Press releases

All the World is a… PROJECT

from Concept to Operation    

“Gold parallel”: 54°59′32″ north latitude, 73°22′06″ east longitude, Omsk, Engineers Boulevard, Headquarters of ONHP. In February 2020 the company celebrated 67 years since it had been founded: thousands of completed projects for the Fuel and Energy Sector of Russia, CIS and non-CIS countries, hundreds of thousands of project documentation books in the company's archive, about 500 full-time employees, 556 PCs, 110 software products. Concept engineering, complex design, spatial planning, procurement management, construction management. ONHP’s strengths are highly dangerous, technically complex and unique projects related to greenfield and brownfield, expansion, modernization and technical revamp of oil and gas production, oil and gas processing, oil and gas chemical and chemical facilities, land and marine spatial planning and urban design as well as generation of digital information models for process units and infrastructure facilities. ONHP’s Top Priority is to ensure SAFETY of designed facilities.

We are talking with Mr. Igor M. ZUGA, ONHP Chief Executive Officer, Ph.D in Engineering. As people say about such kind of personality – a passionate leader.

Igor Mikhailovich, education issues to become a real engineer are the topic of the day. The “gap” between graduates knowledge and the employer’s needs has always existed. Are you as the head of an engineering company also concerned?

Our company addressed this issue in executive manner. Since 2001 we have been creating a strategic employees pool by implementing corporate program of SCHOOL-UNIVERSITY-ENTERPRISE, which is focused on intensive professional adaptation of specialists to requirements and challenges of tomorrow. The future of engineering is shaping here.

We are willing to propose the fundamental principles and best practices stipulated by this program at establishing Industry-based Engineering Center in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The idea to create an engineering center was announced within the 16th Russia-Kazakhstan Forum held in November 2019 in Omsk. The discussion resulted in conceptual framework of the engineering center. The key idea is to integrate education, engineering and real production.

The first person who supported this idea was Mr. Shukhrat A. DANBAY, General Director of Atyrau Oil Refinery LLP (AOR) and on March 2, 2020 already ten students of Atyrau University of Oil and Gas named after Safi UTEBAEV who get AOR-sponsored education arrived at ONHP for internship.

Of course, the concept has to be thoroughly analyzed, involving a number of industrial enterprises of the Republic of Kazakhstan, upstream and downstream companies, in order to set up a full range of engineering competencies. Industry-based Engineering Center should become a unique skills & expertise transfer platform.

How do ONHP specialists improve their professional skills?

ONHP has Corporate University licensed for training and education activities. Leading experts in various professional spheres deliver lectures here.

Engineering competence and knowledge management group provides information support for innovation activity, provides each specialist of the company with access to information resources and systems, to the best practices including international ones. For ONHP, this is another tool of change management, a tool to create new generation leaders and modern management culture in general.

What are ONHP competencies today?

ONHP provides comprehensive services: engineering support within facilities construction, engineering support within facilities operation, new “turnkey” facilities, engineering support for investment projects.

Production process is provided with specialized software products to meet the requirements of any client, including software to perform calculations for all engineering disciplines and to digitalize any facility, software for both in-office and on-site project management.

ONHP has Test & Lab Center consisting of geotechnical laboratory, construction materials control laboratory and instrumental monitoring laboratory. Test & Lab Center is provided with the most advanced high-tech equipment enabling to perform a full range of laboratory services.

Today the talks about the application of AGILE methodology in engineering and management are on the rise. Does ONHP use AGILE techniques and methods?

AGILE is our corporate philosophy. Efficiency equals decision speed. A flexible approach certainly enhances employees engagement. Modern project management tools, in particular, BIM technologies, require new organizational forms of management. For example, by having modernized traditional organizational structures and concentrated organizational and technical responsibility in universal engineers, it is possible to increase the efficiency of modern project management tools.

Is universal engineer a universal soldier?

Virtually invulnerable cyborgs, you want to say? No. We are not trying to be overambitious. Universal engineers in this case do not cover all engineering disciplines. Universal engineer creates a “turnkey” discipline – from idea to start-up – by designing, supporting procurement, construction and commissioning, while maintaining unity of facility conception and using BIM model as information basis. This is our vision of certain universality, in other words, pass-through personal responsibility of engineer.

ONHP has many self-engineered patented products. R&D - is it an investment in the future?

Today R&D is a separate business unit of the company. We have patented a number of inventions for Oil and Gas industry. We are creating our own “product” line, which certainly makes ONHP investment proposals more attractive. One of the latest patented ONHP R&D products is eco-friendly way to utilize associated gas during offshore oil recovery.

Among ONHP mechanical engineers there are regular members of American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) involved in the development of international standards. In 2015, the company became a member of Technical Committee for Standardization No. 88 “Oil, Petroleum Products and Lubricants” established based on the Kazakhstan Association of Oil and Gas and Energy Enterprises of Kazakhstan (KAZENERGY). We believe this work is of great importance.

ONHP today … How will you finish this phrase?

ONHP is a full cycle engineering company capable to create a turnkey facility both in digital way and on the site, as well as to provide engineering support for all phases of facility life cycle, should it be construction or operation. At the same time, high quality planning, execution and control together with critical thinking and creativity make almost EVERYTHING possible, continuously leading to success.