"I am grateful to all of you for providing me with such an incredible journey this summer," said Nawaf, a Saudi international student representative, during the closing ceremony of the Saudi student summer camp jointly organized by Offshore Oil Engineering Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, and the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), in Binhai New Area, Tianjin, in August.
Over nearly a month, 12 Saudi students from Harbin Institute of Technology, China University of Petroleum, and the University of Science and Technology Beijing participated in various activities during the summer camp, including training, field visits, and cultural experience activities in Qingdao and Tianjin, allowing them to witness the development and changes of China's offshore oil industry and deepen their understanding of Chinese culture.
Cultural exchanges under the Belt and Road Initiative
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative, and is also a crucial year for the new phase of China-Saudi cooperation under the initiative.
The summer camp featured a number of Chinese culture experiences and youth representative exchanges to boost cultural exchanges and promote friendship, including learning Chinese characters, painting fans, dumpling making, volleyball matches, and football games.
Saudi international students learn to write Chinese characters with writing brushes during the summer camp. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
"Chinese culture is very charming and shares many commonalities with our own culture. For example, Chinese porcelain found on the Arabian Peninsula and traditional Arabic calligraphy in China are all signs of the exchanges and integration that have taken place between the two civilizations. We would like to share the Chinese stories that we experienced during the summer camp with our Saudi friends," said Salem, a Saudi international student from China University of Petroleum.
Field visits to engineering project
"I love it here because the sea here is just as deep and vast as the sea in my hometown. It symbolizes strength and endless possibilities."
Aziz, who grew up on the shores of the Persian Gulf, came to the University of Science and Technology Beijing as a Saudi international student two years ago. This was his first time visiting Qingdao, and he couldn't hide his excitement.
"This summer camp offered us courses in advanced engineering project management knowledge, practical activities at manufacturing sites, and allowed us to learn about cutting-edge technology and management experience in the offshore oil industry. I have also made many Chinese friends here," Aziz added.
Zhong Yuxin, a young employee of Offshore Oil Engineering Co., Ltd., was Aziz's first Chinese friend during the summer camp. The Marjan project she is working on is the first overall EPCI (engineering, procurement, construction and installation) project of Saudi Aramco in China, and once in full operation, it will help Marjan oil and gas field become the world's second-largest offshore oilfield, which is of great importance to Saudi Aramco.
When the project started, our team faced multiple challenges, but we did not flinch, and repeatedly studied more than 20 different response plans, Zhong said. Among the four global construction sites for the Mazan project, the construction site in Qingdao, Shandong province, consistently ranked first in terms of construction speed.
"Chinese people are known for their commitment to their words. When I came to the construction site of the Mazan project in Qingdao, I truly understood the meaning of this," Aziz said.
Saudi students visit engineering construction project site during the summer camp in Qingdao, Shandong province. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
At the Qingdao construction site, Saudi students boarded the currently under-construction platform, and gained insight into the standardized design capabilities, resource integration capabilities, and fast delivery capabilities of Chinese companies.
Collaborative development in the future
The capabilities, strength, talent, and systems of Offshore Oil Engineering Co., Ltd. showcase "Chinese quality" and "Chinese technology". Saudi Aramco and Offshore Oil Engineering Co., Ltd. will have vast opportunities for collaboration, according to Dawood AI-Dawood, Vice President of Saudi Aramco, during his opening address at the summer camp.
Saudi Aramco possesses advanced expertise and experience in oil exploration and production technology, and has rapidly developed collaborative relationships in the energy sector with China.
As a leading contractor in offshore and energy engineering in Asia, Offshore Oil Engineering Co., Ltd. has completed more than 50 international engineering projects to a high standard. These include the construction of over 200 oil and gas equipment units, the high-quality delivery of the core process modules of the Yamal LNG project, the ultra-large Brazil FPSO (Floating Production Storage and Offloading) P67/P70 project, the largest Chinese-built cylindrical FPSO project - "Penguin" - and other internationally influential large-scale energy projects. They made Offshore Oil Engineering Co., Ltd. one of the top modular construction companies for energy engineering construction in the world.
Offshore Oil Engineering Co., Ltd. has maintained a close and enduring partnership with Saudi Aramco. As early as 2018, it became the only Chinese company on Saudi Aramco's global long-term cooperation agreement list.
The company recently won the contract for Saudi Aramco's key offshore oil and gas engineering project, and the long-term cooperation agreement continues to yield a steady stream of collaborative outcomes.
(Executive editor: Xie Yunxiao)
