Bernard Pierson, Shell geologist currently seconded to ADNOC, recently stumbled upon intriguing objects sticking out of sabkha sediments in a small cliff at the end of an artificial channel at Musaffah, near Abu Dhabi.

Scrutiny of the objects determined that they were large bones, embedded in sediments that are between 4,000 and 7,000 years old. Simon Aspinall, a biologist and archeologist with the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi (EAD), later confirmed that the objects were indeed the jawbone, the scapula and other parts of the skeleton of a blue whale that had beached or had been stranded in very shallow water several thousand years ago.

The blue whale, the largest animal on earth today, is the first fossil whale skeleton found in the UAE. Bernard Pierson comments, “I organise these field trips on a regular basis and usually find a lot of interesting objects.

It is the first time, however, that we have uncovered such a huge fossil. Abu Dhabi is a very rich country, not only with oil, but with a long and fascinating past.”

Patrick Romeo has recently been appointed Local Senior Downstream Representative for the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Syria, Iran, Iraq and Lebanon. Patrick has been with Shell for the past twenty-three years.

In addition to his new assignment, he is the Global Business Development Director of Shell Aviation, and has had the opportunity to develop and ensure global implementation of strategy in a range of functional areas including Network and Market Development, Supply Chain, IT/MIS and Planning.

Patrick says about his new role: “I am thoroughly enjoying the challenge of managing a business in such a diverse environment”. Patrick, who is married and a father of three, enjoys flying, football and watercolour painting during his free time.

General Manager, Business Development for M.E., Central Asia & East

Amr Adel was recently appointed as General Manager, Business Development for Middle East, Central Asia and East in the Lubricants organisation based in the SMME office in Dubai. Amr is also the Local Senior Lubricants Representative for Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Yemen.

As LSLR, he will provide country level co-ordination across the Lubricants business. Amr started his career in Shell 14 years ago with his first assignment in Marine in Shell Marketing Egypt.

He has held several positions within the Group ever since. Prior to his new assignment, Amr was the Regional Marine Manager for the Middle East, South Asia and East Africa, a position he held for four years. Talking about his new role, Amr says: “My focus will include effectively deploying the global Lubricants business strategy and managing the sales and marketing resources to deliver maximum benefit to Shell customers in a vast geography consisting of 31 countries.”

Amr is married with 3 children and is a keen sports and music enthusiast.

We wish Patrick and Amr well in their new assignments.

In its continuous efforts to support the ADNOC group of companies, Shell Abu Dhabi organised a field trip to the Netherlands last March for an ADNOC/ADCO team.

The trip was hosted by NAM Assen fields in Groningen in the Netherlands, and provided the team with expert insight and information about field compression for gas fields.

Dr. David Westerman, Deputy Managing Director, accompanied the team during their visit.

Ernest McGirr is celebrating his 35th Anniversary with Shell. Ernie, as he prefers to be called, started his career with Shell as an Instrument Engineer at Stanlow Refinery back in 1971 and is, today, Production Planning & Shipping Manager, seconded to GASCO from Shell Abu Dhabi. This milestone will be celebrated with a dinner hosted by the Shell Abu Dhabi Management team.

Of his time with Shell, Ernie says: “Shell has provided the opportunity to travel, to grow professionally and to diversify in my work.

I am in the fortunate position of retaining my health and enthusiasm for my work and, even after 35 years, I am not looking back but looking forward to future challenges and opportunities which are part of a career in Shell.”

A ‘Safety Week’ was held this June at the Shell offices in Dubai and included a number of activities and initiatives, aimed at raising awareness of HSSE issue, as well as bringing together the wider Shell community in Dubai.

The theme of the week was “Take Safety Home...and Bring it Back Again.”

The key objective was to make HSSE part of everyone’s daily life. One of the activities involved students, who were asked to submit a letter addressed to their parents with HSSE in mind.

The winning letters were chosen for their originality and rewarded with cash prizes.

A second activity featured an HSSE event for staff and their families, held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dubai with presentations on road safety and health matters.

In its ongoing efforts to familiarise UAE nationals with the role played by Shell in the region, Shell Markets (Middle East) hosted thirty-five female students studying business administration at the UAE University.

The students, juniors and graduating seniors, spent a very active morning at the Shell premises and were introduced to the company’s activities. Paul D’Arcy, Business Development Manager (Gas & Power), presented the students with a general overview of the gas and power activities in Shell, while Ceri Powell, Vice President Exploration, provided them with a reflection of her journey and career as one of the prominent executives in Shell.

The students were also given an insight into the external affairs activities conducted in Shell through Mr. Hussain Al Mahmoudi, External Affairs & HSSE Manager, Shell Markets.