Our stories: Taimur and Arziman
Published:
6
February
2023
Building careers in engineering that draw together the past, present and future of energy
Arziman and Taimur have both carved out successful, international engineering careers with bp. We spoke to them about their careers so far, what they love about being at bp, and how their paths were shaped by growing up in countries with historic ties to the energy industry.
First off – Arziman, Taimur, why did you choose to join bp?
Taimur:
While I was studying Sustainable Energy at university, I’d come across articles about how bp was leading in things like emission reduction initiatives and this put bp front and centre when I was making a decision about where I’d want to build my career after graduating. After attending an assessment centre, I was left with a really positive initial impression of bp’s culture, global reach and people. That experience made me excited about the prospect of working with and learning from people from all over the world, and for the international experiences and exposure I knew bp could provide.
Arziman:
Similar to Taimur, my first contact with bp was while I was still studying. I was actually offered a place on their university scholarship programme, but had to turn it down because my first-choice university wasn’t on bp’s list. However, after the end of my first year, I’d scored the highest grade in my faculty and again applied to the scholarship programme, which bp responded to by coming to my university to talk about my performance and familiarise themselves with the faculty. Ultimately bp choose to extend their scholarship programme to my university and I became the very first bp Scholar from the Mining Engineering faculty at Istanbul Technical University. From then on, I knew where I wanted to be and after spending a summer interning at bp as part of a Wells team, I joined the company full-time as a graduate.
Both of you work as engineers at bp, but from different angles, what are your day-to-day roles?
Taimur:
As a wells completion, intervention & integrity engineer, I help to bridge the gap between the drilling phase and the production phase. Once drilling has been completed, my team designs the well to ensure maximum efficiency and minimum risk to mitigate interventions once production starts. During production, we monitor the well and make sure it’s up to efficiency standards and if there are any issues or surveillance is needed, my team is on hand to step in and decide what needs to be done to ensure it is back to production.
Arziman:
I’ve had several roles at bp since joining almost a decade ago, many of which were very similar to what Taimur has just explained. However, in my previous role I moved away from the more technical side of engineering, and have started a new role as a senior engineer responsible for project prioritisation and resource allocation. It was a new role that was created as a result of ‘reinvent bp’ in late 2020, and I was responsible for assessing projects across our regional and global oil hubs and allocating the right number of engineers to each project including regions like Egypt, M&S, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago (TT), Brazil, Gulf of Mexico (GoM) and North Sea. I have recently moved to Houston and started working as a wells superintendent in GoM, my day-to-day role is to make sure that we run wells operations safely on the rig site.
You both grew up in countries with historic links to the energy industry – do you think this played any role in the careers you pursued?
Taimur:
Without a doubt. I grew up in the United Arab Emirates and energy is a major part of the region’s identity. When I think back to my youth, I was always meeting people who worked in oil and gas, and having conversations with them about their jobs. The irony is that my own family actually worked in the airline industry, so when I made the decision to work in energy, I was breaking the mould in my own way! After studying sustainable energy in the UK, it was a natural move for me to return to Oman, where my family had moved back to, and play a positive role in moving forward the energy industry I had grown up around, as part of bp.
Arziman:
What Taimur just said really resonated with me. Growing up in Azerbaijan was a major influence in my pursuing petroleum engineering and much like the UAE and Oman, Azerbaijan has historically had a big oil and gas industry. But energy is not just part of Azerbaijan’s history – the future of the country relies on the industry, and after studying in Turkey I choose to return to Baku because I felt I could really bring value to my country through working in energy. Although I’ve since been lucky enough to travel the world working for bp, my energy journey started in Azerbaijan, and I’ll always credit my home country with helping me discover my life’s calling.
What do you both love most about working at bp?
Arziman:
I love that my role means I get to work with leaders and teams all around the world. I get exposure to the business in different regions which has helped me understand their unique cultural factors and how to approach them as well as the true scale and diversity of bp’s business. In my new role I manage bigger risks with my team. When I start my day at 6:00am every morning, I remind myself that we are managing the most important risk across the company which is well control, and it motivates me to be better than yesterday.
Taimur:
No two days are the same - there is always a new challenge to solve and something new to learn, discover, and improve. Some of the Well Site leaders have been working in the field for decades, and they tell me that their favourite part of the job is that they still get to learn something new every day. There are infinite ways of solving and approaching well engineering problems, and that keeps me motivated every day.
Finally, what piece of advice would you give to graduates looking to start their careers?
Taimur:
It may sound like a cliché but when I think back to when I was starting out in my career, I think the advice that I would have wanted to hear is just keep doing what you’re doing, and you will get where you want to be.
Arziman:
Mine would be - never postpone. If you’ve got something you want to do or a role you’re interested in, don’t wait for the opportunity to find you – go and find it! Maybe you want to learn a new language or perhaps travel overseas for your work, either way - don’t put it off - make it a priority for yourself!