OURIDA KHERCHI, DEPUTY LOGISTICS MANAGER

A translator by trade, Ourida has amassed more than 20 years’ experience in the field of logistics. With a keen eye for detail and a deep knowledge of Algerian customs, she has played a role in several of our projects in Algeria since joining Petrofac in 2009. She is from Algeria and based at our office in Algiers.

At university, I studied translation... My first job was receiving logistics invoices and translating them for the logistics department of an Algerian company. When there were no invoices to translate, I helped the logistics team and after one year I had learned everything there was to know about logistics in Algeria. I joined Petrofac in 2009 as a logistics assistant and I’ve worked for many different projects, including ISG1, ISG2, El Merk, Alrar and Reggane. I led the logistics team on Tinrhert and Ain Tsila; El Merk was my first big project and a very proud moment for me.

In Algeria, working with customs is challenging… there are many different rules and laws you need to understand. In logistics, you have to respect the time it takes to clear customs, while ensuring the materials meet regulations. Every shipment that stays an extra day at port is extra money spent on storage. In Algeria, customs also don’t use email or any digital tools – it’s hard copies of documents only. So, we need to print out all documents to be submitted to the relevant stakeholders to be authorised and stamped. It’s a lot of paper!

On Ain Tsila, we had 400 containers in port in August due to port congestion… they all had to be delivered to site between September and November. It was a big challenge, with site receiving 20 trucks a day! I was very proud of my team when we finished delivering all the containers on time.

I have four children… and we love going to the beach together. They are 19, 16, 11 and 8 years old. It’s a lot of work! When a member of my team first started, she asked me, ‘how do you work with Petrofac and manage your family life?’ I said, ‘I do logistics at work and at home!’

Meet a few of our colleagues in Algeria