Middle East Expat Experiences?

[bizkitgto]

Hey everyone,

Does anyone have any good/bad experiences working for Middle Eastern oil companies (Aramco, RasGas, Adnoc, etc)? Does anyone recommend certain companies for: compound living, salaries, work environment, etc?
Thanks for the feedback

[bizkitgto]

No one here has worked overseas?

[agulati]

We moved to Calgary from Bahrain in 2006.My dad used to work for BANOCO/BAPCO. We had a good 9 years there. The country is relatively more liberal than the rest of the region.

[bizkitgto]

Originally Posted by agulati

We moved to Calgary from Bahrain in 2006.My dad used to work for BANOCO/BAPCO. We had a good 9 years there. The country is relatively more liberal than the rest of the region.

Thanks for the response, I've heard good things about Bapco and Bahrain (flocks of Aramcons heading there every weekend )

[calgarygeologist]

I've interviewed with Aramco before. Had two interviews and I thought it was actually going somewhere but I never heard from them again. They have a very closed door, bureaucratic process which doesn't allow for easy access to information.

I've heard from people I work closely with that Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) is very good and so is Qatar Petroleum. Qatar offers a better, more western lifestyle over Saudi.

[CaptainYooh]

A friend of mine worked as an electrical engineer for Saudi Aramco. He tolerated the job because of the high income but never liked it due to high-security compound-like living and general animosity that he felt when shopping or walking on the streets. Then a couple of years ago he had witnessed someone burning himself in the middle of the shopping centre and decided to quit for good. On the other hand, my former classmate worked in Dubai for an O&G company and really liked it there.

[bizkitgto]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

A friend of mine worked as an electrical engineer for Saudi Aramco. He tolerated the job because of the high income but never liked it due to high-security compound-like living and general animosity that he felt when shopping or walking on the streets. Then a couple of years ago he had witnessed someone burning himself in the middle of the shopping centre and decided to quit for good. On the other hand, my former classmate worked in Dubai for an O&G company and really liked it there.

It's a different world over there for sure.

[2ArmBands]

I spent 3 years as a kid in Cairo, Egypt. Was a really safe and easy place to live at that point in time. There was a strong expat community which made the transition tolerable. My father was in the OG sector and I didn't like his employer because they didn't provide us with food shipments! Had a real tough time acquiring Oreos and Doritos via trade with more fortunate kids.

Also lived in South America and could share some experience there as well.

[The Ditch]

i've had experience with this and also friends who have.

If you have a wife and or daughters I personally wouldn't do it, you couldn't pay me enough to expose my wife to that kind of treatment.

And to the guy saying Qatar has a better western lifestyle...I disagree, perhaps better than Saudi (depending on the compound you're in at Saudi) but when I've been over in Qatar it's mostly the same, I end up bored to tears.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by The Ditch

And to the guy saying Qatar has a better western lifestyle...I disagree, perhaps better than Saudi

That is exactly the statement I made so you are not disagreeing with me.

Qatar offers a better, more western lifestyle over Saudi.

[The Ditch]

..

[The Ditch]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

That is exactly the statement I made so you are not disagreeing with me.

I qualified it saying depending on where you are staying, also, if you are a woman, then no place there offers a "western lifestyle" in my opinion. Certainly not Doha.

[CaptainYooh]

Pretty much the same sentiment I've heard from my friend's wife. She said, if you're a western woman not wearing a veil, most men over there think of you as a whore and either look at you with disgust, or with lust or both.

[TSXCman]

do these companies ever take younger engineers? I don't have my P Eng yet but my interest in working in the middle east or south america is growing.

[_Q_]

Qatar is super boring. Like painfully boring. The only thing people do there is go to the mall and buy stuff they don't need. Oh and eat at American chains like chili's and one of the 500 kebab or shawarma places. I've spent like 3 weeks at a time there and usually wish my trip was two and a half weeks shorter. Yes it's more westernized than Saudi, but Saudi is a hell hole that nobody should have to step into. UAE is definitely nicer than Qatar.

It's too bad all the interesting Arab countries (Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt) have virtually no oil and gas.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by _Q_

It's too bad all the interesting Arab countries (Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt) have virtually no oil and gas.

I've done work on projects in Egypt and Lebanon and they are both highly prospective countries offshore (I haven't looked at anything onshore.) The biggest problem is that there is no real sustained drive to explore or develop the assets. I don't expect the region to be adequately explored in my lifetime.

I have a buddy who worked in Cairo for a major international O&G company for about a year. They pulled out of their assets though while he was working there but he enjoyed his time. That was just before the Arab Spring though.

[bizkitgto]

Originally Posted by The Ditch

I qualified it saying depending on where you are staying, also, if you are a woman, then no place there offers a "western lifestyle" in my opinion. Certainly not Doha.

I heard some of the Aramco compounds make life easier for westerners, I think some even have private beaches and you can live your life the way you would back home (sans alcohol?). I think those communities would be tolerable, but my info is only second hand. A co-worker of mine said his wife cried everyday for a year before moving home, he stayed and worked an extra year before moving back, so some families definently struggle.

And I thought Qatar is getting better since there's lot's of projects and more expats there than nationals, I would expect the expat community to be pretty tight?

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by bizkitgto

I heard some of the Aramco compounds make life easier for westerners, I think some even have private beaches and you can live your life the way you would back home (sans alcohol?). I think those communities would be tolerable, but my info is only second hand. A co-worker of mine said his wife cried everyday for a year before moving home, he stayed and worked an extra year before moving back, so some families definently struggle.

And I thought Qatar is getting better since there's lot's of projects and more expats there than nationals, I would expect the expat community to be pretty tight?

When I was interviewing with Aramco I would have ended up in Dharhan which sounds like a pretty sweet place based on the information I could find online. It is a large compound and it has some beach resort property. It is also a fairly short drive to Bahrain which would have been nice. One of the main things that I learned while talking with people who had been there and from reading on the internet is that your overall experience is highly dependent on the attitude that you bring. Those that are generally closed-minded, un-adaptable and only wanting to make money are the ones that have poor experiences.

[Harju]

Go to the Middle East section of the www.britishexpats.com
You can get quite a bit of information there. It is not oil and gas specific and the UAE/Dubai seems the most active but it could be useful.

[JD]

I'll give a more detailed answer later when I have more time... I live in Abu Dhabi, I've done work in Saudi and Iraq and been through Bahrain. I know a few things about this topic!

The experience can be very rewarding, not just financially, if you have the right attitude. If you come here thinking everyone is a woman-hating, budding terrorist, you'll hate it. But I'd you come with an open mind to a unique cultural experience and can enjoy yourself no matter where you go, even eating at Applebee's every day, you'll be fine.

More details later... This thread popped up in the middle of the night during
Our weekend and now I'm nursing a hangover...