Management Conference Held with the Iraqi Ministry of Oil

  Reconstruction assistance is an issue of national importance to Iraq. JCCP, also recognizing the need to provide cooperation to the greatest extent possible by recommencing cooperation activities with Iraq, invited executive officers from the Iraqi Ministry of Oil to Tokyo last December and exchanged a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the recommencement of training and technical cooperation activities. To discuss the future implementation of the programs in specific detail, JCCP members held a management conference with the Iraqi Ministry of Oil in Amman, the capital city of Jordan, on May 8 and 9, 2010.
  Members of the conference included Dr. Kareem A. Alwan, Director Manager, Petroleum R&D Center, Mr.Jasim M. Hameed, Manager, Technical Dept., and Ms.Saba A. Yousif, Manager, Environment Dept., all from the Training and Development Directorate under the Ministry of Oil, on the Iraqi side. On the JCCP side, T. Kubota from the Training Dept., M. Horike from the Technical Cooperation Dept., and S. Yagi, General Manager of the Middle East Office, participated in the conference.
  The Ministry of Oil is one of the major institutions of the Iraqi government. Its Training and Development Directorate acts as the counterpart to JCCP. It is responsible for coordinating domestic and overseas training programs in all fields related to the upstream and downstream sectors of the oil industry, and for governing technical development.
  Amman, the capital of Jordan and the venue of the recent management conference, is an important city linking Iraq with the international community. It is also home to the Japanese Embassy in Jordan, where Iraqi participants to JCCP training programs acquire their visa to study in Japan.

1. Training Programs

  The JCCP Training Department has received Iraqi participants to JCCP initiative courses and member company courses since fiscal 1982. Their participation was suspended during the two Gulf wars, but JCCP again began receiving Iraqi participants to member company courses in fiscal 2005. In November 2009, it also recommenced the acceptance of Iraqi participants to JCCP-initiative courses, and received eight participants as of the end of March.

Dr. Kareem A. Alwan, Director Manager, Petroleum R&D Center (second from right),Mr. Jasim M. Hameed, Manager, Technical Dept. (third from left), and Ms. Saba A. Yousif, Manager, Environment Dept. (right)

  In the recent management conference, the JCCP side confirmed the Iraqi Ministry’s desire to continue participating in JCCP-initiative courses in fiscal 2010, and the two sides agreed on the following two points.
  1) The Iraqi Ministry of Oil will continue sending participants from the  
       Ministry and from oil refineries in Iraq to JCCP initiative courses
       (regular courses), and JCCP will accept Iraqi participants with the
      aim of further strengthening its relationship with Iraq.

  2) As requested by the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, JCCP will give due
      consideration to implementing a customized course in Japan on
      environmental conservation in the refinery specifically for a study
      group from Iraq, in fiscal 2010.

  JCCP will be inviting JCCP counterpart personnel from oil-producing countries to attend a Program Seminar in July 2010, and Mr. Hameed will be one of the participants. Therefore, the two sides agreed to continue the discussions on the implementation of training programs when Mr. Hameed visits JCCP to attend the Program Seminar.

Conference in Anman

2. Technical Programs
  Technical Cooperation Projects are projects in which Japanese experts cooperate with engineers and researchers of a counterpart organization in an oilproducing country to solve specific items. In fiscal 2003, JCCP and Iraq launched a technical cooperation project aimed at the permanent restoration of an LPG loading facility in southern Iraq, but the project was prematurely abandoned due to the local security situation, and remains terminated.
  During the recent management conference, JCCP and the Iraqi side discussed the future direction of four technical cooperation project requests that were presented by the Iraqi Ministry of Oil during the conference held last December in Tokyo. Aside from these four requests,  the members from the Ministry also presented a request for ten joint cooperation projects.After two days of discussions, the two sides agreed to discuss specific technical details and other matters for possible implementation of a number of these projects, and to hold a technical conference again in Amman sometime between late June and early July as a kickoff meeting.
  Issues of high priority at present include the treatment of crude oil-associated water and the improvement and effective utilization of asphalt. In the next technical meeting, engineers and researchers from both countries plan to exchange views and discuss specific work proposals to formulate a concrete plan for future cooperation projects.

  The Iraqi side has shown strong expectations of JCCP’s cooperation. A steady number of participants from Iraq has participated in JCCP initiative courses again this fiscal year, and those who completed their course have returned to Iraq to work actively in the oil sector and contribute to rebuilding their country.Furthermore, new proposals for technical cooperation projects presented by the Iraqi Oil Ministry at the recent management conference were based on extremely important themes in oil refining that require technologies at which Japan excels.
  Opportunities for personal exchanges and technical cooperation through JCCP training programs and technical cooperation projects are expected to strengthen cooperative relations between Iraq and Japan and lay the foundation for stable energy supplies to Japan in the future. To promote these activities, Japan’s advanced scientific technologies and abundant knowledge and experience in oil-related industries are essential, and the cooperation of Japan’s companies, universities, and research institutions is indispensable. JCCP therefore seeks support from companies, universities, and research institutions in Japan.
                                 <by Tetsuji Kubota, General Manager, Training Dept., and Minoru Horike, General Manager, Technical Cooperation Dept.>