through
JCCP member engineering companies
in Japan.
(5) Japanese Consulate General in
Rio de Janeiro
On October 11, we visited theJapanese Consulate General in Riode Janeiro and met with H.E. Mr.
Masahiro Fukukawa, Consul-General,
Mr. Tomoyuki Takayama, Consul, and
Mr. Takayoshi Fukushiro, Researcher.
Consul-General Fukukawa assumed his
present post last year, after previously
working at a Japanese embassy in the
Middle East.
We gave a detailed description of

JCCP activities and purpose of ourvisit to South America. The ConsulGeneral, in turn, described current
situations in Brazil, mentioning thewidening disparity between the richand poor, and the increasing concern
about the shrinking middle class. He
also explained that next year marks the100th anniversary of the arrival of thefirst Japanese immigrants to Brazil, andthat a host of commemorative events arebeing planned.
(6) Participation at the
PETROBRAS InternationalForum
On October 17, we (Y. Ueno)
participated in a forum sponsored by
PETROBRAS, and delivered an hourlong presentation titled “Overview of
Oil Industry and Physical Distribution
in Japan.” (The forum was scheduledduring the week following our visit
to South America, but PETROBRAS
strongly requested a lecture on thepresent situation of Japan’s oil industry.)
PETROBRAS sponsors this forum every
year, inviting about 200 participantsfrom throughout Brazil. This year,
there was an especially strong interestin the current state of the oil industry inJapan, as well as in issues concerning
rationalization of physical distribution
and efficiency improvement. Many
questions were also raised regarding

trends in the mixture of ethanol ingasoline.

5. Summary
In all three countries, meetings
were held with the attendance of
directors and managers of the relevant
departments, and we were therefore
able to introduce JCCP activities tomany key personnel at once. They
mainly inquired about JCCP regularcourses on “refinery management,”“environmental management,” and“human resource management,” andexpressed strong interest in ES programs
and courses implemented by JCCP
member companies. The opportunities
to hold direct discussions and exchange
views with JCCP counterparts inthe various institutions, allowed us
to better understand their current
situations and training needs, and lay
the groundwork for even smoothercommunications. We strongly feelthat our recent visits have achieved
significant results for strengthening
mutual relationships in the future.
Based on the strong bonds of friendshipwe have established during the trip,
we have renewed our commitment todeliver steady cooperation results andfurther strengthen ties between Japanand oil-producing countries.
<by Yoshiaki Ueno, Training Dept.>

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

• Personnel Exchange Programs • 29

Personnel
Exchange

Report on the Cooperation with
Training Centers Program—Russia and Kazakhstan—In recent years, JCCP has been
actively approaching Russia and thecountries of Central Asia, to strengthen
relationships with them, as they are
expected to become major suppliersof oil and energy in the future. Aspart of its efforts, Mr. Tetsuji Kubota,
Deputy General Manager, and I, Akio
Hoshino, Master Lecturer, of the JCCP
Training Department visited Russia
and Kazakhstan under the Cooperation
with Training Centers Program, from
October 8 to 18, 2007. We visited major
oil companies, engineering companies,
shipping companies, and refineries, toidentify needs relating to the operationand improvement of their training
system, and to promote JCCP activities,
with the objective of contributing tohuman resource development in thetwo countries.

1. Russia(1) LukOil Oil Company,
Nizhny Novgorod Refinery
The refinery is located in the suburbsof Nizhny Novgorod (formerly known
as Gorky), and is the company’s largest
refinery, with a capacity of 400,000
b/d and 2,000 employees. We gave
an introductory presentation to about
20 refinery personnel, and exchanged
views with staff members from the
Human Resource, Accounting, andEconomy Departments. We then toured
the 730-hectare refinery site by car. The
refinery facilities are old, but upgrading
projects are gradually advancing.

Technical Director, and learned thatthe company is extremely busy with a
LukOil Refinery FCC project that isscheduled to be completed in 2009, andvarious other expansion projects.
A large number of female staff
members of the company (most ofwhom are JCCP graduates) gatheredin the conference room to welcome us.
Their warm hospitality indicated thecompany’s appreciation and expectationsof JCCP.
(3) Transneft (Moscow)
A major crude oil transporting
company based in Moscow, the company
has recently begun to send a number ofparticipants to JCCP courses. According
to Mr. Igor G. Solyarskiy, Vice President,
the company’s main business at present is
crude oil transportation, but it has plans
to also undertake the transportation ofother petroleum products in the near
future. To this end, Mr. Solyarskiy
feels that acquiring know-how andinformation on the downstream sector
is essential, and has large expectationsof JCCP.

(2) Nizhegorodniineftep ProjectThis company is a subsidiaryengineering company of LukOil,
located in Nizhny Novgorod. We
met with Mr. Anatoly M. Lantsev,(4) Vnipineft (Moscow)
Established in 1929, the company has
grown into a major engineering company
in Russia, with 15,000 employees. There
have been several past JCCP course
participants from Vnipineft, but this was
the first time that JCCP has visited thecompany. We met with Mr. Eduardo A.
Raud, Deputy Commercial Director of
the Business Development Department,
and deepened mutual understanding
between the two organizations. The
company is now a participant in the
Sakhalin II Project, but also has plans toincrease its presence in projects outsideof Russia. It works in partnership with30 • Personnel Exchange Programs •JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

Toyo Engineering Corporation in the
Sakhalin II Project, and maintains
a cooperative relationship with JGC
Corporation.
(5) Slavneft (Moscow)
This was the first time JCCP
members have visited this oil company.
The company, on the other hand, has notsent any participants to JCCP courses,
to date.
The company operates two refineries,
and three-fourths of their production
volume is exported to neighboring
countries. We gave a presentation to
Mr. Ilia B. Medvedev, Vice President
in charge of HR, and Mr. Vladimir
V. Krylov, Vice President in chargeof the downstream sector, to promote
JCCP activities. The presentation
took 90 minutes, but they listenedwith keen interest, particularly tothe explanation of JCCP’s Human
Resources Management course.
(6) Other Facilities in Russia
In addition to the above facilities, wevisited the Japanese Embassy in Moscow
and the Moscow Office of Mitsubishi
Corporation, and acquired a general
understanding of the present political,
economic, and social situations in
Russia. We strongly felt that the macrolevel information, as seen through theeyes of Japanese citizens living abroad,will be valuable in enhancing future
JCCP activities.
The main points of the discussions
were as follows: “Russia’s economy isbooming. However, similar to Japan,
the strong downtrend in the birthrate
and the growing gap between major
cities and regional areas are becoming
serious social issues. Russia has begun
to realize the great potential of its

At LukOil;
Dr. Kuvykin (left) and Mr. Anatoly (third from left)

resources, and is actively working toincrease their added value. The country
as a whole is particularly responsive
to the term ‘Japanese technology,’ andundeniably has a strong interest inJapanese expertise and technologies.”

2. Kazakhstan(1) Central Dispatching Board of
Oil and Gas Industry(CDB OGI)
T h is compa ny has a fa m ilia r
relationship with JCCP, as senior
officers of the company, from thepresident on down, have attended
Study Tour (ST) programs in Japan,
in 2005 and 2006. We met with Mr.
Kairat N. Kaipiyev, President, whoheartily welcomed us. According to
Mr. Kaipiyev, Kazakhstan produces 1.3
million b/d of petroleum at present, butthere are plans to increase production
three-fold by 2020. He believes thatAt Nizhegorodniineftep Project;
Mr. Lantsev (back row, center) and Mr. Nikonorov (right);
Most of the women are JCCP graduatestraining in various aspects related topetroleum is essential to achieving that
production increase, and places highhopes on JCCP programs. We strongly
felt the company’s sincere expectationsof JCCP in the warm and attentive
hospitality we received from the morethan 30 members of CDB OGI who had
gathered to welcome us.
(2) KazMunayGas (KMG)
Head Office
We gave a presentation to about 10
management-level members of the HR,
HSE and Petrochemical Departments.
Ms. Raushan Raiskhanova, HR Director,
appeared to have a strong interest in
JCCP’s activities, and was particularlyinterested in knowing whether JCCP
offers courses other than those related
to the oil refining sector that are listed
in the program. We explained that JCCP
is an organization specializing in thedownstream sector, and that there is a

At Transneft;
Mr. Solyarskiy, Vice President (front row, right)

different organization for the upstream
sector.
(3) KazMunayGas Atyrau Refinery
The Atyrau Refinery is one of
KazMunayGas’s three refineries,
located on the northern shore of the
Caspian Sea. It has a capacity of 100,000
b/d. This was JCCP’s first official
visit to the refinery. We gave a briefpresentation to Mr. Shkodin O. Urievich,Administration Department Director,
and other management-level officers,
and deepened mutual understanding
between the two organizations. The
refinery, built in 1965, looks its age,
but the shiny new tower, vessel, andpiping of the diesel fuel desulfurization
unit that was installed last year by JGC
Corporation, seemed to lend an air ofmodernization to the refinery. With thecompletion of the renovation project,
the refinery has gained the capacity to
produce Euro III- and IV-compatible

At the Japanese Embassy in Russia;(from left) Mr. Takeshi Hikihara, Economy Minister of theJapanese Embassy in Russia, and Mr. Ichinose, Counselor

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

• Personnel Exchange Programs • 31

At CDB OGI;
Mr. Kaipiyev, President (front row, right), Ms. Kopebosinova (left),and Mr. Izbergenov, Vice President (back row, center)

At the KazMunayGas Head Office;Ms. Raiskhanova, HR Director (second from left)

diesel light fuels. Its next challenge isresidual oil upgrading.

economic, and social situations in
Kazakhstan. As our last destination, we
paid a visit to the Atyrau Refinery site(4) Other Institutions in Kazakhstan office, and listened to stories about the
In Kazakhstan, we also visited JGC’s challenges the refinery has encountered
Almaty Office, located in the former in carrying out the project.
capital city of Almaty, and obtained
We followed an extremely busy
a general overview of the political, agenda, which consisted of visits
to 12 facilities in 9 days,
but in both Russia andKazakhstan, we sensed
great energy emanatingfrom their strong efforts tomodernize their country,
as well as from the air ofactivity surrounding theentire country, the cities,
the industries, the businessworld, the people, andStaff of the Atyrau Refinery Museum giving aalmost all other aspects ofpresentation on the history of the refinerysociety. As far as could be observed,
both countries have shed any negative
image that Eastern European countries
have previously had, and have developed
into prosperous countries, equal to theWestern European countries, even interms of the abundance of productsthat are available on the market. The
economic development and gradual“westernization” of the two countries
in recent years were also evident in this
aspect, as well.
To cont r ibute to ma inta in ing
close relationships with Russia andKazakhstan, JCCP intends to utilize
the information and personal network
achieved from this mission to further
enhancing JCCP activities in the
future.
<by Akio Hoshino, Training Dept.>

Participant’s Voice
Advanced Field Devices and Control(TR-13-07: August 21 – September 7, 2007)
Mr. Roberto Carlos Mideros Simarra (ECOPETROL / Colombia)

On behalf of the Advanced Field Devices and Control

of JCCP, Mr. Kirita, Mr. Nito and Mr. Saegusa, not only

participants, I would like to take this opportunity to convey

for their support and the hard effort they made to givemy sincere thanks to all JCCP members, for giving us thiseach participant the characteristically warm hospitality

great chance to attend and take part in this invaluable

and kindness of the Japanese people, but also for theircourse program, especially Mr. Kojima, Executive Director

excellent guidance and polite treatment during all the

32 • Personnel Exchange Programs •JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

Participant’s Voice
visits we made to the different companies.
As an Arabic partner said, “It is over now as everythingin our life has an end, and the happy times vanish
especially rapidly, even if we want them to last longer.”I absolutely agree with him, and I am sure all otherparticipants do, too.
The course content had great meaning to me, and has
given me abundant knowledge about process control,
including SIS. The practical explanations using softwareand real-time DCS were especially helpful. Additionally,
being in Japan not only increased and enhanced mytechnical knowledge in engineering, but it also allowed
me to exchange experiences in this specific area with

At Yamatake Corporation's Isehara Plant

other people, and to gain a different perspective about
the level of technological development at my company,

attractions and beautiful places, including the castles,

ECOPETROL Colombia, which I had assumed, ranked

Buddhist temples, and Shinto shrines. However, Hiroshimaequally with the other companies. This course also helped

city was the most beautiful place that I have ever seen.

my co-participants eliminate certain constraints in their

I think this city symbolizes the Japanese people’s powercompanies.

to overcome hardships. I have complete respect for theThis was my first time in Japan, and I was completely

way the Japanese people have rebuilt not only the entire

taken with the politeness and impeccable manners ofcountry, but also their economy, after the war. Most

the Japanese people. I was also amazed with Tokyo. This

importantly, the people of Hiroshima were polite andflashing and colorful city gave me a broad understanding

friendly, despite all the pain that they have suffered inof Japanese culture, while giving me some reasons to

the past.

improve my life, as well as my country, Colombia. I was

Finally, from the bottom of my heart, I would like tosurprised with the punctuality of the Japanese people

say to JCCP, thank you very much, though these words

and their commitment to constantly keep to theirare hardly enough to express my full appreciation. I hopeschedules.

to come back as soon as possible, either to participate inDuring our field trips to Kyoto, Yokohama, andHiroshima, I was impressed with all the marvelous

a course again, or for vacation.
Domo Arigato Gozaimashita. Muchas Gracias.

Training Management(TT-1-07: November 27 – December 14, 2007)
Mr. Ali Abudullahi Sulaiman Al-Eisri (ORC / Oman)

My name is Ali and I come from Oman, but not today.

and fully appreciate the effort they put into preparing

Today, I am from 13 different countries, because I am

such outstanding and well-organized programs, as well as

representing all my friends in the Training Management

their warm hospitality, kindness, and generosity. Sharing

course. I am honored to be chosen by my team members

experiences with Japanese engineers was also a precious

to write about our course for this JCCP newsletter.

experience, which allowed us to form new friendships.

During this beneficial and excellent course, we

We also attended two days of lectures at Meisei

traveled to different cities in Japan, from Tokyo, to Kyoto,

University. The lectures featured many case studies, andHiroshima, Tokuyama, Sakaide, Yokohama, and to Zushi.

were very helpful in understanding HRD in JapaneseIn those cities, we visited a number of leading oil andcompanies.

gas companies, who shared with us their experiences in

The course also gave us the opportunity to explore the

HRM and HRD. We have gained valuable knowledge andbeauty of nature in Japan, as well as to catch a glimpse

information from their presentations and lecture sessions,of historical Japan through visits to famous temples and

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

• Personnel Exchange Programs • 33

Participant’s Voiceimperial castles. It was interesting to see the coexistenceof traditional and modern Japanese cultures. We wereblessed with good weather in all the cities we visited,which greatly boosted our spirits during our field trips.
In addition to experiencing Japanese culture, welearned about 13 different cultures at the same time,
because participants of 12 different nationalities
attended the course. Regardless of cultural differences,
we became like one big family, helping and taking careof each other. I am sure that all of us will continue to be
in touch with each other after this course.
I wouldn’t be surprised if many of us bring our families

At Meisei University

to Japan during holidays in the future. Personally, I wish
to know more about Japan and its culture, people, cities,
and beautiful gardens, so hopefully, I will be back soon

you all, beyond words. No matter how many times wewith my family.

say thank you, it will never be enough to express our fullSpecial thanks to Mr. Kojima, Executive Director

appreciation. We wish you all success, and hope to seeof JCCP, Hoshino-san, Tabe-san, and Hiro-san, for their

you in our countries some day.

hospitality, generosity and kindness. We are thankful to

Arigato Gozaimashita.

Advanced Technologies for Rotary Machinery–Reliability Enhancement–(IT-2-07: December 5 – December 19, 2007)
Mr. Khalaff M. Al-Ghamdi (Saudi Aramco / Saudi Arabia)
On behalf of all participants of the IT-2-07 course, I

are making every effort to incorporate English into

sincerely thank all the JCCP management and staff for

their lives. We wish you success in this regard, as English

arranging such a wonderful training program and giving

proficiency will further open Japan to the international

us the opportunity to participate. I would like to extend

world and make Japan a technological giant, in the true

my special gratitude to Kojima-san, Executive Director,

sense of the word.

and to JCCP coordinators Miyawaki-san, Higashi-san,It is on this note that I, on behalf of all participants ofthis program, say “Thank you very much, and God blessand Tone-san.
The program was structured in a systematic manner,you.”comprising classroom lectures, site visits to factories, visits
to historical places, buffet lunches, and subway rides thattook us across the breadth and width of Japan. There is
no doubt that this training program will benefit us, ourcompanies, and our countries.
The par ticipants of this program included 16
engineers from different companies in 8 countries. We
are grateful to JCCP for the wonderful welcome given
us and for imparting in-depth knowledge of advanced
technologies. In the future, we may perhaps see new
business opportunities arise between our companies and
JCCP-affiliated companies.
One thing I would like to mention, however, is theissue of communication. We noticed that the Japanese34 • Personnel Exchange Programs •At Shin Nippon Machinery Co., Ltd.’s Kure Works

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

JCCP Regular Courses Completed in October – December 2007

TR-14-07

Petroleum Marketing

Period:October 30 – November 16, 2007

No. of participants:

16

Country of participants: Indonesia, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, Mexico, Myanmar,
Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, Thailand,
UAE
TR-15-07

Environmental Management for Refineries

Period:October 30 – November 16, 2007

No. of participants:

16

Country of participants: Colombia, Indonesia, Iran, Kuwait, Mexico,
Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Thailand,
Vietnam, Yemen
TR-16-07

Gas Processing for LNG

Period:November 27 – December 14

No. of participants:

13

Country of participants: China, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Libya, Mexico,
Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Vietnam,
Yemen
TT-1-07

Training Management

Period:November 27 – December 14

No. of participants:

18

Country of participants: China, Colombia, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan,
Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar,
Russia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand
IT-2-07

Advanced Technologies for Rotary Machinery– Reliability Enhancement –Period:December 5 – December 19, 2007

No. of participants:

16

Country of participants: Indonesia, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Mexico,
Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, UAE
TR-3-07

Model Predictive Control

Period:December 5 – December 19, 2007

No. of participants:

12

Country of participants: Indonesia, Iran, Libya, Malaysia, Mexico,
Nigeria, Qatar

Total: 91 participants

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

• Personnel Exchange Programs • 35

TechnicalCooperation

Project Renewal LOI Exchanging Ceremony
with Qatar Petroleum
Qatar Petroleum (QP) and JCCP
recently held a ceremony at the QP Head
Office to exchange a Letter of Intent(LOI) on renewing the “FEED Studyon LPG Recovery at QP’s Mesaieed
Ref i ner y,” a two -yea r tech n ica lcooperation program that was signed
and begun in FY2006. The ceremony
took place with the attendance of anumber of QP members, including Mr.
Hussain M. Al-Ishaq, Director Refining
in charge of petroleum refining, Mr.
Abdulaziz M. Al-Khoori, Mesaieed
Refinery Operations Manager, andseveral engineers, and a number ofmembers representing the Japan side,
including Mr. Noboru Homma, First
Secretary at the Embassy of Japan in
Qatar, and Mr. Hajime Marukawa,Director and Senior General Manager
of Cosmo Engineering Co., Ltd. (CEC),
the company that is implementing the
project.
In response to increasing
worldwide environmental concerns,
QP has launched a Health, Safety &Environment Management Program, inan effort to reduce waste and increaseenergy efficiency. The FEED Study
project has been implemented as part ofthis effort, based on a strong request byAttendees of the ceremony

the Qatar side for JCCP cooperation in
examining systems for recovering LPG
from fuel gas and flare gas.
At the ceremony, Mr. Al-Ishaq and
Mr. Al-Khoori firstly thanked JCCP
and CEC for its technical cooperationin improving efficiency at the Mesaieed
Refinery. Mr. Homma then read amessage from H.E. Yukio Kitazume,
Ambassador of Japan to Qatar, which
expressed his appreciation of activities
JCCP has implemented in the Middle East
to date, such as the annual GCC-Japan
Environment Symposium and the manytechnical cooperation projects conducted

Exchanging the LOIRight: Mr. Hussain M. Al-Ishaq, Director Refining (QP)
Left: Mr. Katsuo Yokoyama, Managing Director (JCCP)

36 • Technical Cooperation •jointly with Middle East oil-producing
countries. In his message, Ambassador
Kitazume also articulated his expectationthat the project will further strengthen
the friendly relations between Qatar
and Japan. Following Mr. Homma,
Mr. Katsuo Yokoyama described a few
words as the newly-appointed Managing
Director of JCCP, as well thanked QP
for its cooperation in hosting the GCCJapan Environment Symposium in
February, and in implementing technicalcooperation projects with JCCP. Mr.
Marukawa from CEC also delivereda greeting, thanking QP and JCCP for

Ceremony venue
Center: Mr. Noboru Homma, First Secretary at
the Embassy of Japan in Qatar

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

the opportunity to participate in the
project, and expressed his company’scommitment to mak ing a steadycontribution to increasing efficiency
at the Mesaieed Refinery through the
project. After the speeches, Messrs. Al-

Ishaq and Yokoyama exchanged the LOI
and commemorative gifts, and closed the
ceremony on a successful note.

<by Takeyoshi Haishima, Technical Cooperation Dept.>

Technical
Cooperation

The Sixth Scientific Council Meeting with UAE University
Held in Al Ain
On November 4, 2007, JCCP and
UAE University co-hosted the Sixth
Scientific Council Meeting at UAE
University, located in Al Ain, UAE. The
two institutions began implementing
joint technical cooperation programs in
FY2001, and are presently carrying out
two programs on wastewater treatment
and acid gas treatment.
A s p a r t n e r s f r o m t h e UA E
industrial sector, the Ruwais Refineryof Abu Dhabi Oil Refining Company( TA K R E E R) i s sup p o r t i ng t h ewastewater treatment program, and
Abu Dhabi Gas Liquefaction Co. Ltd.
(ADGAS) is giving cooperation in theacid gas treatment program.
From Japan, Nippon Oil Research
I nst it ute is pa r t icipat i ng i n t he
implementation of the programs, and Dr.
Masaaki Teramoto of Kobe University isproviding research guidance and project
assistance in the acid gas treatment
program.

The Scientific Council Meeting isheld biannually, alternating the venue
between Japan and UAE. At the sixth
such meeting held recently, the members
reported on, and actively discussed, theprogress of activities that have been
made during the first half of FY2007.
The following is an overview of theachievements.

• Wastewater treatment
In the wastewater treatment program,a new treatment method that combines
biological treatment and activated carbon
adsorption treatment processes was
acknowledged as the optimum method
for treating wastewater. Particularly
with respect to adsorption treatment,
activated carbons made by processing
seeds from locally-cultivated dates were
determined to be especially effective inadsorbing certain metals.
As a result of a survey on wastewater
properties at the Ruwais Refinery, it wasagreed that treatment technologies need
to be established for CODs, phenols andsulfuric acid salt.

• Acid gas treatment
In the acid gas treatment program, avariety of experiments were conductedusing hollow fiber membrane as ameans of removing carbon dioxideand methane from natural gas. The
results of the experiments closely
matched a mathematical model thathas been developed earlier. In reality,
the process would require an increasein pressure, so an experiment was also
conducted to demonstrate that carbon
dioxide can indeed be removed underincreased pressure. The experiments
verified the effectiveness of hollow
fiber membrane. The members of the
program will continue to pursue theirefforts to attain a practical process that
can take the place of gas-washing withan alkali solution.

<by Nobuyuki Taneda, Technical Cooperation Dept.>

Opening ceremony

Discussion session

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

• Technical Cooperation • 37

TechnicalCooperation

The 17th Annual Saudi-Japan Joint Catalyst Symposium

Opening address by H.E. Dr. Khaled S.
Al-Sultan, Rector of KFUPM

Opening speech by Dr. Eiichi Kikuchi,
Chairman of JPI

Dr. Hideshi Hattori, Professor Emeritus at
Hokkaido University andguest researcher at KFUPM

On November 11 and 12, 2007, a
Saudi-Japan Joint Catalyst Symposium
was held at King Fahd University ofPetroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The symposium,
which is jointly hosted every year by
KFUPM and the Japan Petroleum
Institute (JPI), under commission by
JCCP, has taken root in Saudi Arabia
as an annual event at KFUPM.
To deliver a symposium that suitablyreflects the trends of the times, JPI’s
Overseas Cooperation Committee,
chaired by Dr. Takashi Tatsumi from theTokyo Institute of Technology, has held
highly active discussions with membersof KFUPM headed by Dr. Sulaiman S.
Al- Khattaf, Director, Center for Refining& Petrochemicals, Research Institute,prior to the symposium, from which
the symposium theme and presentation

topics have ultimately been decided.
The 17th such symposium held
this year featured presentations by agroup of seven researchers from Japan,
headed by Dr. Eiichi Kikuchi, Professor
at Waseda University and Chairmanof JPI. Dr. Hideshi Hattori, Professor
Emeritus at Hokkaido University, wasalso invited to give a presentation. Dr.
Hattori currently resides in Saudi Arabia
as a guest researcher at KFUPM, under
JCCP’s long-term researcher exchange
program.
The symposium began with an
opening address by H.E. Dr. Khaled S.
Al-Sultan, Rector of KFUPM, followedby opening speeches by Dr. Kikuchi,
leader of the Japanese delegation, andMinoru Horike, General Manager
of JCCP’s Technical Cooperation
Department. The technical sessions

began after the speeches.
The Japanese researchers andparticipants from KFUPM, Saudi
Aramco, Saudi Arabia Basic Industries
Corporation (SABIC), universities andresearch institutes in Saudi Arabia, andresearchers from Kuwait and the U.S.,
together delivered 19 presentations inall, mainly on issues related to catalyst
technology in the oil refining andpetrochemical fields. An audience ofapproximately 100 people filled thesymposium venue. They took an active
part in the Q&A sessions, and boosted
the symposium’s spirit of mutual
cooperation. Even lunch and rest breaks
between presentations provided an ideal
opportunity for personal exchanges
among researchers and engineers.
J C C P ex t e n d s it s p r o fo u n dgratitude to all who have supported theimplementation of the symposium—
e sp e c ia l ly D r. A l-K h a t t a f, D r.
Tatsumi, and Mr. Hideki Konishi,
head researcher of the JPI Secretariat,
who began preparing and coordinating
the event from early on, as well as
members of the KFUPM Secretariat andmembers of JPI’s Overseas Cooperation
Committee—and would like to ask fortheir cooperation, again in the future,
for the continued development of thesymposium.

Symposium session

38 • Technical Cooperation •JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008<by Minoru Horike,Technical Cooperation Dept.>

TechnicalCooperation

Project on Flare Gas Recovery
from Oil Refining Facilities in the UAE
Background to the Project
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company(ADNOC) in the UAE has initiateda health, safety, and environmental
management program in May 1998,
and has been actively engaging inenvironmental countermeasures withthe objectives of reducing waste gas
and materials and improving energy
efficiency. This policy has become amodel for nationwide environmental
countermeasures in the UAE, and has
also prompted the enforcement of the
Basic Environmental Law in February
2000.
Under this situation and based ona strong request by the Abu Dhabi
Oil Refining Company (TAKREER),

JCCP has implemented a study on theapplicability of the flare gas recovery
technology at the Ruwais Refinery.

in FY2006, and are mainly conducting
on-site construction work in FY2007.
•

Future plans
We are scheduled to complete theconstruction and commissioning workof the flare gas recovery system in
FY2007. In FY2008, we plan to support
operational technologies and conduct anevaluation of the project.

Overview of the Project•

Objective
The project sets out to introduce andexamine the flare gas recovery systemdesigned to reduce flare gas emission,
with the final objectives of achieving
effective utilization of flare gas andreducing environmental impact, at
TAKREER’s Ruwais Refinery.

•

Expected results
The project is expected to substantiate
the feasibility of reducing gas emissions
and improving energy efficiency at the
Ruwais Refinery. It will also provide abasis for the application of the system toother units within the refinery, as well as
to other refineries under TAKREER.

•

Progress made so far
We have completed the detailed
design of the facility and arranging for the
procurement of equipment and materials<by Hitoshi Hirokawa, Technical Cooperation Dept.>

Refining
units

Flare gas
Flare stack

Flare gas recovery system

Compressor
Existing
off-gastreating unit

Fuel gas(sweet)Seal drum

Flare gas

Sweet gas

Diagram of the Flare Gas Recovery System

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008

• Technical Cooperation • 39

Personnel Changes
Outgoing Personnel

Incoming Personnel

Koichi YOKOSUKA

Hisayoshi TANDA

Takashi KURODA

Makoto NAKAMURA

Operations Department
General Manager

Technical Cooperation
Department

Japan Cooperation Center, Petroleum (JCCP)
Headquarters
Sunshine 60 Building 58F, 3-1-1 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo 170-6058, Japan• Administration Department• Operations Department• Training Department• Technical Cooperation Department

TEL. +81-3-5396-6000
TEL. +81-3-5396-6001	
TEL. +81-3-5396-6909
TEL. +81-3-5396-8021	

FAX. +81-3-5396-6006
FAX. +81-3-5396-6006
FAX. +81-3-5396-6006
FAX. +81-3-5396-8015

Overseas Offices• Middle East Office#904, Al-Ghaith Office Tower, Hamdan St.,
P.O. Box 51828, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.
TEL. +971-2-627-4410 FAX. +971-2-626-2166

URL: http://www.jccp.or.jp

40 • Announcements •• Riyadh Office
Al-Dahlawi Building, King Fahad Rd., Tahlia St., Olaya,
P.O. Box 61356, Riyadh 11565, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
TEL. +966-1-462-5121 FAX. +966-1-461-0983

E-mail: webmaster@jccp.or.jp

JCCP NEWS No. 99 February 2008