The Journey of the Land Business Unit

These words ring true for the employees of the Land Business Unit (BU) who have celebrated a year of milestone accomplishments. Kerry Rampersad joined the Land Business Unit in June 2020 and brought experience and knowledge, but he also recognised that these would not be the only tools required. Fiscal 2020 was challenged by the impact of Covid-19 and depressed oil prices. The knock-on effect on the operations would require a team effort to steer the ship through the rapids.

He engaged the employees to embark on a journey that would recalibrate the Business Unit, empower and inject energy into the team synergies, streamline systems and processes with a byproduct being its highest recorded production since inception. In July 2020, the journey began with the Land BU Leadership team working together on a SWOT analysis geared to refocus and recalibrate the operations. This led to a systematic workflow process that improved communication, team synergies, employee empowerment and cross-functional focus teams. Subsurface, Operations Technology, Operations and Maintenance and Planning and Performance teams developed the strategies required to safely deliver the Performance Targets.

The impact of Asset Integrity inherent with operating old and failing infrastructure coupled with theft and vandalism across the fields posed a threat to the environment and compromised the safe delivery of barrels. The Operations and Maintenance Department responded by initiating several projects to minimise the

Team Members: Jerline, Allan, Adrian, Rudy, Jamaal, Richard

1) Prioritise major and heavy workovers (sand control, NRT) 2) Achieve e cient workovers

Team Members: O&M Sups, Ian, PTLs, Jerline, Shaun

1) Prioritise routne workovers 2) Equipment selection: ensure availability and reliability

Team Members: Allan, Shaun, PTLs, Rudy

1) Design and implement maintenance philosophy

Team Members: Adrian, Allan, Rudy, Ian, Richard, Jerline, Veera, Douglas

1) To ensure interim support with contracts 2) To structure long-term contracts for support

Team Members: Adrian, Allan, Rudy, Ian, Jerline, Veera, Douglas

1) Steam ooding project 2) Well management plan (idle/active o and inactive wells) 3) Major upside potential plan 4) Replacement well plan

Loss of Primary Containment (LOPC) incidents closely with the HSSE Team and manage the production deferrals. This included completing a Process Safety Valve certification programme and implementing an inspection programme for API 570 reports on all transfer lines. This formed a much-needed baseline for process improvement, a campaign to replace aged and vandalised motors and transformers. The HPCL Security Team supported these initiatives by arresting the increasing trend of sabotage and theft.

Another leg of the journey involved renewing the HSSE culture. Implementing safe operations is only as effective as the people who understand and diligently use them. In February 2021, this philosophy became the main driver for the launch of the new HSSE Culture Programme aimed at engaging employees and allowing contractors to become “Safety Empowered Ambassadors” (SEAs). The launch included daily safety moments, employee videos, lessons learnt from audit findings, and contractor KPIs. Employee engagement has been at an all-time high. The Jeopardy Safety Culture series gained the participation of 12 teams battling to be the ultimate Safety Champions. Five key areas were identified as strategic production pillars and managed by empowered crossfunctional focus teams. These were Workovers, Field Management, Maintenance, Contract Management and Production Optimisation.

Several key successes included the Workover Rig Optimisation programme, Drive Head Replacement, Stop Cork Optimisation, and a salvage and a comprehensive repair maintenance programme. In December 2020, a record-breaking Land BU Production was attained. Each of the 240 plus crew members would have contributed to these initiatives which were safely managed. Over this fiscal, the Los Bajos, Guayaguayare, Grand Ravine and Forest Reserve Production Teams have delivered recordbreaking production. Targeting the production “Motivational Barrels” became the central tag line for Land.

Kirt Robinson, Production Team Lead for Forest Reserve/Fyzabad describes his experience over the last year as exceptional. “The Land BU Leadership team has stewarded a process of teambuilding and bilateral communication across the various teams

which nurtured a familial spirit, thereby facilitating teamwork in executing of our duties. My team and I are even more dedicated to delivering increased production for the Land BU.”

This feeling was echoed by Anil Ramdial, Production Team Lead for Catshill. "Over the past year, Land Business Department has been transformed into a well-oiled unit. Our Leadership team created an enabling environment that fosters teamwork, open and respectful interactions. Team members are goalfocused individuals who collaborate, innovate, and produce consistently superior results within the Land Business Unit".

Genise Noel, Drilling and Workover Engineer reflects, “Looking over the last year, Heritage’s staff has made the company into a lean, dynamic organism capable

11,250

11,000

10,750

10,500

10,250

10,000

9,750

9,500

9,250

9,000 10,771 Original Highest Production Target, Feb 20 Production Actuals (bopd) Production Planned (bopd)

11,074 Latest Highest Production Target, Dec 20

Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20 Jan-21 Feb-21 Mar-21 Apr-21

of weathering a number of hits and still managing to keep marching to the beat. It’s not always been easy, what with almost near-constant high demand and tight deadlines, but not only have we managed to deliver, we’ve gotten some new skills under our belts in the process.”

“This past year has been both a pivotal team journey and a personal one,” states Jeanine Wickham, Planning Analyst. The Land BU Leadership helped transform a group of departments into one integrated and cohesive, functional team. This enabled greater sight of each other and appreciation of the individual contribution to the overall goals. Having a greater level of interaction with my colleagues in Operations helped me better understand the business support required, and empowered me to step up and work through the challenges with them. We are ONE Team, on a journey together!”

Having achieved a milestone production performance for Fiscal 2021 thus far, we asked Kerry to share what is next on the roadmap for the Land Business Unit Team.

"The past year has been a tough but exciting journey for the entire Land BU Team. Collectively, we took a step back to honestly assess the nature and challenges of the operations. We maturely acknowledged things that did not work well, identified areas of opportunities, and built a roadmap to take us to 11,000 bopd and beyond. There have been setbacks, but there has been growth and many success stories, and we celebrated each victory as a team. As we look towards the Fiscal Year 2022, we harness the past year's momentum and forge ahead to map new innovative opportunities in Drilling and Enhanced Oil Recovery.

As the Chinese proverb says, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and in the Land BU, we're not afraid of stepping forward."