ELIAS RIZK, COUNTRY ADMIN MANAGER

Elias is responsible for managing our in-country operations from our Algiers office. Originally from Lebanon, he was one of the first expats to work in the country – and was pivotal in building our business in Algeria from the ground up.

My proudest moment… was becoming Country Administration Manager. I started at Petrofac with little experience holding a university degree in Business Administration. I knew I had to travel and leave my country – which I was so attached to – to build a career. After working in Sharjah as a project administrator, I moved to Algeria in 2008. I was one of the first expats – and now I’ve been here for 15 years. I feel I’ve had a two-way relationship with Petrofac; I have given a lot to the company and Petrofac has given a lot to me.

The journey has been full of joy and challenging at the same time… I have seen our business in Algeria grow from one project to multibillion dollars’ worth of projects. When I first came to Algeria, I used to spend long rotations here. There was a lot of work to do, as the right systems weren’t in place. It required a lot of dedication to build it from scratch. I feel pleased of what I’ve achieved along with my team that I am so proud of, and I always try to do my best in my role.

I’m responsible for all administration services across our projects and services in Algeria... Travel, HR, logistics, services, it involves everything. I believe that communication and respect for people are vital in my job. There can be pressures, but I like to be challenged.

As I’ve been here for 15 years, I have accumulated lots of experience… I have a good network of contacts including clients, local authorities and within Petrofac. Each wilaya (state) where we operate in Algeria has its own authority and during my 15 years I have built strong relationships with people in multiple wilayas, which is useful for our projects. If there are any issues, everyone knows that me and my team are the ones to call.

The nature and weather are very good in Algeria... If I have time, I go walking and running. We have frequent visitors here for Petrofac and many of them are my friends, so we will go out and socialise. During COVID, there were many restrictions on travel and they shut down the airport completely. Now the country is reopening, I’m hoping to visit my family in Lebanon later on in the year.

It’s a very busy time… the Hassi Messaoud training centre reopened after being closed during the pandemic for two years . We are also targeting first gas on Tinrhert by the end of June and first gas on Ain Tsila in Q1 2023. Considering what’s happening in Europe, it’s critical we deliver these projects on time. It’s also likely the Algerian government will open budgets for new projects to increase production capacity, so we need to be ready to bid on these.

Meet a few of our colleagues in Algeria